DAV Asking For Votes On This Issue
I get these regularly from the DAV and try to post them here. This is also something addressed in that thoroughly obnoxious CBO proposal to cut either VADC or SSRI by the amount of income from VADC.
On January 8, 2019, Representative Gus Bilirakis (FL) introduced H.R. 303, the Retired Pay Restoration Act.
This bill would extend concurrent receipt authority to longevity retirees with service-connected disabilities rated less than 50 percent disabling. Under current law disabled veterans with longevity retirement from active military service who are also in receipt of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability determination of 50 percent or higher may retain both military retirement pay and their compensation.
DAV strongly supports H.R. 303 as it would end the unfair policy of forcing many military longevity retirees to forfeit some of their retired pay in order to receive equal amounts of disability compensation from the VA. This legislation is in accord with DAV Resolution No. 104 and would eliminate concurrent receipt for all longevity retirees.
Please use the prepared electronic letter or draft your own to urge your Representative to support and cosponsor H.R. 303. As always, we appreciate your support for DAV and your grassroots activism in participating in DAV CAN. Thank you for all you do for America’s veterans and their families.
N.B.: the link leads to a fill-in form which will be sent to your Congressional representative automatically. Whether or not it will prompt some of them to act on this, does not matter. Just do it.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Veterans Issues
Letter signed and sent.
Done
Done…
I forgot to add: copy the link to this post and send it to your friends, whether or not they are vets.
Thanks!!
Sent to my RINO congress critter
Did and done!
The DAV as a whole strive to help not only those that are disabled but also other veterans that belong to the VA and find themselves, due to circumstances, without safe transport to their assigned VA hospital. That being said, it seems that is not the case in the area served here. Case in point. one has an appointment at VA facility in which it is safe to commute there but due to tests being ran it is highly recommended for one to drive back. Other forms of transportation are not readily available so DAV is recommended but as usual here in the past information
is outdated and when finally the DAV is contacted within the time frame they were told to call. Result, very Irate (not sure but think either marine or Army) individual answered phone and unloaded on caller for calling and despite telling him what was told by others as to timing of call was still given more BS so said sorry and hung up. Sure they called back the next day and tried to give a somewhat forced apology, easy situation to solve here, had cancelled appointment, replied their services were no longer needed here now or ever in the future. Am not disabled but after that even if I were in a wheelchair I would use it to get where needed, am learning more each day that the supposed benefits that one has supposedly earned are becoming worthless sympathy gestures.
Sorry forgot to complete part of statement as should say “highly recommended for one not to drive back.
Please bear with me on my comment, as I’m not always able to convey my thoughts properly in to words. I think there are a number of items that need to be considered before one goes ahead and fills out the DAV form. I say this because, not all retired disabled vets situations are the same. It depends on what type of disability you have (combat or non-combat related) and how your retired pay is taxed or not taxed depending on the state you reside in. If you receive retired pay and you have a disability rating of 49% or lower, it is usually in your best interest to deduct the 49% disability pay from your retired pay to lower the tax liability on your retired pay. This usually makes sense only if the disability pay is non-combat related (ie. injured during PT, injured pulling maintenance on a vehicle, etc.). Many states do not tax disability pay, so in this instance, one can usually do a bit better by lowering their tax liability from their retired pay. Now, if your disability pay is combat related and you have a rating of 49% or lower, normally you can deduct the disability pay from your military pension and thus reduce your tax liability and then apply for CRSC (Combat Related Special Compensation) pay to replace the VA disability pay that was deducted from your pension. This way, in a round about way, you receive your full pension (with tax benefits from deducting the VA compensation to lower your taxable pay) and you still receive the full amount of disability pay, which is non-taxable. With concurrent pay, you would have more of a tax liability. I know, I know….it’s a head scratcher. (smile) But again it depends on your own personal situation. How do I know this? Cuz I’m caught up in this and after sitting down with my County VSO, this was the best method for my situation. Overall, I think these are good ideas (H.R. 303 & DAV Resolution No. 104) but I believe each individuals circumstance can make a difference.… Read more »
Here is another link explaining CRSC
(Combat Related Special Compensation) and CRDP
( Concurrent Retired and Disability Pay).
https://cck-law.com/news/crdp-crsc-concurrent-receipt-explained/
I understand what you are saying and it’s all valid.
It is a head scratcher to me that are retired servicemen with a disability rating that get less benefits than a reservist with six months active duty and a high disability rating. It kind of makes the system not make sense.
I have no suggestions to a solution but wanted to help let people know the picture.
Since my Congressperson is currently peddling the “Green New Deal” and is trying to eliminate DHS, ICE, and Israel… I might just save my efforts.
I got the e-mail on this, this morning. Glad to see that TAH is behind this.
I think the current situation vice the many decades that a lot of us served, giving a large percentage of our lives and our health, in service to this country, is grossly unfair.
This needs to be changed.
Agreed. The money that could go into this is wasted on things that only benefit Congress critters.
I have worked too many cases where the DAV had posers/embellishers coaching others how to collect from the VA.
The elephant in the room is there are too many collecting VA disability as it is.
As I have said many times, people collecting for so-called “service connected” disability 30 and 40 years after they left active duty needs to stop.
Fraud runs rampant and our grandchildren are stuck paying the bills.
YES! While a VA employee I met a veteran who proudly told me it took 41 years to gain his 100% VA disability compensation after a few years of service in the stateside Army.
Congress critters need to learn the difference between a disabled veteran and a veteran who later becomes disabled so funding priorities can best be aligned.
Several years after contracting OCONUS, I developed sleep apnea and I don’t hear so good. How much do I get?
Geezo Pete, I was told to go to my local VA office and register with them as soon as I got back to my university, if I wanted to get my GI Bill started. Ditto, the second time, because I hadn’t used it up the first time I needed it. Scholarship paid my tuition, GI Bill paid for my books and fees and other things.
Register right away. How hard is that?
Dave Hardin and Comm Center Rat, Good thing that my VA records were incomplete as that it had been suggested to me by the head of VA hospital in Cheyenne to register with the VA system as to possibility of PTSD as well as AO due to having served in VN, which I did. During one of the exams I was told their records and information did not show any VN service. Communication with DVA revealed the same but after a small search they found the first DD-214 (much to the embarrassment of the GOVT and Vet’s I have 2) that show VN service that had not been seen before and that they would correct it. Thank God I blew up over this error in their system and stopped any further exams and such. In the 70’s when a lot of us got out of the Mickey Mouse service we were met by an America public and non VNV’s that hated us, a VFW, American Legion and VA that would not have anything to do with us. Now I realize that taking advise in 2006 to join the VA, taking advise from admin of VA hospital to register as to PTSD and exposure to Agent Orange are mistakes also. Thank you Dave and Comm Center Rat for showing your hatred and pointing out that this Dead Beat VNV with this year being 51 years from my time being in Vietnam should not belong to the VA or applying for anything related to that war. Expose my worthless ass to the your site as you have my name and you can search under AF17730294 and don’t worry as I have told the VA I no longer need their services and when records I requested from the Government and my ID card arrive here (yes I sent my ID card back to hospital that I got it from), I will be pitch them same place as the rest of the useless Military crap I had here.
You drink alcohol don’t you?
What is it too you as to what I do, at least I don’t chase sheep for favors.
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Outcast, my comment specifically related to a non-combat veteran (I wrote “stateside Army” service above). You might be surprised at how many veterans use non-combat related PTSD, personality disorders, and Individual Unemployability to eventually receive payment equaling 100% disability compensation sometimes decades after their brief military service ended.
I’m the son and nephew of VN veterans so there’s no hatred here. If you were exposed to AO I encourage you to pursue VA disability compensation. Diseases like Parkinson’s resulting from AO exposure often take decades to manifest and VA can “presumptively” award disability compensation. Several AO veterans I worked with received $8,400 in monthly VA disability payments and deserved every single penny. If you’re married you want to make sure your spouse will be awarded Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) in the event you die from a SC injury or disease.
I believe Dave’s comment regarding fraud in the award of disability compensation decades later is accurate especially as pertaining to non-combat veterans.
Why should I want to file for Agent Orange as due to the fact on entry physical where no record of service in Vietnam was shown, a nurse had me stand up fully dressed and turn around and then stated that I neither suffered A/O as was never on a base where A/O was used or PTSD, Am so glad they have such highly efficient staff as I guess this nurse has been to Phucat AB RVN and deemed it as non A/O exposure as well as must have been there when that Mortar round went off behind me. Sorrybut due to comments here and records used prior to January 9 it is a waste of any of my time in the future as is the VA. Now you or Dave can call the DVA or the Cheyenne VA hosp and claim your reward for you efforts to save the VA and Government any further waste of tax payer money as to services spent for this worthless VNV in the future.
No way in hell are a worthless VNV.
It’s easy to get caught up in the minute, but please don’t think that you are…
Thunder, it appears you have never talked to the spokesman for the marines, who as a vet, is also the spokesman for all vets and veteran organizations and to quote him, as he stated on a face book site directly to me, “Any paper work you have as pertaining to military service is only good to be used to wipe your ass”. So after 13 years in the VA I find out that the mindset in all the personal there is that I never served in Vietnam and therefore was not subject to PTSD or A/O as the information they were supplied by the DVA showed I only served from 1969 to 1973 and never served in VN. This also put me into another group, I have found out I have had scoliosis my whole life and also have had cartilage removed from my knee as a youth, that I did not know about until I asked a nurse practitioner as to how I was taken into the service with these conditions and was informed nicely , due to McNamara in July 66 getting it passed, that the military mainly lowered the IQ standards and a few other restrictions to be able to increase their ranks. So now it seems that for 13 years I was not just a non VNV but a McNamara Moron also. Upon my contacting the DVA and about 1/2 hour of discussion and search by them, they found another earlier DD-214 with VN service but other information that was not on file. As of special interest, as I found out, to all who do try to file a claim or do business with them, the only information they use and share is what little they need to qualify you for their services from the DD-214 that is usually the latest and on top. This search is just for date of entry and date of discharge to be over 2 years and type of discharge. and under 2 years for any disability incurred and then they file them away. Course if you file a claim of… Read more »
A million grandmothers can’t be wrong when they say, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
I got a response from my local Congress critter…. I’m sure it was from a staffer (2 pm on a Friday?) and it’s was mostly canned but still…
Dear ChipNASA (LOL not)
“This letter is in response to your recent correspondence regarding the Retired Pay Restoration Act.
One of the best parts of my job is hearing from constituents and I appreciate your interest in sharing your views with me. It is important to be engaged in the democratic process, and I value your opinions on the Retired Pay Restoration Act. I believe it may please you to know that I was a cosponsor of this measure during the previous session of Congress, and I look forward to adding my name once it is reintroduced.
Please continue to share your thoughts with me. To stay current on issues that are facing Congress and your community, please visit my website at http://www.dutch.house.gov and sign up for my periodic e-mail newsletter. I also encourage you to follow me on Facebook and Twitter.”
Well it’s a start.
Will do tomorrow for Arkansas two senators and four representatives. WAR STORY ALERT. I forfeited my retired CW2 pay in lieu of receiving 38 3/4 years of civil service retirement. It took 3 1/2 years to amortize the $18K it cost to buy my military time and then I came out $5K a year ahead but get this, immediately after I gave up my military pay, I began receiving my VA 40 percent free and clear because there is no offset from retired civil service pay. Are those receiving a VA disability with the military pay offset getting screwed or what. I still love the token 10 percent the VA gave me on my service connected high frequency hearing loss, free hearing aids for life, but no compensation.
The DAV has helped a lot of people deserving of recognition of the things that happened when they were on duty, myself and my Veteran Daughter.
It’s pretty easy to sit at a computer screen and look down on others that you don’t understand.
Lots of things happen that shouldn’t happen on duty and they help to straighten them out…
Signed and sent, my wife did the same.