Military Update: Lawmakers OK compensation for wounded

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Military Update: Lawmakers OK compensation for wounded
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, December 9, 2007

Tens of thousands of veterans forced from service short of 20 years because of combat-related injuries will be eligible for Combat-Related Special Compensation effective Jan. 1, 2008, under a compromise 2008 Defense authorization bill worked out by House and Senate conferees.

The CRSC payments would be set using the same formula as military retirement, usually 2.5 percent of base pay multiplied by years of service. CRSC would be paid on top of disability compensation, thus ending for these combat-injured the long time ban on “concurrent receipt.”

The size of the eligible population among so-called “Chapter 61” retirees was not immediately available but the projected cost of the combat-related program is $678 million over the next 10 years. Conferees rejected a more modest House plan, which would have restricted CRSC eligibility to the most seriously disabled who served at least 15 years.

The compromise Defense bill, which the full House and Senate are expected to pass before Congress adjourns Dec. 21, also endorses:

A $50-a-month “indemnity allowance” for survivors of disabled military retirees who see their Survivor Benefits Plan (SBP) annuities reduced each month by the amount they receive in tax-free Dependency and Indemnity Compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. DIC is payable if members die while on active duty or if retirees die from service-related conditions. The indemnity allowance might be perceived as a first step toward easing the ban on concurrent receipt for military widows. It would be increased to $100 a month by 2014.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50851