Benefits for former prisoners of war (POWs)

You may be eligible for disability benefits if you have a current illness or injury (known as a condition) that affects your body or mind and you meet both of these requirements.

Both of these must be true:

• We believe your time spent as a POW caused your condition, and
• At any time following active-duty service, your condition became at least 10% disabling. We use a disability rating system to measure the severity of your disability.

These benefits cover conditions that we believe were caused by time spent as a POW (called presumptive disabilities). We’ve decided to cover these conditions because of studies that have been done on the long-term effects of captivity, deprivation, trauma, and cold injury.

For former POWs held captive for any length of time

Conditions that affect your body, including:

• Osteoporosis (if you filed your claim on or after October 10, 2008, and you have a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD)
• Lasting damage from frostbite
• Posttraumatic osteoarthritis (pain and swelling in your joints that happens when a past injury causes a joint—such as your knee or elbow—to wear out)
• A stroke or problems caused by a stroke (such as memory loss, loss of speech, or weakness in an arm or leg)
• Hypertensive vascular disease, including hypertensive heart disease, and related problems (such as a stroke, blood clots, or other serious issues)

Conditions that affect your mind, including:

• A neuropsychiatric condition
• Psychosis
• Dysthymic disorder (also called “persistent depressive disorder”)
• Any of the anxiety states (such as PTSD)

For former POWs held captive for 30 days or more

Conditions that affect your body, including:

• Osteoporosis (if you filed your claim on or after September 28, 2009; no PTSD diagnosis required)
• Helminthiasis
• Peripheral neuropathy, except where directly related to an illness caused by an infection
• Peptic ulcer disease
• Chronic dysentery
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Cirrhosis of the liver

Any nutritional deficiency, including:

• Avitaminosis
• Beriberi, including beriberi heart disease
• Malnutrition, including optic atrophy connected to malnutrition
• Pellagra

Veterans