Retro Payments Progress Continues (Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) or Concurrent Retired Disability Payment (CRDP) and VA compensation)

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Retro Payments Progress Continues
In October 2006, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) and the
Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) initiated the process of providing
retroactive compensation for more than 133,000 disabled recipients of either
Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) or Concurrent Retired Disability
Payment (CRDP) and VA compensation.
Since then, more than 85,000 additional retirees have been identified by the
VA as potentially eligible for retroactive payment. As of April 20, DFAS
reported that nearly 179,000 accounts have been processed, with
approximately 39,000 remaining. Of those, more than 16,000 are new cases.
But about 23,000 of the most complicated cases from the originally
identified group are still being worked.
The joint process gives priority to the original cases, but those remaining
require multiple laborious computations. In many cases, these can only be
done by hand, because the individuals have had several VA rating changes and
have switched back and forth between CRDP and CRSC payments with annual
changes in the relative value of the two programs - due to the rating
changes or the ramp-up of CRDP payments, or both.
DFAS and the VA continue to identify new retirees that may be eligible for
retroactive compensation and are working to developing automated changes
that will expedite that process.
On a separate topic, medical retirees with less than 20 years of service
will soon be able to have their CRSC applications adjudicated for
disabilities incurred as a result of combat or combat related events. DoD
expects to release guidance to the military services by the end of this
month or in early May. MOAA will keep you informed as soon as the guidance
is published.

Jim Bunker
VP National Gulf War Resource Center
NGWRC: Serving veterans of recent and current wars