Sponsors (15)
The bill expands and stabilizes benefits and home‑loan eligibility for many veterans and surviving spouses — providing significant direct financial support and clearer loan rules — while raising federal costs, adding administrative complexity, and creating some new or temporary borrower cost trade‑offs.
Veterans receiving aid‑and‑attendance will receive an additional $833.33 per month starting Dec 1, 2026, increasing their income to help cover long‑term care and daily assistance costs.
Surviving spouses eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) will have DIC tied to Social Security COLAs — including an extra ~1 percentage point at the first adjustment — increasing and making survivor payments more predictable.
Reserve and National Guard members who meet the new definitions (including certain entry‑level/skill training qualifiers) become retroactively eligible for VA home‑loan benefits back to Sept 11, 2001, expanding access to home ownership benefits.
Taxpayers and federal budgets face higher costs because the $833.33 monthly supplement, retroactive home‑loan eligibility expansion, and extended pension limits increase VA program spending.
Veterans and VA staff may experience short‑term payment errors, confusion, or delays because the VA must implement new supplements, revised DIC rules, expanded loan eligibility, and fee‑table changes.
Surviving spouses eligible for DIC will receive only a temporary boost: the extra 1.0 percentage‑point increase terminates after the second COLA‑based adjustment, limiting long‑term benefit gains.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Introduced November 17, 2025 by Tom Barrett · Last progress November 17, 2025
Increases monthly VA wartime disability pay for veterans receiving aid and attendance by adding a supplemental $833.33 per month beginning December 1, 2026. It also ties certain Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) survivor payments to Social Security cost‑of‑living adjustments plus an extra 1.0 percentage point for the first two increases after enactment. Changes to VA housing and pension law extend several cutoff dates to September 30, 2036, and expand VA home‑loan eligibility to additional Reserve and National Guard service categories and to individuals who served at least 14 days and then completed entry‑level and skill training (retroactive to service on or after September 11, 2001). Those new short‑service home‑loan eligibles face an added 1.00 percentage‑point loan fee, and VA must notify the Department of Defense about newly eligible personnel.