Veterans Pension rates run on a fixed calendar: they reset every Dec. 1, and the reset follows Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment. VA’s rates page shows the last one took effect Dec. 1, 2025, at 2.8%. The tables for the reset due this Dec. 1, including the Aid and Attendance and Housebound amounts, have not been posted.
Why a Social Security announcement moves a VA benefit
The link is statutory. Title 38, section 5312 directs the VA secretary to raise pension rates “by the same percentage as the percentage by which” Social Security benefit amounts are increased, effective on the date of that increase. Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano announced the 2027 Social Security adjustment on October 14: 3.6%.
VA’s rates page shows the pattern. Its current tables reflect the Dec. 1, 2025 increase, with an increase factor of 2.8%, and its net worth limit runs “From December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026.” Past-rate tables are posted for increases effective Dec. 1 of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The reset matters most to veterans already receiving pension and to wartime veterans deciding whether to file. Households that already get the benefit are the ones whose payments move. Households that have never applied face an older question first: whether service, age or disability, and income and net worth fit the pension at all.
Aid and Attendance and Housebound ride on top of a pension
VA’s Aid and Attendance page says the benefit may be available to someone who gets a VA pension and meets at least one condition. These include needing help with bathing, feeding or dressing, staying in bed much of the day because of illness, living in a nursing home because of disability-related loss of abilities, or having severely limited eyesight.
Housebound is the second add-on. It requires a VA pension and a permanent disability that keeps the person at home most of the time. VA says one person cannot receive both. Each is paid as a monthly amount added to the monthly pension, and the page names qualified veterans and survivors as the audience.
That structure explains why the reset reaches three tables at once, the basic pension, Housebound and Aid and Attendance. A veteran without the base pension has no add-on to raise. The first claim to settle is the pension itself, and Form 21P-527EZ is the application for it.
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Who the pension is written for
VA’s eligibility page, dated September 3, 2026, sets four tests in plain terms. The veteran must not have a dishonorable discharge, and yearly family income and net worth must fall within limits set by Congress. Net worth counts personal property minus debts, leaves out the home, the car and most furnishings, and includes a spouse’s.
Service must have included at least one day of wartime. For active duty that began before September 8, 1980, VA requires 90 days of service. For enlisted service that began after September 7, 1980, it requires 24 months or the full period called up. The recognized periods include World War II, December 7, 1941 through December 31, 1946, and Korea, June 27, 1950 through January 31, 1955.
Vietnam counts from August 5, 1964 through May 7, 1975, or from November 1, 1955 for service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Gulf War period began August 2, 1990 and has no end date set. On top of service, one of four conditions must apply: age 65 or older, permanent and total disability, long-term nursing-home care because of a disability, or receipt of SSDI or SSI.
Filing Form 21P-527EZ, and the forms that follow it
VA’s how-to-apply page lists five routes for the pension application. A veteran can apply online on VA.gov, complete VA Form 21P-527EZ and upload it through QuickSubmit, mail it to the Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365, or bring it to a VA regional office. The fifth is working with an accredited attorney, claims agent or veterans service organization representative.
Aid and Attendance has its own paperwork. VA says a medical examiner must complete the examination section when applying online, or the veteran uses VA Form 21-2680, which also goes to the Janesville address. A nursing-home resident also submits VA Form 21-0779. The documents to gather include household income, asset value and unreimbursed medical expenses.
VA’s intent-to-file form, 21-0966, sets a potential effective date that may allow retroactive payments if the claim is approved. It is not needed for someone who applies online while signed in with an identity-verified account. VA says it may help a veteran who is not verified or who applies with the PDF form.
The number still missing is the 2027 table
The rates page was last updated December 18, 2025, and its newest table is the one effective Dec. 1, 2025. The 2027 Veterans Pension and Aid and Attendance amounts are not on it. The percentage is public through the Social Security announcement. The dollar tables, and the net worth limit that starts Dec. 1, 2026, are the figures to look for on that page.
Nothing in VA’s application steps waits on those tables. The intent-to-file form exists to fix a start date, and the filing routes are open now. For a wartime veteran or a surviving spouse, the open question is not the new rate but whether a claim has been filed at all.
Is a wartime veteran in the family already on VA pension?
A VA pension claim that never gets filed pays nothing, and the Aid and Attendance add-on cannot be paid without it. The Dec. 1 reset only raises rates for households already in the system.
The Veterans Benefits Action Kit lays out the three VA pension levels including Aid and Attendance, and how to file for free on VA Form 21P-527EZ. It also includes a claim tracker, so each form, date and call has a place to be written down.
Part 2 of the kit is devoted to Aid and Attendance and Housebound, and Part 7 covers getting help without being robbed, which includes the pension-poacher warning signs.
Get the kit with the three VA pension levels and the 21P-527EZ filing steps →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
