Almost 75,000 military retirees with disabilities, who were underpaid for months or even years after becoming eligible for one of two "concurrent receipt" programs,, have received their long-awaited retroactive payments, say officials in charge of the "Retro Pay" program.

About 33,000 pay files still need to be reviewed from an original pool of 133,000 potential recipients, said Thomas J. Pamperin, deputy director of the compensation and pension service for the Department of Veterans Affairs. That review still is expected to be completed by mid-November, according to the Defense Finance and Account Service, or DFAS.

The catch-up payments, which became necessary because of difficulties implementing the Combat-Related Special Compensation, or CRSC, and Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, or CRDP, programs, so far total close to $150 million. The average size of payments made by VA has climbed to $2,100 — up from an average of $1,500 paid to the first 30,000 or so retro pay recipients last fall.

When all files have been reviewed, DFAS will turn its attention to a new pool of underpaid retirees. This second group of 12,000 to 16,000 retirees became eligible for CRSC or CRDP between the time the retro pay program began last summer and April of this year when DFAS finally had computer programs in place to make accurate and timely concurrent receipt payments as retirees become eligible.

"This has proved to be an incredibly complex process for all involved," said Pamperin, who leads a team of VA officials that has worked closely with DFAS on the retro pay program for two years.

Until CRSC began on June 1, 2003, and CRDP on Jan. 1, 2004, all military retirees with service-related disabilities had to accept a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxable retired pay when they began to receive tax-free VA compensation for their service-related injury or illness.

Congress enacted CRSC to allow concurrent receipt for combat-related disabilities. It approved CRDP, under a phased schedule, to benefit retirees with service-related disabilities rated at least 50 percent disabling.

Most of the underpayments being corrected occurred when retirees eligible for CRDP or CRSC saw their VA disability rating raised. A higher rating means more VA compensation, and that higher amount is payable back to the date the retiree applied for reconsideration of their disability award.

Pay records of about half of all retirees drawing CRDP or CRSC are being reviewed.

DFAS has set up a Retro Award hot line for retirees with questions about their entitlement to a back payment. The toll-free number is 877-327-4457. Customer service representatives are available at that number Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern time. Military retirees can also find periodic updates on the retro pay at the DFAS Web site, www.dfas.mil.

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