Sorry if this has already been posted elsewhere.

Rules set for $500 million in back pay to retirees

This has the potential of being very good news. thanks for posting it.

Thanks for the information. I guess people with a 40% rating are going to have to keep waiting.

Here's some of the latest word.


Issue 1 Retroactive Disability Payments Coming

According to Defense Department and Veterans' Affairs (VA) sources, some disabled retirees due retroactive pay could start to see their payments in mid-October if all goes as planned. A small number may see payments before that; however, VA officials caution that, if any unexpected glitches crop up, the payments will be delayed until the second half of January. That's because they'll have their hands full at the end of the year reprogramming and implementing new pay rates for 2007.

For the full article:

http://www.moaa.org/home_legupdate/lac_update_060825.htm#issue1

That could be a nice check....

Wray...

Anyone expecting money from the Coast Guard will probably be disappointed. I spoke to them the other day and they think these payments are only for persons rated 100% disabled. So it may take awhile for them to catch up.

Why is there such a gap between what VA assigns as a service connected % and what the USCG does with CRSC?

Finally something from an official source.

http://image.exacttarget.com/members/9232/Retroactive%20Pay.htm

quote:

Originally posted by rsdfc1:
Why is there such a gap between what VA assigns as a service connected % and what the USCG does with CRSC?

CRSC is combat related. So one could be 80% disabled (service connected) according to the VA, but only 20% of it could be combat related. So the Coast Guard would only look at the 20% in determining CRSC payments.

Hello EMC,
Thank you for your response as I have read the criteria for CRSC it would appear that aviation,diving,and parachuting (ie airborne).As an AST I did qualify they only recognize 40% unlike the VA who rates me at 60%.

Veterans soon could see back disability pay


By Gordon Lubold
Navy TimesStaff writer
18 September 2006 Issue


More than 100,000 veterans will begin to get retroactive disability pay as early as this month after the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs resolved a long-running issue on paying veterans who have been shortchanged.Veterans who were paid benefits for either Combat-Related Special Compensation or Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay and were underpaid due to changes in federal law may begin to see retroactive payments right away.

However, it will take up to a year for all the payments to be made, and most of them wont be made until after Jan. 1, according to a statement from the Defense Finance and Accounting System, which will oversee the payments.The issue stems from the two disability programs, Combat-Related Special Compensation and Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, which created administrative and budgetary headaches for the Defense Department and VA as the two agencies attempted to pay retirees under either program.

In 2003, the Pentagon and VA implemented a series of new laws that ended the ban on concurrent receipt, in which retirees receive both retirement and VA disability payments.
That meant veterans who should receive payments under both programs but who had been banned until then from receiving two sets of entitlements were due money. That triggered a yearlong struggle to figure out just who rated what and how much.

Now that the issue has been all but straightened out for future payments, accountants are going back to find and fix problems for payments that have already begun to retirees. More information from DFAS, which will oversee the payments, will be made available by late September, officials said.After budgetary issues were worked out between the two departments, officials then had to figure out how to make the payments to veterans. It proved no simple task.

We have worked closely with [VA] to resolve logistical issues required to make the payments,the DFAS statement said.Pentagon officials said theyre glad the problem is over and look forward to seeing the payments start going out to veterans soon.“We are pleased that DFAS and [VA] have developed procedures to address the payment of retroactive CRDP/CRSC entitlements and support their efforts to make them as expeditiously as possible, said Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.

Upton referred queries to officials at DFAS, who werent immediately available.Its not yet clear how much money will be paid to veterans, although its expected to be millions of dollars. No average payment was immediately available from officials at the finance and accounting agency, but some veterans are owed thousands of dollars.Those payments, however, wont come quick.

Reviewing cases
In some cases, accountants may have to review individual cases by hand to ensure the retroactive payments are made properly, as systems are updated to support the thousands of payments to be issued.Until the systems are enhanced, manual calculations are being made to determine the appropriate payment amounts for those retirees entitled to additional money from [the Defense Finance and Accounting System], the statement read.According to the Military Officers Association of America, VA, which is paying for the retroactive payments, will have a full plate now as it attempts to refigure payment amounts for thousands of people.

VA officials caution that, if any unexpected glitches crop up, the payments will be delayed until the second half of January, the association said in an informational brief on its Web site. Thats because theyll have their hands full at the end of the year reprogramming and implementing new pay rates for 2007.While it may take some time for everyone to get their payments, the fact that the Defense Department and VA finally reached agreement on the issue is a major step forward for veterans affected by the issue.

Military advocates who tracked the issue said veterans have long known they were owed money. The devil, however, was in the details. Now many of those details have been worked out in principle, said Steven Strobridge, a retired Air Force colonel who serves as the associations government relations director.People were going to get their money sooner or later, Strobridge said. The problem was it was a real tough nut to crack and it required a lot of tough negotiations about not only who is going to pay for it, but then how do you figure out who is owed how much and why.

Wray,
That was a wonderful piece of let's backtrack and cover our a$$es BS. They never planned on paying for the retroactive benefits. Dr David Chu (Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness) A litle view of Chu wrote a memo to DOD stating that no retroactive payments were allowed. Since they would be able to use the money elsewhere they were more than happy to comply, without even questioning it. When I contacted PSC after I received my VA ratings, they told me that I was not going to get retroactive CRDP. The person I spoke with said he would send an e-mail containing the info on why I would not get it. I'm still waiting for the e-mail, but it's only been about a year. If it had not been for Retired Army SSgt. Daniel F. Purinton, no one would be in line to receive any retroactive pay to this date.

How much of a mess would this process have been if they hadn't dragged it out for almost 4 years? Or how about if they started in Nov 2002 ( when they knew they owed us retroactive pay) and corrected the people as they received retroactive VA awards would it be such a problem? Even as of 2 weeks ago the Coast Guard claims no one with less than 100% disability is entitled to any retroactive pay.

Maybe one of you guys can explain what I am missing here.

I don't see how Dr. Chu or the Coast Guard have any say in it. This is what the law says: http://www.military.com/ContentFiles/NEW%20_Retirement_HR_1588.htm

quote:

(a) CONCURRENT RECEIPT- Section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

`Sec. 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for veterans' disability compensation for disabilities rated 50 percent or higher: concurrent payment of retired pay and veterans' disability compensation

<snip>

`(2) QUALIFYING SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY- In this section, the term `qualifying service-connected disability' means a service-connected disability or combination of service-connected disabilities that is rated as not less than 50 percent disabling by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Likewise, the CRSP provisions were amended in 10 USC 1413a such that the VA disability rating doesn't matter (i.e. no longer has to be > 60%) as long as the disability meets the requirements of subsection (e).

From where is the CG getting the 100% figure?

92guru,

Some where in the law it had the clause that stated the programs payments were not retroactive. Meaning they would not go back beyond their starting dates and pay concurrent receipt. Dr Chu wrote a memo to DOD back when the programs began, in it he stated that the term also meant people who where awarded retroactive VA ratings that fell into dates after the program started would not receive retroactive CRDP/CRSC. You would start to receive them from the date your service was notified of your rating. He was wrong in his decision, but none of the services fought his ruling. If this had not been the case everyone would have already recieved they back pay soon after the service was notified of the VA disabilty rating and given the effective date.

As far as the Coast Guard (PSC) goes they are just pretty much clueless when it comes to the whole subject. As of my post they are only concerned with persons who are 100% disabled. So it maybe a long time before all Coastie's who qualify see any back pay.

quote:

As far as the Coast Guard (PSC) goes they are just pretty much clueless when it comes to the whole subject.

Isn't that the truth.... Most pre-retirement Coasties don't have a clue how the VA disability works... I bet if they realized how some could double their retirement income they would look into it...

Wray...

Another one of the latest articles.

VA 'Retro Pay' Begins
Tom Philpott | September 15, 2006
First of 133,000 Disabled Retirees Get 'VA Retro Pay'

A small group of disabled military retirees this month will be the first of 133,000 to receive lump-sum back payments, which are tied to start-up challenges for two "concurrent receipt" programs enacted since 2003, say officials with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).

Link to the rest of the article.

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,113587,00.html

Well, I'm grateful for what I am currently getting, and anything retro-active is just additional icing on the cake...

Wray....

This is great news for those that have earned it. In response to members not knowing about Concurrent receipt, CRSC or current benefits I think your underestimating the men and women of the Coast Guard. I think the current Coast Guard members have more knowledge of these things then some people feel. The current flow of information being passed from Commandant on down to SR is immense. If they miss some piece of information it is because they did not take the time to learn it not because it was not provided. The CG now is giving mid-career training on top of TAPS. VA benefits including Concurrent receipt was covered.

If anything our young men and women know more now about what is available for them, then at any other time in the history of the CG. We are in what I would say is information overload.

Email/CGCentral/MSGS/MessageBoards/Intranet/Internet and even word of mouth still works. Including information boards such as this one. Before email and the internet I seriously doubt that a PO3 would know for example that the CG budget had not been passed yet and we had a continuing resolution. The entire Homeland Security Department can be notified in just a few minutes of just about anything. I think these are great times to be in the CG. I know this is a little off topic but I am getting tired of people thinking that current members of the CG don't know our benefits or that we are not teaching our younger members about their benefits.

I'm glad they are now getting the information... I know when I retired, way back in 1999 the information was not being passed.... Glad it is now.

It can certainly make a difference on your monthly income....

Wray...

excheesehead,

I hope your are right, but you couldn't prove it from what I've seen in recent years. I find it hard to believe that Active Duty members are up on CRDP, even PSC doesn't know what is going on with it in relation to the VA 'Retro Pay'

I was medically retired in 1999 (TDRL). Cleared Fit for Full Duty and re-retired via years of service in 2001. I had to make several phone calls to get a new/final DD214. Some of the people I spoke with were not familiar with what a DD214 was. I finally got it sent to me. The person who did it took my 1999 DD214, used whiteout to cover the signature and various date blocks. Made a copy and then filled in the correct info that applied in 2001. The original signer's (1999) signature went outside the block, the whiteout job stayed inside the block as did the new signer. After another several phone calls explaining why a DD214 that looked forged was not acceptable, I was issued a new typed one. With a whole bunch of missing info. In one phone call I was asked if it really mattered since I had my 1999 one and the other 2001 copy. It ended up by my sending in a written copy of what should be placed in each block.

When I recieved my latest VA disability rating, I asked PSC personnel about special compensation for severely disabled retirees. since my effective date qualified me for the program. Again the people I was talking with were not familiar with the program. I sent them an e-mail with a link to the best explaination about the program. The irony was the article was on the PSC website.

So keep up the work of informing the people still on Active Duty, as do Wray and myself. It's alot easier when you start dealing with some of the people once your retired.