MILITARY UPDATE

By Tom Philpott

A commission conducting the first major review in 50 years of veterans' disability benefits was warned at its inaugural meeting that perhaps too many veterans have been deemed "unemployable," which raises their compensation to the level of 100 percent disabled veterans.

Renee L. Szybala, director for operations for the Compensation and Pension Service in the Department of Veterans Affairs, told the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission May 9 that the number of vets designated "IU," or Individual Unemployability, has doubled in the past six years.

Part of that growth is blamed on the department's decision in 1999 to stop requiring IU veterans to complete a form each year verifying that they remain unemployed, said Stephen Simmons, Szybala's deputy.

"We re-instituting that," he said, citing recent "findings" that dropping the form requirement was a bad idea. The 214,000 veterans designated IU now are simply sent annual reminders that their compensation level is based on a determination that they can't work.

Szybala was asked if a veteran 90 years old could draw disability pay at the 100 percent level. She said, a veteran theoretically can apply for IU benefits at age 90, arguing that his disabilities make him unable to work.

The commission also took testimony from defense officials, congressional auditors, veterans' service groups and military associations. Group representatives defended current levels of payments. Some expressed concern over how the commission came to be.

House Republican leaders mandated the commission as a condition for relaxing the ban on concurrent receipt of military retirement and VA disability compensation. The 13-member panel to review VA payments was a compromise position for Republicans after they angered vet groups with a plan to tighten disability payments of future veterans by recognizing only injuries or illnesses resulting from "performance of duty."

Under current law, any permanent injury or illness is service-connected and compensable if traced to time in service. Szybala cited as an example an off-duty service member injured roller-skating. That point is "probably one of the things the commission will be grappling with," she said.

VA statistics show that about half of 460,000 veterans with disability ratings of 60 percent to 90 percent are now deemed unemployable and paid as if 100 percent disabled. Last year, the IU status added $4 billion to overall disability payments, Szybala said.

The designation brings a sharp boost in pay. A 60 percent disabled veteran with no dependents who is given IU status draws monthly compensation of $2,299 instead of $839. The difference is almost $20,000 a year.

Veterans can be considered for IU if they have one disability of at least 60 percent or two disabilities with a combined rating of at least 70 percent. One of every four veterans with a 60 percent disability is IU and paid at the 100 percent level. Likewise, half of all 70 percent disabled veterans, two thirds of all 80 percent disabled veterans and three-quarters of 90 percent disabled veterans are considered unemployable.

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