Pennsylvania Blind Veterans Pension

Pennsylvania pays a blind veteran $150 per month. It is a state pension paid in addition to any federal VA compensation, not offset against it, and there is no income or asset test. Eligibility has three parts. The veteran has to have been a resident of Pennsylvania upon entering military service. Note that this is the home of record at entry rather than current residence, which is the opposite of how most state benefits are written and catches people who moved to Pennsylvania later. The statute excludes only "any person separated ... under other than honorable conditions", so an honorable or general discharge qualifies, and the Adjutant General's decision on eligibility is final. And the veteran has to have suffered a service-connected injury or incurred a service-connected disease that resulted in the loss of vision. The blindness test is a measurement, not a rating percentage. 51 Pa.C.S. 7701(a) says "blindness to the extent that he or she has 3/60 or 10/200 or less normal vision". The Department's page (read 2026-10-24) reads it as acuity with correcting lenses in the better eye, "OR ... where the widest diameter of the visual field of the better eye has contracted to an angular distance of not greater than 20º"; the field route is the Department's, not the statute's words. Because it is stated that way, the rating filter in this catalog cannot decide it, and a veteran should not assume a particular combined rating opens or closes the door. The loss of vision does have to be service connected here. That distinguishes this from some other states' blind annuities, which reach blindness from any cause. Apply through the County Director of Veterans Affairs for the county where you live, or write to the Department at [email protected]. The County Directors are accredited service officers and do not charge.