Purple Heart Monthly Compensation: VA Pay, CRSC, and Other Benefits

How Purple Heart monthly compensation really works

The Purple Heart is awarded to service members wounded or killed by enemy action, and to some victims of terrorist attacks. It is an honor, not a payment program. You will not find a "Purple Heart pension" on any VA or Defense Department pay chart, and websites that promise one are mistaken.

What pays is the injury. If a wound, or a condition that grew out of it, still affects you, VA can rate it as a service-connected disability. That rating, shown as a percentage in steps of 10, sets a monthly payment that is tax-free. A rating of 0% is still useful, because it proves service connection and can open other benefits, but it carries no monthly payment.

So the realistic picture for most recipients looks like this:

• Every Purple Heart recipient gets health care priority, GI Bill status (for post-9/11 awards), and state recognition benefits.
• Recipients with a lasting disability from their wounds can get VA disability compensation every month.
• Recipients who also retired from the military may add CRSC or Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) on top of retired pay.

Plenty of recipients have never filed a VA claim, especially those wounded decades ago who healed and went on with life. Conditions can surface or worsen years later, such as hearing loss after a blast, joint damage from shrapnel, or post-traumatic stress. It is never too late to file a first claim.

VA disability compensation rates for wounded veterans

VA raises its rates each year by the same percentage as the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. The table below shows the rates effective December 1, 2025, which reflect the 2.8% COLA for 2026. These are the figures VA listed when we checked on November 6, 2026.

Other steps for a veteran alone are $356.66 at 20%, $795.84 at 40%, $1,435.02 at 60%, $2,102.15 at 80%, and $2,362.30 at 90%. Children and dependent parents raise the amount further at 30% and above. VA's rate tables show every combination.

A new rate is due on December 1

A fresh adjustment normally takes effect every December 1 and shows up in the payment made at the start of January. When we checked, VA had not yet posted its December 1, 2026 tables, so treat the figures above as current until VA publishes the new ones. We will update this page when it does.

Special monthly compensation

Severe wounds can qualify for special monthly compensation (SMC) on top of the regular rate. SMC covers things like the loss, or loss of use, of a hand, foot, or eye, or needing another person's help with daily living. Many combat amputees and blinded veterans receive it. VA lists SMC rates on a separate page, and it usually decides SMC as part of your regular claim.

Why the medal strengthens a disability claim

To win a claim, you generally need three things: a current diagnosis, an event in service, and a medical link between them. For a Purple Heart recipient, the second piece is often settled by the award itself, since the citation documents that you were wounded in combat.

Federal law also gives combat veterans extra room. Under 38 U.S.C. 1154(b), VA must accept a combat veteran's own credible account of an injury or illness that happened in combat, as long as it fits the circumstances of that service, even when no official record of the injury exists. That matters for wounds that were treated in the field and never written up.

VA has also said it gives Purple Heart recipients priority processing for disability claims. Mention the award on your application and include a copy of the citation or a DD-214 that lists it. The award does not raise your rating. Your rating still depends on how much the condition affects you today.

Combat-Related Special Compensation for retirees

For retirees, the Purple Heart matters most through CRSC. Without it, many retirees face a dollar-for-dollar offset: their military retired pay is reduced by the amount of VA disability pay they receive. CRSC is a Defense Department program that restores some or all of that lost retired pay when the disability is combat-related. VA describes the payments as tax-free.

Who qualifies

According to VA, you must meet all of these:

• You are retired and entitled to or receiving military retired pay.
• You have a VA disability rating of at least 10%.
• Your retired pay is currently reduced by your VA disability pay.

You also need one of these retirement situations: 20 or more years of active, Guard, or Reserve service; a Chapter 61 medical retirement with a rating of at least 30%; retirement under the Temporary Early Retirement Act (TERA); or placement on the Temporary or Permanent Disability Retired List.

The Purple Heart is its own category

The disability must come from one of five combat-related situations: armed conflict, hazardous duty, simulated war such as live-fire training, an instrumentality of war such as a military vehicle or weapon, or an activity you received a Purple Heart for. That last category is the simplest to prove. Your Purple Heart citation is the main evidence, together with your VA rating decision showing the wound-related conditions.

How to apply for CRSC

1. Complete DD Form 2860, the claim for CRSC. VA recommends opening the PDF in Adobe Acrobat or Reader rather than a web browser.
2. Attach copies (not originals) of your Purple Heart citation, DD-214, retirement orders, VA decision letters, and relevant medical records.
3. Send it to your own branch of service. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Air and Space Force, and Coast Guard each have their own CRSC office address listed on the form.

Timing counts. VA explains that CRSC has a six-year statute of limitations. To get full back pay, file within six years of the VA rating decision or the date you became entitled to retired pay, whichever comes first. Later claims are limited to six years of back payments.

CRSC or CRDP: choosing between them

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay is the other way retirees get back pay lost to the VA offset. It does not depend on combat. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), which pays both, describes the main differences this way:

You can qualify for both but receive only one. DFAS starts you on whichever pays more and holds an open season each January when you can switch. Your VA compensation keeps arriving no matter which you pick. Because CRSC is tax-free, it can come out ahead even when the gross amounts look close, so compare the after-tax numbers. If your retirement involves a government shutdown or pay delay, see our guide to military retirement pay during a shutdown.

VA health care priority and copays

VA sorts enrolled veterans into eight priority groups. VA's eligibility page places Purple Heart recipients in Priority Group 3, alongside former prisoners of war and veterans rated 10% or 20%. If your disability rating is higher, you may land in Group 1 or 2 instead. The Purple Heart alone is enough to enroll, with no income test.

Copays depend on your situation:

• VA's Health Care Benefits Overview lists receipt of a Purple Heart among the criteria for copay-exempt care. In practice this has covered inpatient and outpatient visits.
• Medication copays can still apply for prescriptions that treat conditions not connected to your service. VA's current tiers run from $0 to $11 for a 30-day supply, capped at $700 a year.
• Veterans with a service-connected rating of 10% or higher pay no inpatient or outpatient copays, and Group 1 veterans pay no medication copays.

Copay rules have shifted over the years, so ask the enrollment office at your VA medical center to confirm what you will owe before a large bill arrives. You can apply for health care online, by phone, or in person.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill at the full rate

Most veterans earn a percentage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill based on how long they served on active duty, from 60% up to 100%. VA lists a Purple Heart received on or after September 11, 2001, as one of three ways to qualify for the full 100% level, regardless of time served. You also need an honorable discharge.

At 100%, the GI Bill covers full in-state tuition and fees at public schools, a monthly housing allowance, and a books stipend. This provision began with the Forever GI Bill on August 1, 2018, and it helped recipients whose service was cut short by their wounds. If your service ended on or after January 1, 2013, your benefit does not expire.

Recipients still on active duty can also share the benefit with family. Purple Heart recipients are exempt from the usual service requirement to transfer it, though the transfer must still be requested while serving. Our guide to tuition assistance for military spouses covers how families use those months.

State benefits for Purple Heart recipients

States add their own thanks, and these are often the only benefits tied to the medal alone rather than to a disability rating. They differ widely, so treat the examples below as a sample, not a full list.

Washington: free license plates

Washington's Department of Licensing issues Purple Heart plates to recipients who own a vehicle in the state. The first set is exempt from licensing fees for one vehicle. Surviving spouses and domestic partners can also qualify. You send a copy of your DD-214 with the Military Services and Veterans License Plate Application. Additional vehicles pay regular fees, and the plates are not offered for trailers.

Colorado: free lifetime license and park pass

Colorado law lets any resident who received a Purple Heart get a lifetime resident combination small game hunting and fishing license free of charge. Colorado Parks and Wildlife also gives Purple Heart recipients a free annual Independence Pass for state parks. CPW asks for a Purple Heart certificate or a DD-214 showing the award; the medal itself is not accepted as proof. Residents whose vehicles carry Purple Heart plates can also enter state parks without a pass when the veteran is in the car.

Texas: property tax tied to a disability rating

Property tax breaks are where many recipients are surprised. Most states base them on a VA disability rating, not on the medal. Texas is a good example. Its exemption runs from up to $5,000 of a home's value at a 10% to 29% rating to $12,000 at 70% or more, and a 100% rating can exempt the whole homestead. The Texas Comptroller's guidance does not create a separate Purple Heart exemption, so a rated claim is what unlocks the savings. For general homeowner relief, see our guide to senior property tax relief.

Finding your own state's list

Every state has a veterans affairs department, and most publish a benefits booklet. Look there for license plates, hunting and fishing licenses, park passes, college tuition waivers, and preference in state hiring. Have your DD-214 ready, since nearly every state program asks for it.

Recognition, records, and replacement medals

The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor

The Hall of Honor in New Windsor, New York, is a New York State historic site and the first in the nation devoted to Purple Heart recipients from every branch and every conflict. Its Roll of Honor is a searchable database of recipients that you can also browse online. Enrollment is voluntary, and a recipient, family member, or friend can submit a name. New York State Parks lists hours of Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.

Getting your DD-214 and other records

The National Personnel Records Center keeps most service records. Veterans can request a DD-214 online through eVetRecs or by mailing or faxing Standard Form 180. For discharges less than 62 years ago, basic records are generally free to veterans and next of kin. Records older than that are archival and carry a fee.

Replacing a lost medal

The records center does not issue medals itself. For Army and Air Force veterans, it verifies the awards and forwards the request to the service. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard requests go to those branches. Replacements for veterans are generally free. Family members can request them with the veteran's signed permission, and next of kin can request them after a veteran's death.

Fixing a record that leaves out the award

If your DD-214 does not list a Purple Heart you received, ask your branch's personnel command to correct it. Older cases go to the branch's Board for Correction of Military Records on DD Form 149. The National Archives notes that requests are generally due within three years of finding the error, though boards can waive that in the interest of justice. Send every piece of proof you have: hospital records, the citation, orders, and statements from people who were there.

Filing a VA claim step by step

1. Protect your start date. If you are not ready to file, submit an intent to file online, by phone, or on VA Form 21-0966. You then have one year to finish, and benefits can be paid back to that date.
2. Gather your proof. Your DD-214, the Purple Heart citation, any service treatment records, and current private medical records.
3. File VA Form 21-526EZ. Online is fastest, and starting the online form sets your claim date. You can also mail it, fax it, or bring it to a regional office.
4. Go to the exam. VA usually schedules a compensation and pension (C&P) exam. Describe your worst days honestly, not only your best ones.
5. Read the decision and appeal if needed. You can request a higher-level review, file a supplemental claim with new evidence, or appeal to the Board.

Once rated, retirees should follow up with CRSC, and everyone should update their VA health care enrollment and state benefits. For broader money help while a claim is pending, our holiday help for veterans guide lists charities that assist veteran families.

Who can help you for free?

You do not have to file alone, and you should not pay anyone to file a first claim. VA-accredited representatives from veterans service organizations help at no charge. Accredited attorneys and claims agents can charge only after VA has decided your initial claim, and only with a signed fee agreement on file with VA. You can look up anyone's accreditation on VA's website before you share your records.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart, the congressionally chartered group for combat-wounded veterans, closed its national service officer program in 2018. The Order still runs advocacy, scholarship, and other programs, and some local chapters may point you to help, so it is worth calling. For claim filing, turn to these free options:

• Veterans service organizations such as DAV, the VFW, and the American Legion. You usually do not need to be a member.
• Your state or county veterans service office. VA keeps a directory of state veterans affairs offices.
• VA itself, by phone or at a regional office.

Related guides

• Foreclosure assistance for veterans
• Financial assistance for veterans in Georgia
• VA vendee loans for buying a VA-owned home
• Military retirement pay during a government shutdown

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Benefit rules, rates, and state programs are set by VA, the Department of Defense, and each state, and they can change. National Relief Program is an independent website and is not affiliated with VA, the Department of Defense, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, or any state agency. Applying for VA and Defense Department benefits is always free.