Veterans who receive VA disability compensation are set to get a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment, but broader economic pressures could reduce how far that increase goes. The new adjustment would add about $6.50 a month for a veteran rated 10% and roughly $142 for a veteran rated 100% with no dependents. During the same period used to calculate the COLA, gasoline prices increased 34.2%.
Federal data indicate that energy costs are the fastest-growing part of the household budget. How much that affects veterans depends on factors such as what they drive, how far they travel for care and how they heat their homes.
The Department of Veterans Affairs did not respond to Military.com's request for comment.
The Numbers Behind the Raise
Applying the 3.6% increase to the VA’s current rate table shows what the adjustment means at each disability level.
A veteran with no dependents rated 10% currently receives $180.42 a month and would gain about $6.50.
At 30%, the current $552.47 would rise by about $19.89. A 50% rating would add roughly $40.78 to $1,132.90.
A 70% rating would add about $65.10 to $1,808.45, and a 100% rating would add roughly $141.79 to $3,938.58, or about $1,700 over a full year.
These are estimates based on the rates now in effect. Final figures will be released when the VA publishes its official 2027 compensation tables.
Where Prices Are Rising the Fastest
Energy stands out in the latest federal inflation data, and by a wide margin.
Overall consumer prices rose 3.7% in the 12 months through September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the energy index increased 20.4%.
Gasoline was up 34.2% over that span, and fuel oil rose 74.2%. Those numbers reflect the previous year rather than what will happen next, and the coming winter is expected to be uneven.
The Energy Information Administration said this month that households that heat with oil can expect to pay about 21% more this season. Homes heated with electricity are also expected to face higher bills.
Families that use natural gas or propane, about half the country, are likely to spend less than they did last winter.
Other parts of the budget have not been as volatile. Food prices rose 2.5% year over year, shelter increased 3.2%, and medical care rose 1.5%, all below the COLA rate.
The pressure is real, but it appears to be concentrated in certain categories rather than across the board.
Flat Mileage Rates and Higher Fuel Costs
For many disabled veterans, driving is unavoidable.
Veterans rated 30% or higher, among others, are eligible for mileage reimbursement when traveling to VA appointments. Under published rates, the department pays 41.5 cents per mile.
That reimbursement rate does not change with gasoline prices, and a $6 round-trip deductible applies to each appointment until an $18 monthly cap is reached.
The annual adjustment also raises another issue.
Federal COLAs are based on the CPI-W, an index that tracks the spending patterns of urban wage earners and clerical workers rather than veterans with service-connected disabilities.
When asked whether the Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps data comparing disabled veterans’ spending, or disability-related household spending more broadly, with that index, the agency said it does not.
“We do not have the data you’re seeking,” the bureau’s press office told Military.com in an email, while pointing to experimental research indexes that it said “may be associated with larger measurement error” than official measures.
How the 3.6% Figure Was Calculated
Under federal law, the adjustment is tied to the average CPI-W for July, August and September compared with the same three months a year earlier.
That average rose 3.6%, the Social Security Administration said.
For VA benefits, Congress still must pass a veterans COLA law each year to apply the increase to disability compensation.
Lawmakers have done so for decades. Once finalized, the new rates take effect Dec. 1, and the first increased payment arrives at the end of the month.
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