Military Disability Pay Rates for 2021 – The Experts Guide (with 1.3% COLA Bump)

FOR THE VETERAN OF THE VETERAN SHARE OF THE DAY
Military disability pay rates for 2021 were released on October 13, 2020, with the implementation of the Social Security Administration’s announcement of a 1.3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2021.

On October 20, 2020, the President signed into law H.R. 6168, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2020, which authorized a 1.3% COLA adjustment for Veterans receiving military disability pay, VA disability compensation, clothing allowance, and survivors receiving Dependency Indemnity Compensation (DIC) payments.

This bill became Public Law 116-178, and increases the amount paid to disabled military veterans and their survivors by 1.3% effective December 2020, and will be reflected in all January 2021 military disability pay.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjusts veteran’s monthly disability compensation amounts based on the yearly change in the cost of living as determined by the Social Security Administration (final COLA adjustment of 1.3% in 2021 was based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report of September 2020 inflation data).

Now I’ve probably got you wondering, “Will military veteran’s get a military disability pay increase in 2021?”

Yes! Military veterans will get a 1.3% military disability pay rates increase for CY 2021.

The 1.3% COLA boost was lower than normal due to low inflation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

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