| DEFENSE BILL NIXES
CHAPTER 61 CRDP PHASE-IN
Senate conferees concluded it would
violate Senate budget rules to take even a first step in Obama's
phase-in plan without proper funding.
by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog
dot Org
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It looked like the Chapter 61
veterans CRDP (concurrent receipt / disability pay) phase-in was a
done deal.
President Obama said he wanted
it done ... first for all vets caught in the concurrent receipt
offset mess ... then, a change of plan would offer it just for
Chapter 61 veterans.
And, journalist Tom Philpott
reported earlier this year:
Why has Obama targeted
Chapter 61 retirees for concurrent receipt?
Sources on Capitol Hill said the White House's Office of
Management and Budget developed the idea as an affordable
compromise. It would cost $5.4 billion over 10 years versus $45
billion if Obama fulfilled a campaign pledge to extend
concurrent receipt to all disabled military retirees.
Philpott's article is here ...
http://www.gazette.com/news/pay-54848-disability-percent.html
 Now,
it looks like any new concurrent receipt changes are off the
table.
Philpott reports:
One new disappointment is
that the Democrat-led Congress couldn’t find money to support
President Barack Obama’s call to phase in "concurrent receipt"
for disabled retirees who are forced by ailments or injuries to
leave service before completing 20 years of service.
His plan would have boosted the pay of 103,000 "Chapter 61"
retirees at a cost of $5.4 billion over 10 years. The House
alone had voted to take the first step, using dollars freed up
from an energy appropriation, to expand the Concurrent Receipt
and Disability Pay program Jan. 1 to retirees with fewer than 20
years and disability ratings of 100 percent or 90 percent.
But Senate conferees concluded it would violate Senate budget
rules to take even a first step in Obama’s phase-in plan without
proper funding.
The principle behind concurrent receipt is that the Department
of Defense should pay retirees an annuity for total years served
and VA should fully compensate them for their disabilities. For
many thousands of disabled retirees, retired pay still is
reduced or "offset" by disability compensation.
Obama promised in his presidential campaign to extend concurrent
receipt to all disabled military retirees. But White House
budget officials were stunned to learn the cost — $45 billion
over 10 years — and so lowered their first-term target to all
Chapter 61 retirees, clearly an unpopular compromise.
The entire article is here:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65276
Use our search engine for more
about concurrent receipt ... here ...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php
?q=concurrent+receipt&op=ph
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
CRDP, concurrent receipt |
