Should veterans and retirees be "Triple Dipping?"

Exactly!

Are you 100% P&T if not you are not cheating the system

No you are not if you are 100% due to a service connected PHYSICAL disability. A mental disability at 70 to 100% is (arguably..) a different matter. The criteria for qualifying for 100% disability due to mental health (ptsd, depressive disorder) is that your disability prevents you from working in the first place. If someone is working and 100% due to a mental disability- good for that person. The criteria and interpretation of title 38 has always been there just been treated a little more liberally in the past. Due to budgetary constraints more recently in my opinion the rating schedule is getting tighter for new veterans coming into the system. It is what it is.

SFC Stinson if I am interpreting correctly what you have just said, I think you are partly correct. Under the title 38 schedular ratings -technically, you can’t be 100% due to a mental health related disability AND work since the criteria for 100% due to a mental health rating is BECAUSE your ability to work is impacted and impaired. ( I have seen rating arguments interpreted even at 70% based on the rating level criteria definition). I am NOT on the VA’s side but I make it my business what the policies are and the reasons for recent denials have been.

I am at 90 from the va, probably will be at 100 this summer, would of been there already but forgot to put in for hearing loss. When I am there, I will file for ssdi and I also go to school on the post 9-11. I would be furious if someone insinuated I was wrong or didn't deserve what I receive

Some of us been driving for quite some time than others. I suggest to all that " putting on the blinders" is contrary to what we are all about. Never stop questioning that voice that says " Hey dummy,....;yeah you, Have I accomplished what the leadership stamp is all about"? And contrary to a "misguided" CIC, no one can lead from behind, so stay out of the fast lane.

ON the surface, each qualification for the compensation or a program stands on it's own merits. The coined this "Double or Triple dipping" because someone thought it came out of the same pot or something. So lets say I mow lawns. I mowed my own, the neighbors and one across town. Each lawn was mowed separately, yet by this triple dipping analogy of only allow the receiving of one annuity I should only get paid once.

Sgt Gus Laskaris - i'm gonna have to disagree that civilians have no idea. I worked in law enforcement before and after i served in the Army. I have seen civilians collecting benefits for all manner of BS without batting an eye. for example thousands of people get a check for stress but are in perfect physical condition the worst thing they went through was a hurricane. i was here for several and refuse to collect for that tomfoolery

MCPO Roger Collins - Your only problem is composing a coherent sentence!

MSG John Wirts No, your problem seems to be a lack of comprehension. Forty RP members understood what I said. Are you saying it’s OK to scam the system, or is that question to difficult for you?

MCPO Roger Collins - well perhaps you didn't say what I heard. I'll just ignore you, since we can't seem top understand each other!

Lot's of folks on this thread that can't read or comprehend

I know this is old - but yes keep your head up - been dealing with this incrementally since 35 - am now 57 and I retired at 39 and worked as long as I was able... for the government as a contractor... at 57 I now am receiving all three... and i wish I was receiving zero and had my health back - I can barely ambulate due to pain and neurological issues... we won't go into all the petty stuff like IBS that keeps me on a toilet 3-4 hours a day or shitting my pants when I can't make it to one in time... long list - many things and if I did not have any responsibilities I would have ended it long ago. So for the few asswipes who think this is scamming or skating - I hope you never have to be where many of us are.

i'm there with you brother.

IBS is a bitch! I feel vulnerable as I was in our luxury outhouse during a mortar attack in 2009. Drop trousers, download, wipe and out of there in <1 min. Yeah, sometimes I don't make it in time either. Don't be ashamed.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my wife spends more time caring for me therefore she is unable to work anywhere worth while. Anndddd.....we have been denied caregiver benefits. Sooooo, these benefits are our livelihood.

I totally agree. A relative of mine was getting snarkey about how huge a budget hit is over the 10s of thousands of triple dippers making 6 figures tax free. Thanks media, and people lack of research.

I firmly agree if you qualify, take it.

I think i get to little. I am 50% va rated. I get 998 a month. I also work but i can barely do a 8 hour shift which afterwards im in pain. For my bracket i guess u could say 100% is 2900. If im at 50% why am i not getting 50% of 2900?

SPC Kyle Williams look at the brackets... It is incremental until 100, where there is a big jump.

I know this is not the ACTUAL definition, but my VSO rep told me to think of it like this: a 90% rating means that only 10% of the jobs out there can be done by you WITHOUT significant pain, complications, or accommodations by the employer. 100% means ANY job requires significant pain, etc. Which is why the jump from 90 to 100... You may be able to get a job, but you are gonna pay a toll for it.

They have already taken care of some "multiple dipping" from the government if be double triple or more. For instance, I worked for the Federal Government as a civilian Civil Service employee, maintaining Army Reserve equipment. As a "civilian" 28 days a month. The job requirement was also I had to be a member of the Reserves, actively drilling member in a unit that the equipment belonged to so the concept was that highly trained handful could "carry" the unit into activation, plus they would take the equipment anyway so what would you have to work on when they took it with them?
So two days a month I was a Soldier, paid by the military. Called a Dual Status Technician. Military pays into Social Security. I was "old system" Civil Service for a while and most of the time didn't pay SS but into a CSRS retirement system. Civil Service took my 3 years Active Duty into their formula and added it on to Federal Employment.
I already had 40 quarters of SS long before I took the job, and always received SS statements that I would be receiving $1250 a month at the time to be eligible for SS.
So Congress passed a bill. "Civil Service Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision", basically if you receive a civil service pension, they reduce the amount you can receive from SS. So now instead of getting the $1250 from SS, I get $342. Take $900 a month away from you and see how that feels.
Secondly, because I retired from the military as a Reservist, I didn't start drawing my military retirement till age 60. So at Age 60, the Civil Service, removed the 3 years Active Duty from the Civil Service formula of federal employment and gave it back to the Military, further reducing my Civil Service retirement.
They also don't care that my former spouse was awarded 50% of my Military retirement AND 50% of my Civil Service retirement.
I receive 60% service connected compensation from VA. If it wasn't for that I would be living under a bridge somewhere. The talk now of reviewing my percentage, if it gets lowered I won't be able to draw concurrent receipt and I WILL be under the bridge. But each item was earned under it's own merits, but people start thinking, hey that guy is "double or triple dipping" .. which it is not.

i agree, after all my injuries I get 20% and the Gulf war , they list as service connected but no pay, they take my 20% out of my retired pay and issue it back to me as VA pay, anyone drawing more than me deserves it, I still can fly and work so I am okay with it.

My wife and I need your contact info so we can talk to you. We have been fighting for a long time for our benifits.

My office offers consultations, you can reach me at [login to see] . When you call, ask for Philip and they will connect you to me. We can see if you are qualified and if we can assist you.
-Philip
SSG Charles Jordan -

My email is [login to see] SGT (Join to see) -

I just got awarded SSDI how will that help me with improving my disability rating through the VA.

You and me both CAPT Kevin B.

I served 33 years. 3 years Active with a year in Vietnam and 30 Reserves. Concurrently in the Reserves I worked Civil Service. At the time the job had a requirement of being in the Reserves to work the "civilian" job. I was a Machinery Mechanic.
When I was hired they took my 3 years Active and back dated my Civil Service start date to December 29, 1976. Then in the early 80's Civil Service changed from CSRS to FERS. Everyone was encouraged to jump on to the FERS with the TSP to make a killing. I opted to stay CSRS and was allowed solely because my hire date was before 1977 giving me enough years in the "old" system. FERS had a retirement of age 62, and you can't stay in the Reserves past 60, so it didn't make much sense to potentially loose my job a couple years before being eligible for retirement.
In 2002 I was "retired out of the Reserves"; orders say, "medically disqualified-not result of own misconduct". By then some rules had changed and I could continue the "civilian" employment because of the wording of the removal from the Reserves, which they were happy with because the facility was so short staffed because of the deployments of the other employees. So shortly after that VA started paying me at 40%, the appeal in 2006 brought it to 60%.
2007 I retired at a minimum CSRS retirement. By that time my ex spouse was receiving court ordered 50% of my earned pay from employment till retired, so this was like a raise, even though she gets a portion of the retirement.
So age 60 comes, CSRS removes the 3 years Active Duty they "borrowed" as federal time back when I was first hired and gave it back to the military and I started drawing my military retirement, this lowered my CSRS annuity by $375 a month.
Now as I turned 62, Social Security sends me a notice, because of the bill called, "Civil Service-Social Security Windfall Elimination Act", though I have well over 40 quarters, and have worked since I was 16, paid greatly into SS, because I receive an annuity from CSRS that didn't for a time pay into SS, but was certainly gouged by a Medicare tax higher than someone paying directly into SS, there is a different formula of figuring out how they pay SS. So instead of getting the $1250 I have all along been told by annual SS statements I've received over the years, I will only get no more than $342 a month, regardless of if I apply for it now or wait till I'm 65 or even older. So this is still $33 a month LESS than what they took away from me before. Doesn't sound like much, but some loose the entire ability to receive something just because they are receiving something else, even though they are fully qualified otherwise to receive it. Like we're not talking about someone who has a constant hand washing disorder, these people are in pain, missing brain cells, or fingers, limbs, eyes, sight altogether, the ability to function normally in society.
But the fact is, still when you qualify for a certain program you have earned, doesn't always allow you to receive the total amount of another program you may be qualified for unfortunately, because someone thinks it all comes out of the same pot therefore your "double or triple dipping" when in reality your not.
But I guess they have to find the funds justifying to pay for programs for people that have done nothing.