http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-628180.php

DoD officials deny decision on concurrent receipt

By Rick Maze
NavyTimes staff writer
31 January 2005

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Pentagon has made no final decision on paying full concurrent receipt of military retired and disability pay to veterans with non-combat disabilities rated at 100 percent solely because they are unemployable.

An e-mail circulating among military retirees claims there was a Jan. 28 announcement from the Defense Department that retirees who are rated fully disabled solely because the Department of Veterans Affairs has determined they are unable to work will not get full concurrent receipt that will go to other disabled retirees who have formal 100-percent disability ratings..

Defense personnel, finance center and public affairs officials said Jan. 31 that there was no such announcement and that no decision has been made. Since late October, Pentagon officials have been trying to decide how to apply a provision of the 2005 Defense Authorization Act — now Public Law 108-375 — that promised to immediately end the offset in retired pay for all 100-percent disabled military retirees, without forcing them to wait the nine remaining years of an originally planned 10-year phaseout of the offset.

One clear result — appearing in retiree paychecks this week — is that veterans with non-combat disabilities rated at 100 percent no longer have their military retired pay reduced because they are also receiving veterans’ disability compensation. About 15,000 retirees are getting extra money in their Feb. 1 retirement checks because of this change, defense officials said.

Still to be determined is what happens to the additional 15,000 retirees who have formal disability ratings of less than 100 percent but are considered unemployable by the VA, a determination that results in their also being paid as 100-percent disabled veterans.

In December, defense officials sent a letter to the White House saying that unless the White House objected, they intended to treat veterans with what the VA calls “individual unemployability” the same as other 100-percent disabled veterans.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which received the notice, did not raise any objections, but a final policy decision still has not been made and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which cuts retiree paychecks, hasn’t received any order to make payments. In December and early January, defense officials working on the unemployability question were optimistic that the retirees ultimately would receive the payments. Now, as the final decision has lagged, they are less sure.

One official working on the issue put the odds at 50-50 either way. “If this were a sure thing, the pay order would already have gone out,” he said.If a decision is made to cover the unemployable disabled retirees, they would be entitled to payments effective Jan. 1, 2005, the same as other disabled retirees, officials said.

There appears to be no timetable for making a final decision. Officials said there is some talk among policymakers about punting the issue back to Congress because it was a lack of clarity in the 2005 Defense Authorization Act that led to the current impasse.If Congress has to pass a new law clarifying coverage, that would likely delay payments, officials said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)