11.18.04
SERVICE CONNECTED DISABILITY STUDIES UNDER WAY

Two studies of service-connected disability pay ordered by Congress
could help determine whether military retirees with low-rated
disabilities get more money from the government.

The studies, required by the 2005 Defense Authorization Act, will
compare benefits for disabled service members with what is available in
the private sector and compare military benefits with those provided by
federal, state and local governments to their civilian employees.

The Defense Department is responsible for the private-sector
comparison, with a report due to Congress in about six months. The
Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
will make the comparison with other government programs, with a report
due Nov. 1, 2005.

Both reports are part of an effort by Congress to see if the government
pays enough to service members injured on the job. They could help
determine whether lawmakers decide to provide extra pay to military
retirees with service-connected disabilities rated at less than 50
percent that are not linked to combat or combat training.

Under pressure from disabled retirees, Congress recently ended a
practice stretching back more than a century of reducing military
retired pay dollar-for-dollar by any amount received in veterans’
disability compensation.

So far, however, only those with combat or combat-related disabilities,
and those with noncombat disabilities rated at 50 percent or more, are
getting extra money. Those with lesser disabilities have been excluded,
in part because some lawmakers believe the government is being overly
generous in providing lifetime benefits to people with minor
disabilities.

The Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office
have proposed eliminating benefits for veterans with minor disabilities
as a money-saving move — suggestions that have so far proven
politically unpalatable.

“Nobody is prepared for cutting out benefits for disabled veterans,”
said a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee aide.

Two years ago, however, the Bush administration briefly toyed with the
idea of denying disability benefits to veterans whose conditions
originated while they were in the service but were not directly tied to
military duties. That could have reduced the number of new disability
claims by 30 percent or more, according to estimates prepared by the
Department of Veterans Affairs.

After military and veterans’ groups complained, the overhaul of
military disability benefits was delayed until a bipartisan commission
could study the issue. The commission, created almost a year ago by the
2004 Defense Authorization Act, still has not begun its work because of
delays in naming its 13 members. After the commission starts work, it
will have 15 months to issue a report.

The decision to ask for two reports in addition to the blue-ribbon
panel is “perplexing,” said a representative of a military
association, who asked not to be identified.

In addition to ordering the studies, lawmakers have made a change in
how disability retired pay is calculated for National Guard and reserve
members who become disabled while mobilized.

Their disability retired pay will be determined based on the average
monthly basic pay for their grade and time in service for the previous
36 months. Previously, retired pay was based on the previous 36 months
of actual active service, which could have come years earlier — and at
lower rates of pay.