

Vickie Foley: VA rules can catch injured vets by surprise

Apr. 20, 2011
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Tom Philpott's April 1 discussion of the Department of Defense vs. Veterans Administration dueling disability evaluation processes was right on target. However, an important component was missing from the discussion.

When active duty military personnel become significantly ill or injured and then find themselves going through the DoD medical separation process, if they're rated less than 30 percent disabled by the DoD and then receive a lump sum payment to separate, they must then pay that sum back to the government before collecting that same amount of money through any VA disability compensation they may eventually receive.

The odds are great that servicemen and women with one or more disabilities severe enough to end their military career will file a VA disability claim for those same conditions that may worsen over the years, as well as secondary disabilities stemming from these conditions, or side effects of the medications prescribed to treat them.

One can argue that forcing a serviceman or woman to fund all or part of their VA disability out of their separation payment for an injury or illness severe enough to end their career is grossly unfair. However, what I find similarly deplorable is that many of them are never told about this until after they sign the papers to separate. Or, they were in no physical, mental, or emotional shape at the time to understand that this offset arrangement exists.

I bring this point up for a number of reasons:

1) This is particularly important due to the presence of Barksdale Air Force Base in our community and the number of active duty military who may someday find that their plans to pursue a military career have come to an abrupt halt due to illness or injury.

2) Many active duty personnel undergoing medical separation don't realize that there is a HUGE string attached to the check they receive on their way out the door. If they did, they'd be in a better position to make an informed judgment as to whether to accept or appeal an unsatisfactory DoD disability rating percentage. Instead, not knowing or understanding what is waiting for them after they separate and file a claim with the VA, they accept the DoD rating, take the lump sum payment, file a VA claim, and THEN discover that they've partially funded their VA compensation out of the lump sum payment they received after becoming medically unfit to serve.

I've worked as a volunteer for several years assisting disabled veterans and their families file for VA disability benefits, many who have told me how surprised they were to find out about the VA offset, and how they would have fought the disability rating the DoD assigned them had they realized what awaited them afterwards. At that point in their lives, many were not up to the challenge of yet another struggle, this time. They thought it was just a matter of ending one chapter, receiving separation payment, pursuing their disability benefits anew with the VA, and moving on.

It doesn't exactly work that way.

If you're a serviceman or woman who's anticipating going through the military separation process due to medical reasons, please understand the lump sum offset impact on any future VA compensation you may receive before deciding whether to accept or appeal a DoD disability rating of less than 30 percent. Ask questions, be specific, and don't hesitate to appeal a rating that doesn't correlate with the severity of the illness or injury that is ending your military career.

Vicki Foley lives in Haughton.

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