House Passes Veterans Benefits Bill Restoring Full Pay for Combat-Injured Retirees

The House passed a sweeping veterans benefits bill on Veterans Day, restoring full retirement pay to tens of thousands of combat-injured retirees — while paying for it with disability-rating changes that veterans’ groups warn could affect up to 1.5 million veterans.

The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, H.R. 9237, passed by voice vote at about 2:46 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, according to the House Clerk’s floor record. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uphill climb.

Key Points

• The House passed the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) by voice vote on Veterans Day, November 11, 2026.
• Its centrepiece, the Major Richard Star Act, would let about 54,000 combat-injured retirees collect full military retirement pay plus VA disability compensation.
• The Congressional Budget Office puts the gain at about $1,450 more per month on average.
• To offset the cost, the bill writes VA disability rating changes into law, including removing the standalone 10% rating for tinnitus.
• Veterans with mild or treatment-controlled sleep apnea could be rated at 0%, saving an estimated $57 billion over 10 years.

What Happened

The House approved the bill by voice vote on the afternoon of Veterans Day, a timing its supporters chose deliberately. The package combines more than 60 veterans-related measures covering health care, disability pay, survivor benefits, the GI Bill and VA bureaucracy, sponsored by House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost of Illinois.

The bill’s centrepiece is the Major Richard Star Act, a long-sought fix for what supporters call the “wounded warrior tax.” Under current law, service members medically retired for combat injuries with fewer than 20 years of service see their retirement pay reduced dollar for dollar by the VA disability compensation they receive. The Star Act would end that offset, letting about 54,000 combat-injured retirees collect both payments in full — about $1,450 more a month on average, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

But the bill does not simply add benefits: to pay for the Star Act, Section 108 writes changes to the VA disability rating schedule into law. Tinnitus, one of the most common service-connected conditions, would lose its standalone 10% rating. Veterans with mild sleep apnea, or sleep apnea controlled by treatment, could be rated at 0%. The changes would save an estimated $57 billion over 10 years; the Disabled American Veterans says they could affect up to 1.5 million veterans.

Background and Context

The offset at the heart of the Star Act dates back decades. Retirement pay and VA disability compensation are treated as overlapping benefits, and the law has long required one to be reduced by the other. Congress has carved out exceptions for some retirees, but combat-injured members retired before 20 years were left behind.

Bills to end the offset have been introduced again and again, winning broad support while stalling over the same obstacle: the cost. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act is the most ambitious attempt yet to break that logjam, pairing the Star Act with a package large enough to carry it and a pay-for to fund it. That breadth is also what has made the bill so divisive.

What the Veterans Benefits Bill Changes

The bill’s 60-plus provisions touch health care, disability pay, survivor benefits, the GI Bill and the VA itself. Its headline change is the Star Act: about 54,000 combat-injured retirees medically retired with fewer than 20 years of service would receive full military retirement pay alongside full VA disability compensation.

On the other side of the ledger, Section 108 rewrites parts of the disability rating schedule. The standalone 10% rating for tinnitus would disappear, and veterans whose sleep apnea is mild or controlled by treatment could be rated at 0%. The Congressional Budget Office puts the savings at about $57 billion over a decade — money that, in effect, funds the Star Act’s expansion. The DAV warns up to 1.5 million veterans could be affected; supporters say the rating schedule has not kept pace with modern medicine.

Reactions

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans, two of the country’s largest veterans’ organisations, opposed the trade-off at the heart of the package, arguing the rating changes would take money from a far larger group of veterans than the Star Act would help. House Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the bill, joining the veterans’ groups in objecting to the rating changes.

Supporters, led by Chairman Bost, called it the first realistic path to delivering the Star Act after years of stalled efforts.

Why It Matters

For the roughly 54,000 combat-injured retirees at its centre, the stakes are immediate: about $1,450 more a month, on average. For the far larger group touched by the rating changes, the stakes are just as real. Tinnitus and sleep apnea are among the most common service-connected conditions, and a 0% rating or the loss of a 10% rating can mean hundreds of dollars a month.

The bill is also a test of how Congress funds veterans’ benefits: if paying for an expansion by tightening the rating schedule becomes the template, it could shape every future veterans’ bill. If the Senate rejects it, the Star Act may once again be left waiting. The House used Veterans Day — when President Donald Trump gave his Veterans Day address at Arlington — to move a bill that would reshape veterans’ compensation.

What Happens Next

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uphill climb: the rating-schedule changes that drew opposition from the VFW, the DAV and House Democrats are unlikely to fare better there without changes.

Separately, a stand-alone Star Act is due a House vote on Thursday, November 12, through a Democratic discharge petition — a procedure that forces a vote even without House leadership’s support. That vote would test support for the Star Act on its own, stripped of the controversial pay-for.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act?
H.R. 9237, a House-passed package of more than 60 veterans measures on health care, disability pay, survivor benefits, the GI Bill and VA bureaucracy, passed by voice vote on Veterans Day, November 11, 2026.

What is the Major Richard Star Act?
The package’s centrepiece. It would let about 54,000 combat-injured retirees medically retired with fewer than 20 years of service collect both full military retirement pay and full VA disability compensation, ending the offset known as the “wounded warrior tax.”

How much more would combat-injured retirees receive?
About $1,450 more per month on average, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Why do veterans’ groups oppose parts of the bill?
The VFW and the Disabled American Veterans oppose the Section 108 rating changes, which would remove the standalone 10% tinnitus rating and could rate mild or treatment-controlled sleep apnea at 0%. The DAV says up to 1.5 million veterans could be affected.

What happens next?
The bill goes to the Senate, where it faces an uphill climb. A stand-alone Star Act is also due a House vote on Thursday, November 12, via a Democratic discharge petition. For more on Veterans Day at Arlington, see the Veterans Day 2026 proclamation and the Tomb Guard’s rebuke at Arlington.