[Gimpy]

VA Secretary Principi gives testimony to Senate Committee. Does NOT go along with White House plan to reduce VA benefits.!
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September 24, 2003

VA secretary voices opposition to concurrent receipt plan

By Rick Maze
Times staff writer


In testimony expected to put a final stake in the heart of a House Republican leadership proposal to trade better benefits for disabled military retirees for restrictions on who is eligible for service-connected disability benefits, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Prinicipi said he opposes the initiative.
Appearing Tuesday before the Senate Veterans? Affairs Committee, Prinicipi said the idea of restricting benefits to disabilities incurred while performing military duties because it would have ?far-reaching? and ?unpredicted effects.?

The plan would end up hurting junior enlisted people more than officers and would created a nightmare in adjudicating claims for disability compensation, survivors benefits and health care by trying to determine exactly how and when the disability was created, Principi said.

With Principi?s opposition, House and Senate aides said it is difficult to imagine how House Republican leaders could go ahead with the White House-backed proposal.

Applying that policy would be difficult, he said. For example, arthritis in a veteran might be considered service-connected for a paratrooper would could show the wear-and-tear of military duties were the cause of the disease. But veterans who spent most of their military career behind a desk, such as finance officers, would have difficulty qualifying as having a service-connected disability, Principi said.

It isn?t even clear, he said, whether the off-duty injuries of a service member deployed in Iraq today would be considered a service-connected disability under the proposal. At first, he said, ?I believe it would,? but he paused and said, ?it is possible.?

?It could be very problematic if they were hurt on their day off,? he said.

That uncertainty, he said, is why he opposes rushing any reforms. The current disability policy, based on the assumption that anyone in the military is covered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ?should be studied very carefully before we proceed, Principi said.

Under the two-week-old initiative, which House aides note the plan is far from final, service members who are injured or become disabled while on active duty but not while on duty could continue to qualify for disability retired pay, which is paid by the Department of Defense. But they would not receive veterans? disability compensation, which is paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Disabilities would not be considered as resulting from military duties for injuries incurred while traveling to and from work, while eating meals or other off-duty time, according to a draft legislative language. Disabilities from the normal aging process also would not be covered.

Principi said that disability retired pay is more generous for officers than enlisted members because payments are based on rank and years of service.

He provided two examples, comparing benefits for an E-3 with two years of service to those of an O-5 with 18 years of service, both who have a spouse and one dependent.

If injured in a car accident and rated at a 60 percent disability, the O-5 could receive $3,697 a month in disability retired pay from the military while the E-3 would receive $865, he said. The $865 payment is less than the $1,011 in monthly disability compensation currently paid by the VA for a 60 percent disability.

The difference is even greater, Principi said, if the disability in greater. If injured in a non-combat accident and rated as 100 percent disabled, the O-5 would receive $4,621 in disability retired pay while the E-3 would get $1,082. The current rate of veterans? disability compensation is $2,943, he said.

The examples, he said, show the proposal ?have dramatic impact on lower-ranking people.?

That isn?t the only result. If the disability isn?t considered to be service-connected, survivors would not qualify for the VA?s dependency and indemnity compensation or veterans? burial benefits. And, he said, the disabled veteran would not qualify for preferential hiring for federal jobs as a disabled veteran nor for special allowances for adapting cars, for clothing allowances and for loans to adapt their housing.

Principi?s opposition to changing disability rules leaves a cloud hanging over the fate of efforts by disabled retirees to end the current dollar-for-dollar offset in retired pay required of those who also receive veterans? disability compensation. The White House-draft plan proposed to end the offset, paying for the increase in retired pay that would result by savings from future disability claims.

While not offering specifics, Principi said it was possible that Congress could provide relief for some disabled retirees by expanding on the limited combat-related special compensation passed last year. This program, known as CRCS, provides a monthly payment for eligible retirees that can equal what they are losing in retired pay because of the current offset. It is limited to retirees who were injured in combat, and received a Purple Heart for the injury that led to their disability, and to retirees with disabilities rated at 60 percent or more if their disability results from combat or combat-like training.

?Refinements could be made to CRCS,? Principi said, offering two possibilities. One would be to expand eligibility for reservists, who under current rules can find it difficult to qualify even if they have 20 years of combined service. The 60 percent eligibility threshold for those who didn?t get a Purple Heart for the incident that resulted in their disability could be lowered, he said.

?I do think there are things that can be explored,? he said.

Congressional aides said those ideas are being considered as lawmakers looked for a compromise on concurrent receipt, one of the last issues holding up completion of the 2004 defense authorization bill.

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