financial forum
CR Questions
If you find concurrent receipt (CR) confusing, you’re not alone. Lt. Col. Shane Ostrom, USAF (Ret), CFP®, answers two frequently asked questions about the benefit
Concurrent receipt is the restoration of service retired pay that was docked due to receipt of VA disability compensation. It comes in two forms: Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) or Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC). Both programs are complex and can be confusing for many military retirees.
Here are answers to two common concurrent receipt questions:
I thought concurrent receipt gives me back full service retired pay and full VA pay. So why do I get concurrent receipt but my full service retired pay is not restored? Con-current receipt restores retired pay based on your years of service only, not your service disability pay. For example: You are medically retired, which means you have a service disability rating (not a VA rating). The service disability rating might have been used to determine your service retirement pay. A person medically retired with a 60-percent service disability rating has his or her retired pay figured at 60 percent of base pay (or high-3 base pay) at retirement. If you were medically retired with 20 years of service, your 20 years of service earned you 50 percent of base pay (2.5 percent times the number of years of service).
Here’s the deal. You earned 50 percent because of years of service but got 60 percent because of your service medical retirement disability rating. That 10-percent difference is because of a disability, not years of service. Concurrent receipt does not authorize dual payment — service pay and VA pay — of disability compensation. So concurrent receipt will not restore the service disability portion of your retirement pay.
Why does my CRSC not fully restore the amount of VA waiver deducted from my service retired pay? Besides what’s explained above, another reason is the difference between how the VA rates disabilities and how the services rate combat-related disabilities for CRSC. The VA provides a comprehensive rating of all service-connected disabilities and illnesses. The services are evaluating your CRSC disabilities with a finer-tooth comb. Services rate the portion of your total disabilities (VA) that are related to combat activities, which can result in your CRSC combat-related disabilities being less than your total disabilities. This means your CRSC rating might be less than your VA rating. If this is the case, your CRSC payment will be less than the VA waiver amount deducted from your service retired pay.
One final note: The tax-free status of CRSC causes it to be a separate payment, unlike CRDP, which is the removal of the VA waiver from your retired pay.
MO
— Lt. Col. Shane Ostrom, USAF (Ret), is a CFP® and benefits information expert at MOAA. To speak with a financial planner, contact USAA at (877) 913-6622 or
www.usaa.com/moaa. Visit
www.moaa.org/financialcenter for other resources. Email specific benefit and finance inquiries to
beninfo@moaa.org.
More Resources
Find additional information on Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay and Combat-Related Special Compensation at
www.moaa.org/crdp.
50 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2014
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