History of the "Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission"

[Gimpy]

VA Disability Compensation--PAY....OR NOT TO PAY???
That IS the question! Better watch out folks, I SMELL A RAT!---Gimp.

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How the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission came into being!

Veterans? Disability Pay: An Issue Awash in Deception!

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By Tom Philpott
March 2005


In a deal reached last fall to end the ban on concurrent receipt of military retirement and disability compensation for some retirees, Congress and the White House also agreed to establish a bipartisan commission to review current disability programs and, if needed, recommend reforms.

Just as the partial concurrent receipt deal is controversial?dividing disabled retirees into haves and have-nots?the Veterans? Disability Benefits Commission now taking shape also could be politically charged.

?This commission could perform a useful function,? said Rep. Ted Strickland (R-Ohio) of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. ?I fear, though, that it will have negative consequences for veterans,? recommending limits on veterans? ?disability services and payments.?

Strickland then stirred the pot more, adding he is worried Republican-appointed commissioners could be ?lap dogs? of an administration many veteran groups have grown to distrust.

Over many decades, both Republican and Democratic administrations opposed lifting the ban on concurrent receipt. But it was this administration that, as the issue gained traction on Capitol Hill, threatened a presidential veto of any bill that would ease the dollar-for-dollar reduction in military retired pay for retirees drawing disability compensation.

Last September, House Republicans showed veterans? groups a proposal negotiated with the White House that would lift the ban on concurrent receipt entirely if they would agree to support legislation narrowing sharply the eligibility of future veterans for disability pay. Only disabilities tied to ?performance of duty?? would qualify for compensation, and an individual?s disability ratings, set at time of retirement, could not be raised. Veterans associations were outraged by the proposal, and it was withdrawn.

Finally, congressional leaders and the White House agreed to lift partially the ban on concurrent receipt immediately?effectively restoring lost retired pay to 225,000 to 250,000 military retirees?if the disabilities were tied to combat or combat training and were phased in over 10 years for those with disabilities rated at least 50 percent.

But the deal had to include a bipartisan commission to critique VA and Defense Department disability programs. The Veterans? Disability Benefits Commission will attract intense interest. Two groups of disabled retirees, for example, are angry they were left out of the concurrent receipt deal. They include 300,000 to 400,000 career military retirees with disabilities either rated below 50 percent or unrelated to combat or combat training. These retirees continue to see their retired pay reduced by the amount they draw each month in disability compensation.

Also complaining of no raise in benefits are disabled retirees forced by injuries or illness to leave service short of 20 years. Partial concurrent receipt, they argue, only widens the disparity in lifetime compensation between those fortunate enough to serve full careers and those forced to accept disability retirement, some because of war wounds.

On the other hand, some cost-conscious critics could argue current disability programs are too inclusive, that ?service connected? should mean only performance-related disabilities rather than any illness diagnosed or injury sustained while in the service, as the current law directs.

The commission will have 13 members. The Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader will appoint two members apiece, as will the Speaker of the House and the House Minority Leader. The president will make the remaining five appointments. A majority of commissioners must have received the Silver Star or a higher combat decoration.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was the first to announce his picks: Former Nevada Governor Mike O?Callaghan, a tri-service veteran who earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart during the Korean War, and Rick Surratt, a veteran wounded in combat in Vietnam who is today the deputy legislative director of the Disabled American Veterans.

A final report is due to Congress and the White House 15 months after the commission?s first meeting.

Tom Philpott is a freelance writer and syndicated news columnist. His column, "Military Update," appears in 48 daily newspapers throughout the United States and overseas.

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PRESS RELEASE:
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission ; Notice of Meeting

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) gives notice under Public
Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that the Veterans'
Disability Benefits Commission has scheduled a meeting on May 9 and 10, 2005, at Sofitel Lafayette Square Hotel, 806 15th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005. The meeting will convene at 8 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m each day and is open to the public.

The purpose of the Commission is to carry out a study of the
benefits under the laws of the United States that are provided to
compensate and assist veterans and their survivors for disabilities and deaths attributable to military service.

Veterans? Disability Benefits Commission (Statutory)

To carry out a study of the benefits under the laws of the United States that are provided to compensate and assist veterans and their survivors for disabilities and deaths attributable to military service, and to produce a report on the study.

The Commission will receive briefings intended to provide an understanding of programs managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and other Federal departments and
agencies for disabled veterans and their survivors.

The Commission will also take testimony from representatives of interested stakeholders and the public concerning issues relating to these benefits that should be addressed by the Commission. Stakeholder groups include veterans' service organizations and military associations.

The agenda for May 9 includes an introduction of Commission
members, a description and the legislative history of VA's disability compensation program, Commission responsibilities, ethics requirements, other federal disability and survivor programs, and a review of literature concerned with disability issues.

Agenda items for May 10 include testimony by panels comprised of representatives from veterans' service organizations and military associations.

Interested persons may attend and present oral statements to the Commission. Interested parties can provide written comments for review by the Commission in advance of the meeting to Mr. Ray Wilburn, Acting Executive Director, Program
Evaluation Service (008B2), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420. Individuals who wish to attend the meeting should contact Mr. Wilburn at (202) 273-7509 or by e-mail at vetscommission@va.gov.


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Press Release:

Source: Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission

Veterans' Disability Commission Begins Work

Wednesday May 11, 2:51 pm ET

WASHINGTON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ --

The Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission, established by Congress to review benefits going to disabled veterans and the survivors of deceased veterans, held its first meetings May 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C.

The 13-member panel, chaired by retired Army Lt. Gen. James Terry Scott, is scheduled to issue its final report to Congress in 15 months.

In setting up the commission, Congress instructed it to examine three specific issues:

* the "appropriateness" of compensation and other benefits for disabledveterans and for the survivors of veterans who died from causes relatedto military service;

* "the appropriateness of the level of such benefits"; and

* "the appropriate standard... for determining whether a disability or death of a veteran should be compensated."

The commission will take testimony at public meetings, oversee studies of the United States' disability compensation systems, and receive input from other organizations, including the Institute of Medicine and the Department of Defense.

People interested in presenting oral or written testimony to the commission should contact the panel's acting executive director, Ray Wilburn, at (202) 273-7509, or via e-mail at vetscommission@va.gov.

Source: Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission


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By Tom Philpott
May 12, 2005


Commission Told Of Rise In Veterans Rated 'Unemployable'

A commission conducting the first major review of veterans' disability benefits in 50 years was warned at its inaugural meeting that perhaps too many veterans have been deemed "unemployable," which raises their compensation to the level of 100-percent disabled veterans.

Renee L. Szybala, director for operations of VA's Compensation and Pension Service, told the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission May 9 that the number of vets designated "IU,"for Individual Unemployability, has doubled in the last six years.

Part of that growth is blamed on the VA's decision in 1999 to stop requiring IU veterans to complete a form each year verifying that they remain unemployed, said Stephen Simmons, Szybala's deputy.

"We re-instituting that,"he said, citing recent "findings" that dropping the form requirement was a bad idea. The 214,000 veterans designated IU now are simply sent annual reminders that their compensation level is based on a determination that they can't work.

Szybala noted other difficulties with IU.

"There's a question of whether people are giving [it] too easily,"she said, referring to VA claims adjudicators. "It's a safety valve and when you need to get cases off your desk quickly, if people meet the criteria, just give it to them,"she said, describing the potential for abuse.

Also, though IU is tied to an inability to work, the higher payments continue into old age when most Americans have stopped working anyway.

Commissioner Donald M. Cassiday, a retired Air Force colonel and bomber pilot, asked Szybala if a veteran age 90 could draw disability pay at the 100-percent level. In fact, she said, a veteran theoretically can apply for IU benefits at age 90, arguing that his disabilities make him unable to work.

In its first two-day meeting, the commission also took testimony from defense officials, congressional auditors, veterans' service groups and military associations. Group representatives defended current levels of payments. Some expressed concern over how the commission came to be.

House Republican leaders mandated the commission as a condition for relaxing the ban on concurrent receipt of military retirement and VA disability compensation. The 13-member panel to review of VA payments was a compromise position for Republicans after they angered vet groups with a plan to tighten disability payments of future veterans by recognizing only injuries or illnesses resulting from "performance of duty.''

Under current law, any permanent injury or illness is service-connected and compensable if traced to time in service. Szybala cited as an example an off-duty service member injured roller-skating with his girlfriend.

"Disability need not be caused by military service?and that's probably one of the things the commission will be grappling with,"she said.

Commission chairman, retired Lt. Gen. James T. Scott, former head of the Army Special Operations Command, said "paranoia"among some veterans over what the commission will recommend is unfounded.

Growth in the number of veterans rated unemployable drew a round of questions from commissioners, however. VA statistics show that about half of 460,000 veterans with disability ratings of 60 to 90 percent are now deemed unemployable and paid as if 100-percent disabled. Last year, the IU status added $4 billion to overall disability payments, Szybala said.

The designation brings a sharp boost in pay. A 60-percent disabled veteran with no dependents given IU status draws monthly compensation of $2299 instead of $839. The difference is $1660 or almost $20,000 a year. For a 90-percent veteran with a spouse and a child, an IU rating means $2523 a month instead of $1581, or an added $11,300 annually.

Veterans can be considered for IU if they have one disability of at least 60 percent or two disabilities with a combined rating of at least 70 percent. One of every four veterans with a 60-percent disability is now IU and paid at the 100-percent level. Likewise half of all 70-percent disabled veterans, two thirds of all 80-percent disabled veterans and three-quarters of 90-percent disabled veterans are considered unemployable.

Szybala agreed with Commissioner Dennis V. McGinn, a retired Navy vice admiral, that IU is one of the "more controversial"features of the VA disability system. She also criticized as "shameless"the complexity of recent laws to ease the ban on concurrent receipt of military retirement and VA disability pay. While Congress has restored lost retired pay for combat-related disabilities, and has ordered phase out of pay reductions for retirees with serious non-combat-related ailments, the mishmash of laws also has left too many retirees confused or victims of payment errors, Szybala said.

Commissioner John H. Grady, an accountant from Texas who has served as an advisor to military's retirement fund account, said the commission should review the "guiding principle"behind concurrent receipt, given that there are "people who feel strongly for it and against it.''

Commissioner Rick Surratt, deputy legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said the basis for concurrent receipt is that the two payments "are for different things"and one shouldn't reduce another. Retired pay is for service of 20 or more years; disability pay reimburses the veteran for loss of future earnings from service-connected impairments.

The recent laws are so complex, Surratt added, because they were shaped by "political decisions, not rationale decisions?Congress was working so hard not to do the right thing.''
http://www.fra.org/mil-up/index.html

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Like I've said before folks..............BEND OVER HERE IT COMES AGAIN! (BOHICA)---So says...The Gimpster!

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