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The Issues: Veterans - Concurrent Receipt
I strongly support full concurrent receipt benefits for eligible
military retirees who were injured serving our country. I
also believe that the Department
of Defense (DOD) should provide funds for injured veterans
in its budget.
I was proud to support a new, phased-in concurrent receipt
benefit, as a part of H.R.1588, the National Defense Authorization
Act for fiscal year 2004. The President signed this bill into
law on November 24, 2003. I am fully aware that the new benefit
does not provide everything that veterans deserve and that
more needs to be done. I do believe, however, that it is a
positive step. The benefit allows, effective January 1, 2004,
full concurrent receipt for all military retirees whose disabilities
are combat-related, including those disabilities resulting
from the use of military equipment or weapons. This law also
provides that, on January 1, 2004, a ten-year period began
during which full concurrent receipt for other retirees with
a non-combat-related VA disability rating of 50-100 percent
will be phased in. I am pleased that National Guard and Reserve
retirees with at least 20 years of service are eligible for
this concurrent receipt program. This phase-in will happen
by gradually reducing, over ten years, the amount of benefits
that is currently deducted from a retiree's check.
In addition, effective January 1, 2004, the existing Combat
Related Special Compensation program (CRSC) was expanded to
include all percentages of disability (10 to 100 percent),
and the existing guidelines for that program remain the same.
In addition, retired members of the National Guard and Reserve
are now eligible for this program. As you may know, the CRSC,
which was created in 2002, is open to military retirees with
20 or more years of service who incurred a qualifying combat-related
disability. Under the amended CRSC, a qualifying combat-related
disability is: any rated disability attributable to an injury
for which the retiree was awarded the Purple Heart; or any
rated disability attributable to injuries that were sustained
as a direct result of armed conflict, while engaged in hazardous
service, in the performance of duty under conditions simulating
war, or through an instrumentality of war.
Qualifying military retirees can choose between the new concurrent
receipt program and the CRSC program, since some retirees
may receive a better benefit under the revised CRSC than under
the new phased-in concurrent receipt program. The Department
of Defense's Defense Finance and Accounting Service has posted
information on its website to help military retirees to understand
their options and to choose the program that is best for them.
This information may be viewed at: <http://www.dfas.mil/money/retired/index.htm>
I was pleased to support an amendment, offered by Senator
Harry Reid (D-NV) during Senate consideration of the fiscal
year 2005 Department of Defense authorization bill, which
would repeal the phase-in for military retirees with a service-connected
disability rated at 100 percent.
I strongly believe that we must provide full concurrent receipt
benefits, and ensure that our veterans and military retirees
have a decent standard of living. I have consistently supported
and cosponsored efforts to increase funding for military and
veterans health care, medical and prosthetic research, and
claims processing. I will continue to fight for adequate funding
for programs for our active duty and National Guard and Reserve
personnel, military retirees, and veterans.
Maintaining
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Access to Health Care for all Veterans
Ensuring
Quality Health Care for our Veterans
Gulf
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Risks for Troops
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Orange and Diabetes
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Leave Act
Concurrent
Receipt
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Working
for Wisconsin's Fair Share in Federal Benefits
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