Need larger text? A PDF reader is required for viewing. You are leaving Health. OK Cancel. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. It usually makes sense to take VA disability compensation, but in some cases DOD military retirement may pay more.
About Retirement Pay and Disability Compensation Military retirement pay is calculated based on your military disability rating and your years of service. When to Opt for Military Retirement Pay In some circumstances, you might actually receive more money by opting out of VA disability compensation and taking retirement pay.
Talk to a Lawyer Need a lawyer? Start here. Practice Area Please select Zip Code. How it Works Briefly tell us about your case Provide your contact information Choose attorneys to contact you. Related Products More. Long-Term Care. Nolo's Guide to Social Security Disability. For DoD disability benefits, your disability rating, your length of service, and your rank are taken into consideration when determining if you are an eligible veteran.
VA disability benefits, on the other hand, consider only the severity of the injury or condition in question. The VA, however, looks at medical conditions more holistically when evaluating common VA disability claims. For example, if a member of the armed forces has suffered several injuries, but only one is related to the disability claim, the DoD will consider only that one injury when rating the disability for compensation benefits.
The VA and the DoD have distinct processes for evaluating your disability claim. They can both be laborious and complex, and are influenced by the following factors:. At one point, the VA reported that it took an average of days to release an initial decision on a VA disability claim.
The DoD process may stretch even longer because the DoD will first place someone on the Temporary Disability Rating List while their claim is being reviewed, especially if the medical examining board has reason to believe the condition could improve. Military disabilities like asthma, nerve damage, back and neck injuries, mental disorders, and migraines are often seen on the TDRL.
This decision ultimately depends on the details of your situation — choose the option that best fits your medical situation and offers you the most benefit. For most claimants, it makes financial sense to waive the DoD benefits in favor of VA disability compensation. There are a few situations in which a disabled veteran may be entitled to concurrent receipt of full military retirement pay, along with a VA disability benefit.
If you are a U. Military retiree veterans who have at least 20 years of service and are rated totally disabled because of individual unemployability can receive both retirement pay and VA disability pay. CRDP benefits are calculated based on the rating of your disability, and just like DoD military disability benefits, they are taxable.
Any CRDP benefits you receive cannot be of a higher amount than what your retired pay would be if it were based solely on years of service.
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