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MISSISSIPPI DIVISION OF MEDICAID Eligibility Policy and Procedures Manual CHAPTER 200A – Income: ABD Categories Page |51 Effective Month: July 2025 The payment amount is based on the veteran’s own income and the income of his/her spouse and children. Maximum annual pension rates are established by Congress. Disability pension payments take dependents’ needs into account when determining the payment; however, the VA normally will not make a payment directly to a dependent during the lifetime of the veteran. Instead, the VA increases the amount of the veteran’s basic pension if the veteran has dependents. The VA pension payment increased for dependents is an augmented VA payment. A VA pension payment paid directly to the dependent of a living veteran is an apportioned payment. A VA augmented or apportioned pension applies to disability pension payments, surviving spouse pension payments and Special Acts of Congress pensions but does not apply to surviving child or Medal of Honor pensions, as described below. 1. Disability Pension Payments • Improved disability pension payments – When a veteran is eligible for a disability pension, he or she will receive benefits under the VA improved disability pension program which was established on January 1, 1979. A veteran is eligible for the improved pension when he or she has at least 90 days of active-duty service with at least 1 day of service during a wartime period. A veteran who entered active duty after September 7, 1980, must have served at least 24 months or the full period ordered to active duty with at least 1 day of service during a wartime period. The veteran must have been discharged from military service honorably and also be 1) age 65 or over; or 2) totally and permanently disabled; or 3) a patient in a nursing home receiving skilled care; or 4) receiving Social Security disability benefits or SSI. • Protected disability pension payments – Prior to the VA improved disability pension program, disability pensions were called Old Law and Section 306 disability pensions. These protected pensions were phased out and replaced by the improved disability pension program. Any pension recipient who elected to remain on the protected pension continued to receive the payment rate received when the program was phased out with no cost-of-living adjustments to the payment. Medicaid applicants in receipt of old law pension may apply for improved disability pension payments.