Injured and ill veterans their dependents and survivors in receipt of VA compensation benefits will receive a 0.3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase beginning January 1, 2017.
On July 22, 2016, H.R. 5588, the Veterans’ Compensation COLA Act of 2016, was signed into law by the President and became Public Law 114-197. The bill did not contain the contested round-down provision, which would have resulted in compensation rates being rounded down to the nearest whole dollar. Instead, VA compensation beneficiaries will receive their full COLA.
On October 19, 2016, the Social Security Administration announced that Social Security beneficiaries would receive a 0.3% COLA increase. Because veterans COLAs are tied to Social Security adjustments, veterans compensation rates will increase by 0.3% effective December 2016 and will be realized in compensation payments beginning January 1, 2017.
“Military retirees and individuals receiving veterans benefits will see only a 0.3 percent cost-of-living increase in their federal benefits next year, a nominal increase matching 2016’s hike” according to an article by Leo Shane of the Military Times.
The article goes on to say that, “on Tuesday, officials from the Social Security Administration announced the small raise, the third consecutive year the benefits adjustment will be under 0.5 percent. Since 2009, the cost-of-living hike has been more than 2 percent only once, when it reached 3.6 percent in 2011. Veterans benefits are not automatically tied to the Social Security increase, but in July lawmakers passed legislation linking the two benefits for 2017. In the last few decades, veterans have seen their annual adjustment differ from the Social Security COLA only one time, and then only due to minor rounding differences.”
Additional information can be found by checking out COLA17.