[Vision2020] SWEEEEEEEEEEET!

[Tom Hansen]

This amounts to a 55-percent pay hike for yours truly effective January 1,
2013.

Courtesy of the Army TImes at:

http://www.ArmyTimes.com

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Budget plan has money for concurrent receipt

By Rick Maze - Army Times Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Feb 2, 2010 14:44:59 EST

A new call by the Obama administration to give full payment of retired and
disability pay to all disabled military retirees by Jan. 1, 2015, is very
similar to a proposal that was rejected last year, with one major
difference:

This time the White House has put some money behind its plan.

President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request seeks to add $408 million to
the military retirement trust fund in order to begin phasing in so-called
“concurrent receipt” benefits in 2011 for severely disabled veterans who
spent less than 20 years in the service.

But because nothing involving concurrent receipt is ever simple, the plan
may not satisfy congressional budget rules.

The $408 million is part of almost $5 billion earmarked in the budget for
the military retirement trust fund to pay for future retired pay
specifically as a result of concurrent receipt legislation.

But the House of Representatives has strict rules covering changes in
mandatory spending, which require that an increase in one place must be
offset by either a cut somewhere else or a revenue increase — a budgeting
process known as “pay-go” that has been the nemesis of supporters of
allowing disabled retirees to concurrently receive full military retired
pay and veterans disability compensation if they are eligible for both.

“We see the increase in the military retired pay trust fund in the budget.
We don’t see any offsets, and that could be a problem,” said a
congressional aide who has followed the concurrent receipt issue.

The first sign of whether the Obama proposal might work will come in April
when the House and Senate budget committees prepare a 2011 spending and
revenue guide, known as a concurrent budget resolution, which paves the
way for allocation of funds to various congressional committees.

If the budget resolution includes language adopting the concurrent receipt
funding, that would be sufficient for the House and Senate services
committees to include the Obama plan in the 2011 defense budget.

A White House statement describing the concurrent receipt initiative does
not clearly explain the details. It includes just two sentences: “For the
first time, highly disabled veterans who are medically retired from
service will be eligible for concurrent receipt of disability benefits
from VA in addition to DoD retirement benefits. All medically retired
service members will be eligible for concurrent receipt of VA and DOD
benefits by 2015.”

Congressional aides and administration sources said they expect the
concurrent receipt plan, which will be included in legislative initiatives
provided to Congress by the Defense Department, will be modeled on last
year’s proposal that died for the lack of funding.

That initiative is aimed, at first, at providing retired pay and
disability pay without any offsets to retirees who served less than 20
years and are receiving military disability retired pay under Chapter 61,
Title 10 of the U.S. Code. Those people are not now eligible for
concurrent receipt, although Chapter 61 retirees who served 20 or more
years have been covered.

Here is how the plan would work:

• Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, concurrent receipt would be provided to all
Chapter 61 retirees whose retired pay is based on a disability rating of
90 percent or more.

• On Jan. 1, 2012, concurrent receipt would be extended to all Chapter 61
retirees with retired pay based on a disability rating of 70 percent or
more.

• On Jan. 1, 2013, concurrent receipt would be extended to all Chapter 61
retirees with retired pay based on ratings of 50 percent or more.

• On Jan. 1, 2014, concurrent receipt would be extended to Chapter 61
retirees with retired pay based on a rating of 30 percent or more.

• On Jan. 1, 2015, all disabled veterans drawing both military retired pay
and veterans disability benefits would be eligible for concurrent receipt
of both payments. This final phase of the plan would, for the first time,
provide full concurrent receipt to retirees whose disabilities are not
related to combat or combat training and are rated at less than 50
percent.

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Nice!

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown