'Double-dipping' controversy bars injured and ill vets from getting full benefits

Jason Leisey served nine years as an infantryman and received a Purple Heart after he was severely injured by a car bomb in Iraq. John Beasley served as an intelligence soldier in Afghanistan and had to leave after 17 years when he developed sarcoidosis. Austin Chapman was hit by an improvised explosive device while serving as a combat medic in Afghanistan, leaving him with nerve damage and a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis after six years of service.

All three were medically retired and had their military careers cut short by life-changing injuries and illnesses. They are a handful of more than 50,000 disabled veterans who are receiving a smaller check each month because of a policy that reduces the amount of disability compensation and military retirement pay they receive.

But a bill named after an Army combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan aims to fix that.

Called the Major Richard Star Act, the bill would change a rule that essentially caps how much money veterans can receive from retirement and Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation benefits.

Veterans who were wounded and medically retired, also known as Chapter 61 retirees, have their military retirement pay reduced “dollar-for-dollar” by the amount they receive in VA disability compensation. If the bill passes, it would eliminate that reduction, often called an offset, and give veterans their full retirement and disability payments. The offset is due to federal rules against double benefits, or double-dipping — though advocates and veterans argue that because the benefits come from two different sources for two different reasons, it shouldn’t count as a double benefit.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/veteran-richard-star-act/