To qualify for the CRDP entitlement, the retiree must have 20 years of service or retired under Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA), must be in receipt of retired pay, in receipt of DVA compensation, rated 50 percent or higher by the DVA. Those rated by the DVA as IU, are compensated at the 100 percent rate in accordance with the DVA disability compensation basic rates. Payment is not a separate payment but reduces the dollar for dollar offset that retiree’s give up for every dollar they receive from the DVA. This will eliminate the offset and give retirees in this category all of their retired pay, and they will continue to receive the DVA compensation as they have been all along. In addition, to receive the additional compensation amount, the retiree must be receiving compensation at a disability rating not less than 60 percent and be rated IU. Additional information can be found at the DFAS site: DFAS-IU Information. [Source: NAUS Weekly Update 5 Sep 08 ++]

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frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h6081enr.txt.pdf . [Source: MOAA News Exchange 10 Sep 08 ++]

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The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law 28 JAN, expanded eligibility requirements for the CRSC program to include Medical Chapter 61, Temporary Early Retirement Act (TERA) and Temporary Disabled Retirement List (TDRL) retirees. “Prior to this change, retirees had to have 20 years of active-duty service or be retired at age 60 from the Guard or Reserve,” said Mr. Rick Castro, Air Force CRSC program manager. “If you didn’t have 20 years you weren’t eligible. However with the NDAA expansion, if you are medically retired, either permanently or temporarily and you have VA payments that reduce your retirement pay, you are eligible to apply for CRSC.” For example, a DESERT STORM veteran who was injured and subsequently medically retired at 14 years of service, who received a 30% disability rating from the VA, should apply; it may be the key to receiving additional tax-free money to which the veteran is entitled.

“That said, let our experts make the call,” Mr. Castro said. “That way if you do not qualify and something in the law or Department of Defense CRSC policy changes in the future that could affect the prior decision, like the 2008 NDAA, we will already have a claim and documentation, and can reassess a claim based on the new eligibility factors.” In determining eligibility, if you can answer “yes” to the following questions and have not submitted your CRSC claim, you should do so:

– Am I receiving retired pay?

– Do I have a compensable VA disability of 10 percent or higher?

– Is my retired pay reduced by VA disability payments?

Although CRSC specifically addresses “combat-related” disabilities incurred from armed conflict, retirees who developed disabilities from other than combat may also be eligible. Disabilities caused by exposure to Agent Orange, combat training, aircrew duties, simulated war exercises, parachuting and munitions demolition potentially qualify for compensation under this program. The CRSC team needs copies of a retiree’s Department of Defense Form 214 or retirement order, any VA rating decisions addressing the disabilities being claimed, and any other available documentation. Note that CRSC is different from automatic Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay. CRDP is also designed to restore military retired pay that has been offset by VA compensation of 50% or more; however, there is no combat-related requirement for CRDP. For more information and claim forms, visit the AFPC Public Web site www.afpc.randolph.af.mil under “Former Airmen Information.” You can also get more information through the 24-hour Air Force Contact Center at (800) 616-3775. [Source: AFPC Public Affairs Master Sgt. Kat Bailey article 12 Aug 08 ++]

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• The Specially Adapted Housing grant (SAH), currently limited to $50,000, is generally used to create a wheelchair-accessible home.

• The Special Housing Adaptations (SHA) grant, currently limited to $10,000, is generally used to assist veterans with mobility throughout their homes due to blindness in both eyes, or the anatomical loss or loss of use of both hands or extremities below the elbow.

• A third type of grant established by the new law, the Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grant, is available to eligible veterans and seriously injured active duty servicemembers who are temporarily living or intend to temporarily live in a home owned by a family member.

While the SAH and SHA grants require ownership and title to a house, in creating TRA, Congress recognized the need to allow veterans and active duty members who may not yet own homes to have access to the adaptive housing grant program. Under TRA, veterans and servicemembers eligible under the SAH program would be permitted to use up to $14,000, and those eligible under the SHA program would be allowed to use up to $2,000 of the maximum grant amounts. Each grant would count as one of the three grants allowed under the new program. [Source: U.S. Medicine article 14 Aug 08 ++]

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The grants would be administered by the Department of Justice in consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs. To be eligible for funding the veteran’s treatment court or drug court serving veterans must effectively integrate substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, mandatory drug testing, sanctions and incentives, and transitional services in a judicially supervised court setting with jurisdiction over nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders that have served in the United States military. Also included is the authorization for the National Drug Court Institute (NDCI). The NDCI is a bipartisan supported organization that conducts national, comprehensive training programs for State and local communities for the purpose of improving the professional skills of drug court practitioners and enhancing the ability of State and local communities to expand drug courts to reach all addicted citizens in need

“These treatment courts will address the specific challenges with drugs and alcohol too many veterans face when returning home from their honorable service overseas,” said Senator John Kerry. “For those who have given so much for our country, we should address the serious issues of drug and alcohol addiction in an appropriate forum that recognizes that some veterans fall victim to substance abuse as a way to handle post-traumatic stress. It’s well past time we offered our veterans services worthy of their sacrifice.” Sen. Murkowski said, “Some of the brave men and women who have served our country fall victim to alcohol and drug addiction and end up in our criminal justice system. Drug courts are an effective way to break this cycle of abuse and help these veterans re-enter society. The Alaska Court System already has successful drug courts in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Bethel, Juneau and Ketchikan, and there is a Veterans Court in Anchorage. This bill would provide additional funding for some of Alaska’s existing therapeutic court programs and would allow more nonviolent-offender programs to be developed across the state. The SERV Act is particularly important for Alaska, which has one of the highest veterans’ per capita rates in the nation.” [Source: Military.com AP article 1 Aug 08 ++]

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For Vietnam vet James McKasson, who participated in the study, the findings are a reminder that no one exposed to Agent Orange should delay prostate-cancer testing. McKasson, 62, a retired auto mechanic, said he’s doing well after being diagnosed with prostate cancer last year – 40 years after he helped load Agent Orange onto planes in the 1960s. He worked with both liquid and powdered forms of the chemical, and “this stuff would slop around; it would drip on you,” he recalled. “You’d walk through it and get it on your shoes, on your clothes, on your hands. … They didn’t give us any protective clothing at all.” For decades, McKasson didn’t worry much about studies that linked exposure to diseases ranging from diabetes to soft-tissue cancer to birth defects in veterans’ children. “I’m an advocate now,” he said, telling his “stubborn” friends to have regular checks for prostate cancer.

The chemical was used widely during the Vietnam War to defoliate jungle areas where U.S. forces believed enemies were hiding. It also was used around U.S. military facilities at home and abroad as early as the 1950s, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. About 375,000 men nationwide are on the military’s Agent Orange registry of those exposed, and roughly one-third can be expected to develop prostate cancer, Chaime said. “This has huge implications for men, especially in the VA,” but also for those treated by private insurance, whose primary care doctors and urologists may not have seen the latest data, he added. Of the 13,000 men followed by the study, just under half had been exposed to Agent Orange. Among the 6,214 exposed, 239 were diagnosed with prostate cancer over eight years, compared with 124 of 6,930 unexposed veterans. [Source: The Sacramento Bee Carrie Peyton Dahlberg article 5 Aug 08 ++]

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