The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2008, Section 642 expanded the eligibility requirements for Concurrent Retirement Disability Payment (CRDP). Retirees who were rated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) as unemployable, generally referred to as Individual Unemployability (IU), and are in receipt of DVA disability compensation as a result of IU, will become eligible to receive full concurrent receipt of both their DVA compensation and Retired Pay. This section of the Act is effective October 1, 2008 and is retroactive to January 1, 2005.
Eligibility
To qualify for the CRDP entitlement, the retiree must have 20 years of service or retired under Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA), must be in receipt of retired pay, in receipt of DVA compensation, rated 50 percent or higher by the DVA. Those rated by the DVA as IU, are compensated at the 100 percent rate in accordance with the DVA disability compensation basic rates. Payment is not a separate payment but reduces the dollar for dollar offset that retirees give up for every dollar they receive from the DVA. This will eliminate the offset and give retirees in this category all of their retired pay, and they will continue to receive the DVA compensation as they have been all along. In addition, to receive the additional compensation amount, the retiree must be receiving compensation at a disability rating not less than 60 percent and be rated IU.
Retirees will not need to take any action in order to receive this increased benefit amount. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service receives this information from the DVA on a regular basis.
The current monthly entitlement will begin in October 2008. It is estimated that 50,000 are eligible to receive these increased payment amounts. DFAS is currently on schedule to issue the larger monthly payment amounts beginning with the November 3, 2008 payments. Payments issued on November 3, 2008 will represent the entitlement effective October 1, 2008. DFAS is also scheduled in October 2008 to begin making the retroactive payments which can be computed back to January 1, 2005. DFAS will communicate when all eligible CRDP recipients can expect their retroactive payments nearer to the October 1, 2008, effective date.
As of November 1, 2008, an eligible retiree will receive full retired pay and VA compensation.