VA ponders limited one-time payments
Since 12-22-05
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Subject: VA ponders limited one-time payments
VA ponders limited one-time
payments
By
Rick Maze
Times staff writer
26 December 2005
The Department of Veterans Affairs is considering a controversial change in
disability benefits that would provide a one-time lump sum, rather than monthly
payments, to those with low-rated disabilities. Veterans’ groups do not like the
idea, recommended in a May report from the VA’s inspector general as a way to
cut costs.
Donald Mooney of the American Legion, testifying Dec. 7 before the House
Veterans’ Affairs Committee about problems in processing disability claims, said
such lump-sum payments would create a number of problems. For example, if a
service-connected condition worsened over time, it is unclear if or how the
veteran could get an increase in disability compensation.
“The veteran would not be able to obtain an increase in evaluation if he or she
accepted the lump-sum payment,” Mooney said, adding that it also is unclear
whether a spouse would be entitled to service-connected death benefits in such
cases. Another problem, Mooney said, is that the VA often inaccurately assigns
an initial disability rating. If a veteran is paid too little or too much, the
process for getting more money or repaying money would be problematic.
The idea of lump-sum disability benefits was first raised in 1996 by the
Veterans’ Claims Adjudication Commission, which noted that veterans making
multiple claims for the same disability were a large reason for a backlog of
claims, and that most of the repeat claims came from veterans with comparatively
less-severe disabilities who were trying to get their disability ratings
increased.
Cynthia Bascetta of the Government Accountability Office, which has been
studying VA claims processing, noted that about 65 percent of disabled veterans
have disabilities rated at 30 percent or less, which consume a large amount of
the VA’s administrative time and resources. Bascetta, testifying at the same
hearing, said a survey of veterans in 2000 showed that about one-third of those
with newly received disability rates expressed interest in the idea of a
one-time payment instead of monthly disability pay.
Bascetta said a one-time benefit would be potentially useful “to some veterans
as they make the transition from military to civilian life,” but she talked
about it only as an option, with veterans retaining the choice to get
traditional monthly disability pay if they did not want a lump sum. A lump-sum
payment system saves money only if the payment received is less than a veteran
would get in a lifetime through monthly payments and if a veteran waives the
right to a re-evaluation of the disability in the future.
The 1996 commission asked Congress to approve paying reduced lump-sum disability
payments, but lawmakers never acted. No immediate action is expected on the new
IG recommendation either, but a new panel — the Veterans’ Disability Benefits
Commission — is looking at possible changes to veterans’ compensation,
particularly for those with low-rated disabilities. That 13-member commission,
appointed in February, is due to complete its work next August, but its members
already have been talking about the need for an extension.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)
Any man or woman who may be asked in this century what they did to make
life worthwhile in their
lifetime....can respond with a great deal of pride and
satisfaction, "I served a
career in the United States Navy."