Almost 75,000 military retirees with disabilities who were underpaid for months or even years after becoming eligible for one of two programs have received their long-awaited retroactive payments, officials say.
But about 33,000 pay files still need to be reviewed from an original pool of 133,000 potential recipients, said Thomas Pamperin, deputy director of the compensation and pension service for the Department of Veterans Affairs. That review still is expected to be completed by mid-November.
The catch-up payments, which became necessary because of difficulties implementing the Combat-Related Special Compensation and Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay programs, so far total close to $150 million. The average size of payments made by the Veterans Administration has climbed to $2,100, up from an average of $1,500 paid to the first 30,000 or so retroactive pay recipients last fall.
When all files have been reviewed, officials will turn their attention to a new pool of underpaid retirees. This second group of 12,000 to 16,000 retirees became eligible for combat or disability pay between the time the retro pay program began last summer and April of this year.
“This has proved to be an incredibly complex process for all involved,” said Pamperin.
Congress enacted the combat-related compensation program to allow disabled retirees to get combat disability pay under a phased schedule to benefit retirees deemed at least 50 percent disabled.
Last year, officials predicted that all back payments would be made by the end of September 2007. The new target is mid-November 2007.
Through late August, Pamperin said, VA had paid 56,140 retirees a total of $119 million in back pay. The Department of Defense had paid an additional $28 million to 17,000 retirees.
The size of individual payments varies widely. For example, in August the VA paid five retirees more than $25,000 apiece, or a total of $179,000.
About one of every three pay records reviewed 35,000 so far of nearly 100,000 files shows no under payment. That means many more retirees than projected have been properly compensated and will be getting no retro payments after all.
Officials notify retirees only if an underpayment is discovered. It’s a feature of the program that frustrates many retirees. Many will never know if their pay records were even reviewed.
Though DFAS originally estimated that 133,000 retirees potentially were due back pay there was no way to be sure until files were reviewed. This is being done using a special computer program and, for more complex cases, having staff review by hand individual pay records to make necessary calculations.
“We might be getting down to the nubs here,” Pamperin said.
The 33,000 files still to be reviewed from the original batch are considered more complex for various reasons. Some individuals have seen multiple changes to their VA rating since becoming eligible. Others are eligible for both combat and disability pay and have switched between the two. Retirees can’t receive both checks simultaneously.
Other retro payments are taking longer to calculate because they involve a division of retired pay with an ex-spouse. The death of a retiree can sideline a retro payment. Finally, some of the more complex retro pay cases involve higher grade individuals with severe disabilities who draw large service disability retirements, which complicate the formulas.
Officials have set up a retro award hotline for retirees with questions about their entitlement to a back payment. The toll free number is 877-327-4457. Customer service representatives are available at that number Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. Military retirees can also find periodic updates on the retro pay at DFAS Web site. The link is www.dfas.mil.
To comment, e-mail milupdate@aol.com, write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.
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