Readers of Tom Philpott's Military Update column sound off.

No Relief From Concurrent Receipt For 40% Disabled

I retired from the Coast Guard after 21 years and have a disability rating of 40 percent from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

How will the fiscal 2010 budget proposal on concurrent receipt affect my pay, if it is passed?  Will I be entitled to my disability pay plus my retirement in a couple of years?

SAM NAULT
Via e-mail

No. There is no language in either the House or the Senate defense authorization bill for fiscal 2010 to allow concurrent receipt for military retirees who have VA disability ratings of 40 percent or lower.

The only provision on concurrent receipt, found in the House bill and not yet agreed to by senators, would take a first modest step toward adopting the Obama administration's plan to allow concurrent receipt for service members medically retired by their branch of service.

Most of these "Chapter 61" retirees were forced from service by ailments or injuries before they could serve 20 years to qualify for regular retirement.

The administration's plan is to make all Chapter 61 retirees eligible for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay.  The House bill would authorize only the first year of the Obama plan and hasn't found funds yet to continue even those payments beyond a single year.  But effective Jan. 1, 2010, it would expand CRDP to Chapter 61 retirees having fewer than 20 years of service and VA disability ratings of 100 or 90 percent.

The principle behind concurrent receipt is that the Department of Defense should pay retirees for their years of service and allow VA to continue to pay for disabilities incurred.  For many disabled retirees, earned retired pay is reduced or offset by their disability compensation.

Calculating concurrent receipt for Chapter 61 retirees is a bit complex and would consider three "moving parts", as Defense officials explain it.  They are gross retired pay based on military disability; retired pay earned for years of service, and VA compensation. To prevent duplicative disability pay, a Special Rule would apply.  It states that when the amount of DoD disability retirement exceeds retired pay earned for total years' served, that difference is subject to offset by VA disability compensation.

A House-Senate conference committee will decide soon whether to accept the House plan to help only Chapter 61 retirees with 90 and 100 percent disability ratings.  Non-medical retirees with VA disability ratings or 40 percent or lower, however, will continue to see their retired pay offset by amounts they receive in VA disability payments. – Tom Philpott

 

Entitlement Mentality

I am a 28-year veteran and I dislike the lack of objectivity often displayed in your columns regarding benefits, disability pay and more.

I believe the military ethos has become infected with the "entitlement" mentality.  Get what you can, trump up anything and everything to suck up more free stuff.  It is out of control and is being fueled by the VA.

For every true disability claimant, who we should do everything for, there are another three to five claimants who suffer only from standard aging infirmities.  I see it every day, living so close to an Air Force base.  Fraud and abuse are widespread.  It's disgusting and an insult to our veterans who have bona fide injuries.  It is out of control!

KURT STINEMETZ
Prattville, Ala.

Burden Sharing

I see the same people deploying over and over.

I see other soldiers never deploying, or only going to Kuwait for their combat patch, or only going for one-to-three months and coming home because of this or that.

Some play the I'm-going-to-submit-my-retirement-papers game and never do.

Where is the equality in the Army's deployment cycle?

E. H.
Fort Stewart, Ga.

Overcharged for SBP

When I signed up late for the military's Survivor Benefit Plan in 1993 I was charged a penalty which equals 48 percent of my current monthly SBP premium.  I assume these extra dollars were meant to recoup premiums I do not pay between my retirement date and 1993.  Has anyone given any thought to what happens once this penalty amount equals or exceeds the amount of premiums I would have paid, had I taken SBP when I retired?

I used some extremely bad judgment when I retired but is it fair to penalize me for the rest of my life?  This was what I agreed to when I signed up because there were no other offers.  But that all changed during later SBP Open Seasons and the arrival of the 30-year paid up program.

Those who enrolled later during the two Open Season periods were offered the chance to pay their back premiums plus interest and enjoy the same status they would have had they elected to take SBP on retirement.

Why were the 1992-93 enrollees excluded from this opportunity?

Had I taken SBP at retirement in 1979 I would be paid up this year and would have paid in approximately $27,000.  As it is, I have paid $26,500.00 in premiums plus the penalty I am being charged.  I am 72 years old.  In our case, though I have nearly paid as much as my peers who are about paid up, I am required to pay normal premiums plus the 48 percent for another 16 years, at which time I will have paid for 360 months.

By then, I will be 88 and will have paid more than double what my peers did for the same amount of SBP coverage.

Is this fair?

J. M.
Retired E-7
Via e-mail

Disabled Vet V. Retiree

I was in the service for four years and was discharged in September 1970.  About a year ago, I was awarded a 30-percent disability rating.

Am I entitled to discount shopping on any base because of this disability rating?   

WILLIAM CLEMENS
Via e-mail

No.  If you had received a disability rating of 30 percent from your branch of service in 1970, you would have been "retired" from service rather than separated.  With that retiree status you would have been eligible for discount shopping on base.

Your disability rating, however, was awarded post-service, by the VA, and does not bestow military retiree status. – T. P.

 

Letters may be edited for clarity or length.  Write to Military Forum, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA  20120-1111, send e-mail to militaryforum@aol.com or visit www.militaryupdate.com.