Vets Who Accept Separation Pay Can’t Receive VA Compensation

VA COMPENSATION READ OF THE DAY

Under federal law, until veterans pay back their involuntary separation pay, they can have their VA disability compensation withheld.

After 31-year-old Marine veteran Tim Foster received a 50% disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs in January, he was shocked to discover the compensation benefits would be withheld until May 2016.

The reason, Foster explained to Task & Purpose, is that he received $30,000 in involuntary separation pay from the Marine Corps when he was forced out in August 2014, due to personnel cuts. Foster said he accepted the separation pay, not realizing he would have to pay it back if he filed for disability.

And he isn’t alone.
In the last five years, the VA withheld more than $401 million in disability compensation from 24,988 veterans, with $261 million scheduled to be withheld from future benefits, according to Meagan Lutz, a spokesperson for the VA. The department’s public affairs office provided Task & Purpose with statistics breaking down these figures.chart-originalThe reason for this is due to 10 USC 1174, a federal law precluding duplication of benefits. The law requires that the VA recoup military separation benefits paid by the Department of Defense in cases where a veteran is subsequently awarded VA compensation, explained Terry Jemison, another spokesperson for the VA, in an email to Task & Purpose.

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