Disabled Veterans calling on Congress to move on bill related to concurrent benefits
Veterans with less than 20 years of service, and having less than a 50% disability rating, are not able to receive both their military retirement and disability compensation. There is a dollar for dollar offset, reducing retirement pay by the amount of disability pay. Veterans groups are calling on Congress to get the bill moving that would resolve this issue and allow them to receive both payments.
From military.com:
Right now, veterans with fewer than 20 years of service and a disability rating of less than 50% have their retirement pay reduced by a dollar for every dollar of disability pay they get.
Those rules mean an estimated 50,000 retirees are ineligible for concurrent benefits. The average offset was about $1,900 per month in 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The Major Richard Star Act would remove those restrictions so that all retirees with combat-related disabilities can collect their full retirement and disability benefits.
The bill’s namesake was an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who was forced to retire before 20 years of service after he was diagnosed with lung cancer he developed following burn pit exposure. Star died from cancer in 2021.
The bill has more than 300 co-sponsors in the House and more than 70 in the Senate. But it remains stalled despite past efforts to build momentum, in large part because the legislation would increase what’s known as mandatory spending and congressional rules generally require any increases in mandatory spending to be balanced out elsewhere in the budget.
Additional Reading:
Khell, R. (2024, July 10). Disabled Veterans to Congress: move out on stalled bill to allow payment of both retirement and disability benefits. Military.com. Link.
Category: Veteran Health Care, Veterans in politics, Veterans in the news, Veterans Issues, Veterans' Affairs Department
Good luck.
We don’t take of those who served, but we’ll ship billions to a corrupt foreign nation so they ‘Big Guy’ and his crack head get to ‘wet their beaks’. You can not NOT trust the DC Swamp enough.
God forbid that the Kongress Klown Kritters do anything for Vets with “Combat related disabilities”. I mean, after all, what did the “Combat related disabled Vet” do to warrant a double dip? It’s not like the “Combat related disabled Vet” was defending our Country or OUR Borders. Ewe pee pil need to understand that if we give an extry $1900 to a “Combat related disabled Vet” to the tune of 50K, that is that much less USDs we can give to the stunning and brave newcomers that are coming here to help provide the strength to our diversity.
Y’all do realize that it way yonder past time that we start hating Kongress Kritters as much as they hate us.
Prepare…
Public approval of Congress has been in the low teens for decades.
Congress is not helping their cause to bolster their approval ratings either. They hate we the people.
This story isn’t right. It says veterans with less than 20 years and less than 50% disability get an offset from their retired pay… less than 20 and retired? Bull. The offset applies to retirees who have a disability rating of less than 50% regardless of years of service… like me. 23 years, retired, and 30% disability. Dollar for dollar, that disability payment is deducted from my retired pay. The only benefit to me is that the disability payment is tax free. That’s it. I’m paying my own disability payment.
Someone who’s not retired but has a disability rating gets the payment free and clear.
Same here. Got a law firm handling my claims now, so we’ll see what comes from that.
Sorta the same here: 28 years, 40% disability, dollar-for-dollar reduction in retirement pay. I thought you had to have at least 20 years to qualify for retirement pay.
I believe the article refers to combat related injuries resulting in medical retirements under 20 years of service.
My case is service related disabilities, not combat.
During the drawdown of the ’90s they did offer early retirement. It was considerably less than full retirement.
Veterans who have retired under Chapter 61, disability, with less than 20 years of credit able service who are rated over 50% also have the offset. Me, 18 years, 100% dollar for dollar offset. The only bright spot for me is CRSC, Combat Related Special Compensation which gives me some back due to rating being combat related.
How about if they tack on the elimination of the GPO and the WEP?
Biden wants to give SS benefits to the fucking Illegals, but they refuse to address those of us who earned their quarters, and had a job with a pension. My quarters were all earned either before or after I got my pension.
Let’s hope Trump returns to office and somebody points this out to him. I’m sure it will get fixed quickly or he will apply some uncomfortable heat to those that oppose doing the right thing.
I’m sure he’d fight for it were it brought to his attention (hopefully with better attention to detail than military.com seems to demand of its reporters)….
I can’t say I’m hopeful he’d be able to get it done – that’s a lot of money when all the nickels and dimes are counted, much of Congress (from either side of the aisle) will actively work to undermine anything with his name attached to it while others will laden it with so much pork and compromise to make it completely ineffectual.
Thankfully, excessive bureaucracy works in our favor here because it stops the simple solution of placing the Department of Veterans Affairs where it (probably properly) belongs under the DOD – and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.