Does Congress even care? Vet groups warn Hill not to act on aging of 'IU' claimants

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 09:29:53 -0400

More than 316,000 veterans today see their monthly VA disability compensation enhanced by IU eligibility. These are veterans with service-connected disabilities rated below 100 percent by the VA rating schedule. But VA verifies that the same disabilities prevent these veterans from working, at least in jobs that pay wages above federal poverty guidelines.

Given IU status, they draw VA compensation at the 100 percent level despite having lower-rated disabilities. To qualify they must have at least one service-connected disability rated at least 60 percent, or two or more disabilities with a combined rating of 70 percent with at least one disability rated 40 percent. They also must be "unable to maintain substantially gainful employment" as a result of their disabilities.

The gain in VA compensation from IU status is significant. A 60-percent disabled veteran with no dependents draws monthly compensation under IU of $2,907 instead of $1,059, a difference of more than $22,000 a year. A 70-percent disabled vet with a spouse and a child and IU status will receive $3188 a month instead of $1,531 for their rated disability alone.

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/military/2015/07/17/vet-groups-warn-hill-act-aging-iu-claimants/30333129/

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Jul 20 at 2015 11:58 AM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 11:58:46 -0400

Of course - we can't work, so we squeak by, unless you're fortunate enough to have military pension and SSDI as well, and they want to take it away, so you spend 20-40 years eating cat food, meanwhile these @$$#0!E$ are getting fat off their take from all their lobbyists...

#NoIncumbentsIn2016

Response by SGT Mark Stevens made Jul 20 at 2015 6:16 PM

SGT Mark Stevens — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 18:16:23 -0400

If you have had IU for 10 years, you should be able to keep it. If you have reached the age of retirement, you should be able to keep it.
However, if you have just been placed on IU, the VA should evaluate say, every two years to see if you are still needing it. After five evals, you should be able to keep it.
Some injuries do get better some do not. This benefit helps with a grey area in the system but like all good things, it should not be abused.

Response by Rick Wiseman made Jul 21 at 2015 9:27 PM

Rick Wiseman — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 21:27:15 -0400

I'm at 90% according to the VA. If you look at the total combined rating by the same people I should be at 200%. They Government would be better off doing away with the VA all together and paying everyone the ETS's Under Honorable Conditions at the 100% rating and paying for a minimum of Schooling for all Vets. The money they would spend at the rate of $3,000 per Vet (approx. 22,000,000 according to the Governments own figure,) couldn't be anywhere near what they currently spend. Just paying all Vets the current 100% rate would actually be a little less but if they did that they would only be spending approximately $66,000,000,000/year. what is the current VA budget you ask? The Submission for FY 2016 is over $168,000,000,000. So right there I have just save the Government $100 Billion Dollars. They could let us find our own Health Care and if we wanted to work that would also be an option as it currently is for all that are considered 100% Service Connected and Employable (yes, this is a rating....) Instead of making everyone fight for what is rightfully earned by there service, does this make sense to anyone else? Every day we see someone bitching about their worries of the Government taking away rights they never served to earn but, they can collect welfare for all there life.