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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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On Oct. 16, House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Chris Smith, R-N.J., announced a final agreement on concurrent receipt with Senate leaders and the White House. Retired Navy Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan, Jr., president of the Military Officers Association of America, one of several organizations represented at the press announcement, said: "This is an extremely gratifying victory for disabled retirees. MOAA is extremely pleased that years of lobbying efforts by MOAA and others have paid such great dividends for thousands upon thousands of disabled servicemen and women. This new legislation won't solve the whole concurrent receipt problem, but it's a giant step forward that will mean as much as $25,000 a year or more for 100 percent disabled retirees. We deeply appreciate the efforts of legislators who have fought so hard on this issue." Details: Full concurrent receipt for military retirees who are rated 50 percent or more disabled by the VA will be phased-in over a period of 10 years beginning Jan. 1, 2004. Combat Related Special Compensation will be expanded, effective Jan. 1, 2004, to include all retirees with combat and combat-related disabilities regardless of percentage of disability. In both cases, Guard and Reserve retirees, including those with less than 7,200 retirement points, will be eligible. A 13-member commission to study possible changes to the VA disability system will be established, with four commissioners to be appointed by the House, four by the Senate, and five by the President. At least seven must have earned a Silver Star or higher decoration. All provisions of the agreement will be part of the fiscal 2004 Defense authorization bill. Legion: Concurrent Receipt Deal Not "Just"The dollar-for-dollar "disabled veterans" tax" is set for repeal for some 50 percent of military retirees who have been awarded disability compensation from the VA. But what about the other 50 percent, asks American Legion commander John Brieden. "It's a matter of priorities. Just compensation for service-disabled military retirees should be no less a priority than rebuilding Baghdad." Brieden continues: "I'm sure a lot of hard work went into this, and we appreciate it. But creating a two-tiered benefits system,that favors one group of service-disabled military retirees over another, is not the answer. Creating a commission to study VA's disability-compensation system -- a system which requires medical evidence to prove a claim and is scrutinized by congressional Veterans’ Affairs committees, an appeals process, and a federal court -- is not the answer. The answer is to repeal the tax for all service-disabled military retirees." |
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