2007 Defense Authorization Bill S.2766/H.R.5122

[bootlace15]

They did it again. For all the wounded warriors who were retired because of Combat Wounds and deemed Unemployable by the VA regardless of the years of service have been shut down again (100% unemployable)

Dropped was the Senate recommended provisions to provide full,immediate cocurrent receipt for disabled retirees designated " Unemployable" by the VA. So we need to bring it back up during the hearings in 07.

Once again when they need a $2.00 pen,and spend $50.00 for it,and they tell you they will take care of us,go ahead and keep getting shot down. Vote the BUMS out in 07 and 08.

[booksbenji]

2007 Defense Authorization Bill S.2766/H.R.5122

so we can read it, 2!!!

[bootlace15]

I clicked on another site i belong to . Its located in the retirement section. They keep us posted on updates. I also get articles from my local senator.

[booksbenji]

The Bill:

http://www.psend.com/users/moaasc/RAOBULL.htm


is this the part U r P/O about:


VA figures to pay 80% of money owed. Some retirees will receive two checks, one from the VA and another from DFAS. Before payments are deposited, affected retirees will get letters explaining reasons for the back pay and how the amounts were calculated. Most of the shortfalls resulted from VA withholding too much disability compensation after CRSC and CRDP began. Traditional VA and DFAS rules on withholding failed to take account of changes to concurrent receipt law. This resulted in a situation where people's entitlement to disability pay had a [start] date prior to the date we actually started paying it. The pay shortfalls can be blamed in part on the considerable complexity of CRDP and CRSC. Congress designed the programs to alleviate, but only for certain career retirees, a century-old ban on concurrent receipt of both military retirement and VA disability compensation. Until CRSC began on 1 JUN 03 and CRDP began on 1 JAN 04 all military retirees with service-related disabilities had to accept a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxable retired pay in order to receive tax-free VA compensation for their service-related injury or illness. CRSC allows retirees with at least 20 years of service to receive tax-free pay to replace any offset in taxable retired pay required on receipt of VA disability compensation. For CRSC, retirees must have combat-related injuries or ailments and apply to their service to establish eligibility. CRDP, on the other hand, is paid automatically if the retiree served 20 years and has service-related disabilities rated 50 percent or higher by VA. The full CRDP is being phased in for most of its 170,000 recipients, adding another layer of complexity to the back payment effort. Retirees can be eligible for both CRSC and CRDP but can receive only one.

Before these programs took effect, Shine said, VA and DFAS didn't need to worry about tracking retroactivity of payments. When a retiree's VA rating was approved or raised, VA knew to withhold the additional compensation from the retiree until it got word from DFAS that military retirement had been reduced. This avoided government overpayments. Retirees impacted by such withholding simply notified the IRS, on their next tax return, to treat any portion of their retired pay received after their VA benefits kicked in as non-taxable compensation. This arrangement between VA and DFAS no longer worked after CRSC and CRDP took effect and indeed it created compensation shortfalls. Of 220,000 retirees now drawing one of these payments, 60% are owed back pay, and most can of that be traced to over withholding by VA. Retirees who received retroactive pay in SEP represent the sampling of files that DFAS and VA used test their revised pay software and data exchange processes. Back payments owed to the remaining 133,000 retirees have been separated by levels of difficulty. The easiest to calculate, using only computers, are 40,000 files prepared for OCT 06 delivery to VA. VA back payments will be made near the end of the month. DFAS can make batches of back payments weekly, starting in October. "Our target is to get the majority of the [back pay] population done within six months," said Shine. "But we also recognize that, because some of these cases are just a lot more difficult and involved, it could take as much as 12 months to get all payments completely satisfied. To be eligible, you must:
- Be a military retiree (Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps); and
- Meet all the requirements for either CRSC or CRDP eligibility; and
- Have received payment(s) of either CRSC on or after 1 JUN 03 for CRSC and/or CRDP on or after 1 JAN 05; and
- Have been awarded one or more increase(s) in your percentage of disability by the VA on or after 1 JUN 03.
[Source: Tom Philpott article 15 Sep 06 ++]

:thumbup:

[bootlace15]

this is complicated...Yes this is only part of it. See chapter 61. This was revised to include 100% disabled unemployable vets. They had to waive a portion of their pensions in order to get a higher pay from the VA.

if you retired from the government after you retired from the Military you could not recieve both pensions until 3 or 4 years ago.. The old provision when it was voted on,left the part to include the 100% unemployable out,this was said to be discrimination so they changed it a couple of years ago,and they keep putting it back into the committees. In other words now if you retired from a branch of the service and worked for the government you get 2 pensions,But if you were retired from the service due to injuries even if you did not have 20 yrs of service you can't collect both pays.It is not the disabled Vets fault that he was retired and could not work. The veteran was a part of the Government when he was serving his country. So he should have the right to suplement his or her income like everyone else.