On October 9, 2018, President Trump signed Public Law 115-258, which provides a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase of 2.8 percent, effective December 1, 2018, for veterans disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for survivors and certain other benefits. VA compensation and DIC benefits are retrospectively paid on the first of each month, for the previous month. This means that the 2.8 COLA increase effective December 1, 2018, will not be included until the January 1, 2019 payment. This increase matches the COLA provided to Social Security recipients.
