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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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CONCURRENT RECEIPT: PART WIN, PART LOSS The fiscal 2003 defense authorization act, which the President is expected to sign, contains compromise provisions for partial concurrent receipt. Some veterans and veterans organizations have expressed bitterness and dismay atthe slash from earlier plans. For example, American Legion commander, Ronald F. Conley, stated: On the campaign trail a short two years ago, you made repeated promises to give veterans their earned benefits. Well, Mr. President, your record is being written." He concluded: "The American Legion will not rest until all retired disabled military veterans are given the compensation they rightfully earned by honorable service to their country. For more than a century, military retirees who have been awarded disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs have been forced to forfeit $1 of retired pay for every $1 of VA disability pay received. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee in the new Congress,said partial concurrent receipt is at least "a beachhead." (For details, see following item.) CONCURRENT RECEIPT: WHO WINS? Under the partial concurrent receipt included in the fiscal 2003 defense authorization act, the Department of Defense (not the Department of Veterans Affairs) is to start implementing the provisions six months after the President signs the act, which projects an effective date of May of 2003. Details: Payments: "special compensation" for certain disabled retirees (described below) who have at least 20 years of active duty or a combination of active duty time and Reserve points equaling 20 years. Size of the payment will be the full amount of retired pay forfeited due to VA compensation received. Eligibility: (1) any qualifying retiree with a VA disability rating of 10 percent or higher associated with a Purple Heart award, based on the disability rating awarded for the combat wound; or (2) any qualifying retiree with a disability rating of 60 percent or higher for other illnesses or injuries attributable to combat situations, combat-oriented training, hazardous duty, or instrumentalities of war. Numbers Involved: Estimates range from 10,000 to 33,000 eligible retirees, with cost estimates ranging from $200 million to $1 billion annually, depending on how DoD interprets combat-related eligibility. |
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