Episode 14: Benefits Veterans Miss After Getting 100%

This episode breaks down some of the most overlooked benefits available after receiving a 100% VA disability rating. Many veterans focus on the monthly compensation itself, but a 100% rating—especially Permanent & Total (P&T)—can open the door to additional benefits that may impact both veterans and their families.

In this episode, we cover:

•  The difference between 100% and 100% Permanent & Total (P&T) 
•  Healthcare benefits that may be available for eligible family members 
•  Education and scholarship opportunities veterans often overlook 
•  Property tax and other state-specific benefits 
•  Why some benefits require additional applications after your rating decision 
•  Common opportunities veterans miss after reaching 100% 

This episode helps veterans better understand what benefits may become available beyond the monthly compensation and why researching these programs can make a significant difference for their family's future.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Denied, delayed, underrated? That's the story for too many veterans, including me. Hey veterans and the families listening in, welcome. My name is Robert Pinero. I'm a Marine Combat Veteran and the founder of Veterans Educating Veterans. I've served two tours in Iraq, and like many veterans, I know how hard it is to get service connected and navigate the VA system. After service, I was frustrated, in pain, and told no more times than I can count, even by VA attorneys. So instead of giving up, I decided to learn the VA process myself. That's what Veterans Educating Veterans is built on. We educate and guide veterans through the VA compensation process, step by step, helping you understand how the system works so you can move forward with confidence, not confusion. I do this work alongside my wife Jillian and for our two daughters because our families live with the impact of service long after the uniform comes off. You deserve the benefits you've earned, not just for yourself, but for the family that stands beside you. Welcome to the War Room.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

The War Room by veterans educating veterans.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Every claim is different, so don't take this as an individual guidance.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

All right, welcome back everyone to the war room. Again, my name's James. I'm the senior coach here. Um, today's episode, we're going to be talking about benefits veterans miss after getting that 100%. With me, I got our CEO, Robert Pinero. I got our rookie of the year, Cody Kratzenberg. And then we got Jesse, our rookie coming up. All right. Today on this episode, there's a lot of veterans that once they reach the 100%, they feel like, hey, I've meeted this milestone that's fantastic, but they forget and miss out on everything that comes along with it. Rob, let us know what this is about.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

So veterans often focus only on the monthly compensation. Uh that makes sense because the check is probably the biggest visible result. Um, and that back pay too. Um, but the rating can open other doors that many veterans never review. So today we want to talk about what veterans may miss after they get the 100%. So let's start with why so many veterans stop at the check and never look deeper into what else they can get.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Getting 100%, you know, can feel like an end of a long fight for a lot of these veterans, which it is for some of them. Some of them may struggle for years and years um and fight with the VA to get there. Um, but you got to remember once you get that 100% PNT status, it's not over. There's a lot of state benefits that go along with it that you they may not even realize that they're entitled to that come along with these ratings. And it doesn't even have to be the 100%. Some of these take effect um much lower, 30, 50, 60, depending on your state. Um, so absolutely you do not want to be missing out on these. So today we're gonna be talking about that for sure.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

There's a lot of um uh benefits. Uh, the ones I'm talking about specifically, I guess, are gonna come with the hundred percent PT. Um, like the champ VA for your family, that's free healthcare for your family. That's a huge one for me and my family. That was a big one. Um, there's also educational related benefits, that's a big one as well. Uh, this one depends on state, I believe, but property tax benefits. I know Michigan is one that does property tax. Um uh what's the word I'm looking at?

SPEAKER_01 3:53

California does another one, New York, and they're all dependent on state by state and how much I think they give like discounts in the yeah, depending on what the state's gonna be.

SPEAKER_04 4:01

I think Florida's in the works of that right now. It's in the I think it's in the house for property tax.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

No, they Florida's actually tax-free if you're a hundred percent. Oh, are they? Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_04 4:12

So there's a bunch of different ones, and it is that one does vary state by state. So there are some that are dependent on state, so it is dependent on where you live.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Right, and a lot of veterans just focus on the winning portion that you know. It is big though. That is big. It is, but there is other stuff that other benefits that come with it that um can be just as big. Exactly. And also, like some veterans will just stop working and stuff. Yeah, it's fine, but that's your opportunity to increase your income, you know, and and you know, probably start your own little business that you want to do, like it's it creates other opportunities for you and your family to build for the future.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

So it gives you options, right? Right. So the point is not just getting the rating, it's doing your research. Um of course we have uh we have certain um documents that uh we can provide um that tell you what what items ha we have in each state that we know about. I think we were just talking about that earlier. I think there's uh what was the name of it? Fold Flags of Honor. Flags of Honor, right? They give a scholarship every year if you're either at 90 or at 100. So from 90 to 100.

SPEAKER_04 5:32

Folds of honor by fault, folds of honor.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Oh, I apologize, folds. Folds of honor, folds of honor. Um, they give you a five thousand dollar scholarship for your child for any educational purposes. Um, and I think you researched it and it said it wasn't for any type of grade, it was it was even up to college and everything.

SPEAKER_04 5:51

Yeah, absolutely. Anything educational based that's required for them would be covered for that five thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Yeah, so if you you know want to put your children in you know private schools, and I don't know, you have a tuition of seven thousand, they get five thousand towards it. So, you know, that's two thousand dollars a year, which uh I don't think you'll get that anywhere for most vets don't even know about that. I mean, that's huge. The the point is understanding what the rating unlocks, right? So let's talk about why full benefits review should happen after a major rating change.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, especially when she's just talking about a hundred percent. Um, because the hundred percent, you can have a hundred percent rating that is not PT or permanent in total. That PT status is is the big game changer um for the state benefits. So just being a hundred percent overall and not having a PT status does not unlock those um benefits. So you must make sure that you are the PT of permanent in total um with that. Um and they vary by state to state. So depending on what state you live in currently, um, depends on what benefits you are entitled to. And some of those even have clauses in there that you, you know, um you must have enlisted in that state in the military to obtain those. So there are certain circumstances that follow. So you definitely want to look up exactly what each your state um allows for you. The next thing is these things do not apply automatically. So once you get 100%, um, you must go to your county office building if it's like tax exemption, or show proof for you know, if it's a vehicle registrations and tax breaks on that, you got to go to the dean, but you have to take the appropriate route to obtain these benefits that you're entitled to. They don't just magically appear for you.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

Absolutely. One of the things you want to do as well is making sure that you have your dependence updated on your VA website. That's not anything that happens automatically either. So whether you're having a new child or have been married recently, whatever the case is, you want to make sure that gets updated as well because that's just additional income as well. Um, there's a lot of state-specific programs that you can be entitled to or enrolled in. Uh, Michigan gets free vehicle registration, like you said, for Michigan SOS, you need to bring your, I think it's called the award letter in that shows your specific um rating, I believe is all you need, and it gets a non-expiring VA plate. Um, there's educational opportunities as well. Um, and I I don't know specifically the financial relief tied to this status. Um, there's probably specific ones to specific states um with that one. Um this for a lot of veterans is gonna be like a reset for them to be able to sit back and and reassess everything going on, and this gives them breathing room, essentially.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

So to come back on what you're saying about dependence, this also applies if your child turns 18, they should automatically but make sure they do, or if you file for a divorce. So if you're divorced, you make sure you take them off because if you wait a year and do it, they're gonna want their money back. And they will come now, they will take it directly from that check. They'll stipend that their VA cop. So make sure you're up to date with your with your dependents.

SPEAKER_03 9:05

Yeah, and definitely with the divorce part too. You get a divorce as soon as you get the divorce papers, you put that right in, and and uh you start saving that little money, extra money that they're giving you because um they would keep paying you until your claim is decided. And then once they see the back date on that, they're gonna want their money back. So um a lot of the things that um the claim unlocks, uh, a lot of veterans they receive that money, it's all good, but they unlock so much more than just that money. You know, like like you guys said, you know, the health care, you know, the property tax, the you know, there's also student loan forgiveness as well, if you have that. And then um, you know, and working working towards um making us making it better, making it more for you and your family's future.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

So just to give you an insight on like Florida, um, for a spouse or child, uh, Florida has a scholarship for children and spouses of deceased or disabled veterans. Um it's for dependents of veterans who are 100% service connected, permanent and total. The veteran must generally have been a Florida resident for 12 months immediately before the disability award date. So there's specifics to this. And the student must meet Florida residency and school requirements. So um this is just some of the stuff I'm I'm picking on Florida because I'm moving here soon. Um but uh you know, there's a lot of uh a lot of items that come with the 100% permanent total, and it's something definitely that you would want to look into.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Hey Rob, isn't there the the the thing um stuff for the veterans about the state parks and stuff?

SPEAKER_02 10:53

In Florida, there was there was definitely uh the parks. So the state parks, um, you go there, you hand over your uh DOD uh 100% veterans um card, and they see that you're 100% service connected, and they'll give you a lifetime membership to the state parks in Florida. So you'll never have to pay to get yeah, the beaches are included. Um so one was in Naples. Uh we went to uh the Naples, uh I think it's Vanderbilt Beach, if I'm not mistaken. And we went right in and you know, I think they were charging like 10 bucks a car, but still, you know, 10 bucks is 10 bucks. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

It's maybe a six-pack. It can't be a rental because I tried. It has to be your car. Oh no, all that I went to Daytona Beach and I showed my hundred percent disabled veteran card, and they said the car has to be registered to you.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

But it it wasn't a membership though, it was it's the membership is to you, it's to you, not so they would charge you for the car, but the but but that membership, you being the one driving the car and you rented the car, you should be done been able to get in for free.

SPEAKER_04 12:12

Should have fought them.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yeah, New York has something very similar as uh Lifetime Liberty Pass that you apply for your DD 214 showing your war letter, and they give you a lifetime liberty card and allows you into state parks for free. There's like 180 plus all New York State. Um, you also at 100% get like discounted uh um hunting and fishing license, so definitely recreational license, you know. Michigan's free license. Right. So that's good. But as far as the we've been talking about, you know, the state parks, you know, that's huge. We have a ton of you know, New York is huge state parks in upstate, obviously outside the cities. Um and you know, getting into these, um, what Jesse was saying, it is one car because I tried, I was going on my motorcycle, and then my wife was behind me at the time, and I showed them my card and I got in for free, but they did not so they still have to pay. So it is per vehicle.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Well, well, that's why you get your wife a dependent card.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Well, we're divorced now, so points mute. Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 13:19

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Wow, wow, wow. Well we're gonna kill the mood.

SPEAKER_04 13:31

So I think the big thing is to not stop at the award letter of 100%, right? There's so many more benefits that open up to you. Um, healthcare, um, passes, vehicle registrations, property tax. Obviously, a lot of this driven by state and what they do for you. Um, so if you're looking to move, look for a state that's very VA veteran friendly. Um I don't know any off the top of my head that are super friendly. Texas, I think, might be one.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Texas, Florida, Florida, yeah, Florida. South Carolina. Surprisingly, New York is not terrible. Um that is surprising. Yeah, for for VA benefits.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

I have an objection to that one.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

As far as VA benefits goes for uh for the 100% PT veterans. Um fair enough. It's it is not uh terrible. There are definitely other states, you know, that have you know it depends on what you're looking for.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

You can also get your card, you know, to go on post. Yeah, yeah, the commissary. You make an appointment with Deers and um and you can uh go over there and get your card. You have to just bring proof of your decision letter or anything like that. You get a little card stating that you're a hundred percent uh disabled veteran.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

Yeah, and get some discounted uh cigarettes and liquor and they sell that to commissary.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Yeah, of course they do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:51

I don't go on post anything in the law.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yeah, there's no tax, like they they can't state tax cigarettes and stuff. Remember that those cigarettes usually have like the state symbol on there because they the state taxes it, but on federal um property, when they sell it there, they don't have any stamps on it because they don't tack the state doesn't tax that. So they're actually a lot cheaper. They actually caught some cheap long darts.

SPEAKER_04 15:19

What reselling the stuff?

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Yeah, reselling.

SPEAKER_04 15:21

Oh damn. Yeah, it's an option. We're gonna try it. Don't blame you, boys. All right.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

So uh you do not condone it though, either.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

To close this out, uh, a rating decision can open more doors um than veterans realize, right? So um do your research, um, hit us up, let us know if you got 100%, whether you came through us or not. Um, we do have a list of items for each state um that we can send you. Um, and number two, congratulations if you got 100%. Um, but from all of us here, thank you for watching. Like and subscribe if you like what you see. And if you want other topics, leave a comment. If not, we'll see you on the next one.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

The war room by veterans educating veterans.