Sen. 344 Amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for Concurrent Receipt for Disability Retirees--‘‘Major Richard Star Act’’

Sponsor:	Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] (Introduced 02/22/2021)
Committees:	Senate - Veterans' Affairs
Latest Action:	Senate - 02/22/2021 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Per MOAA: "The Major Richard Star Act will authorize DoD retirement pay, earned by years of service, and VA disability payments for those forced to medically retire from service as a result of an injury incurred a combat zone. This legislation is part of the incremental approach toward achieving the goal of concurrent receipt for all retirees."--MOAA
There’s a New Sense of Urgency on Concurrent Receipt. Here’s How You Can Help <---LINK


Text <---bill to LINK for S. 344

The proposed changes are applicable to 1413a (attached) and 1414 (attached).

Quotation: "Currently, approximately 42,000 military retirees with combat-related injuries qualify for retirement pay for their service from the Department of Defense (DOD) and for disability compensation for injuries acquired in combat from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). However, for retired veterans with less than 20 years of service, their disability pay is deducted from their retirement pay. The Major Richard Star Act would repeal this unfair offset, allowing disabled veterans to receive both their retirement pay and their disability compensation. "--A service organization

Comment: I wonder if the folks assisting the senators with this bill realize that regular retirees (aka 20 year active duty retirees) experience the same deduction/reduction.
I am a regular retiree and my retirement pay is reduced to zero by the VA offset. I have CRSC approved at 100% (as is my VA rating), so the retired pay "lost" is replaced by CRSC.
On the other hand, if my approved CRSC percentage was not equal to or greater than the amount waived/reduced/offset, I could choose CRDP which allows receipt of full longevity retired pay. I think there is more to this issue than I currently detect. Ron

Background Information: CRSC & CRDP History LINK <----

An earlier version of this bill (last year) was described as follows:
"The Major Richard Star Act specifically addresses 42,000 of these veterans who, like Star, were medically retired due to combat-related injuries or illnesses before 20 years of active-duty service. These retirees are currently eligible for Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC), but the coverage varies dramatically on a case-by-case basis.

“This has been a decades-long issue, and we are trying to rectify the issue by chipping away at the problem,” said Kyle Kalman, associate director of legislative service at the VFW. “We are trying to chip away at it block by block, so we have the next five years to completely eliminate the offset.”
Comment: This sounds like the bill would allow a CRDP type of arrangement for those whose CRSC is inadequate for full replacement of retired pay. Whether the bill covers the amount of waived retired pay in excess of the longevity portion of retired pay remains to seen in my opinion.

My attempt to marry the proposed changes to the old law was futile due to personal reasons. Perhaps @oddpedestrian can look at it.

Ron