Congress acts to stop DoD from saving dimes by trashing vets

Summary: More about an out-of-control and despicably abuse practice of DoD. As pressure grows to cut costs, expect DoD to short-change vets — and protect defense contractors.

“Mkae admin exits harder”, Marine Corps Times, 12 July 2010:

When former sailor Kevin Stein developed a muscle tic disorder, his doctors expected he would be found medically unfit for service and become eligible for disability retirement benefits. Instead, the Navy ruled him medically fit but “unsuitable” for ship duty or deployment. So after 14 years in uniform, Stein was unceremoniously administratively discharged — with no medical benefits.

This “fit but unfit” finding is common; one lawyer who works with service members says he hears about one or two such cases a week. But it is not the only way that critics say the military has tried to deny disability benefits to wounded, injured and ill service members. Others include dismissing troops suffering from mental health disorders for a “pattern of misconduct,” or denying benefits by ruling that health problems were “pre-existing,” even without clear evidence to support that conclusion.

Defense officials deny that budgetary considerations drive such conclusions, but it bears noting that even as the number of post-9/11 wounded troops has ballooned to 40,000, spending on disability retirement benefits has remained flat since 2002 at $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion a year.

The Senate version of the 2011 defense authorization bill addresses this issue with a provision that would prohibit the military from administratively discharging troops with medical conditions. The House version seeks only a study, but still calls the practice “fundamentally unfair.” When House and Senate conferees meet to reconcile the two bills, the Senate position should prevail.

Lawmakers must ensure the military disability system works for — and not against — wounded, injured and ill troops.

Other posts about an army near the breaking point