medically retired vs. VA compensation

So i have a a few questions. I have recently gotten out of the army and my wife is being med boarded.
1. my wife just recieved her paperwork back and they offered her 40% which from my understanding is medically retired. what extra benefits does that come with rather the just being med boarded with say 20%

2. will she recieve monthly compensation from the army for the medically retired part AND the VA or is it one or the other?

3. the 40% she was offered by army that is not the VA disability rating is it? is there a way to estimate what the VA rating will be comapred to what the army offered?

thanks any help is greatly appreciated
 
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Medical retirement is what you want to do.

1. You and your wife will maintain Tricare Standard or Tricare Prime until age 62, then it goes to Tricare for Life. Currently I have a neighbor who just left the navy and he is now a federal employee, his monthly health insureance is $450 a month. Retirees pay $460 a year for the whole family in Tricare or US Health Care Plan. Congress might increase it this year, but since Tricare changed over from Champus for retirees in 1995 there has never been a premiums increase to date. It will possibly be rased from $460 to $504 a year after 2011.

2. The VA/military retiree pay dollar for dollar "veteran's tax" has been on the books since the late 1800's. It is antiquated and is being phased out. Five different bills adding concurrent receipt to all retirees, including those under chapter 61 (medical retirees), have been brought to either the floor of the house or senate this year. Hopefully it will be passed, that would at times double your compensation package depending on the extent of disability.

3. Full base access to MWR, Commissary, PX remain with retirees.

4. SPACE A travel in priority category 5 for all retirees.

5. Survivor Benefit Plan. Allows the veteran to pay a small percentage tax free into an annuity to be paid at 55% of retired pay to their surviving dependants upon the veteran's death. Not alot of spouses know that when the veteran dies, so does his/her retirement checks...

all in all ALWAYS TAKE MEDICAL RETIREMENT
 
John Bittner said:
1. You and your wife will maintain Tricare Standard or Tricare Prime until age 62, then it goes to Tricare for Life. Currently I have a neighbor who just left the navy and he is now a federal employee, his monthly health insureance is $450 a month. Retirees pay $460 a year for the whole family in Tricare or US Health Care Plan. Congress might increase it this year, but since Tricare changed over from Champus for retirees in 1995 there has never been a premiums increase to date. It will possibly be rased from $460 to $504 a year after 2011.
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The premium stated here is for Tricare Prime. You do not pay a premium for Tricare Standard, you pay a portion of the bill (20%?) until you reach a yearly cap. With Prime, you pay a copay. If you don't have to go to the hospital that often Standard could be a better choice.

John Bittner said:
4. SPACE A travel in priority category 5 for all retirees.
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Retirees are placed in Category 6 for Space-A travel.

John Hammond,
In response to:
2. You are talking about concurrent receipt. She will not receive compensation from both DOD and the VA unless:
She has served 20 years (if a disability retiree) and has a 50% or higher disability rating (CRDP)
or
Her disabilities are combat related (CRSC)

3. Unless she was in the IDES (pilot program), that is not a VA rating. She would need to file a claim through the VA. Without knowing the specifics of her condition(s), it's impossible to estimate the VA rating. Just know that the services are required to use the same criteria as the VA for rating conditions (VASRD). However, they only rate conditions that they consider unfitting, while the VA will rate all service connected conditions.
 
my wife whn she came in got MRSA...its basically a staff infection on steroids. well after the doctors screwed around and actually made the infection get worse by mistakes on there part MRSA had ate 80% of her thigh muscles in her left leg. well then they would not medivac her to a facility where they could operate on her so the had a stomach surgeon operate on her leg. Well he ended up cutting the nerves in her leg when he was trying to cut the infection and dead muscles out. Now she has extreme pain in her left leg that radiates all the way up her back. she cant stand or walk for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. She has ended up having 7 surgeries bc of this. She has been diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome. this disorder is making her nerves which are severed fire so hard to TRY and stimulate the muscles which that it can twist and/ or break her bones and disfigure her limbs. she was told there is only 3 stages and she is stage 2. the severed nerve is basically dry firing and the muscle in her leg can not grow back bc the nerve to stimulate it for growth is cut......
 
To Joshgo, thanks about that category 6 issue, yes you are correct. I was not saying that he/she would get concurrent receipt, what I was saying was that there are multiple bills being brought to the floor in both houses of congress and the natural progression of things, if you look at the history of concurrent receipt in the last decade, is that under title 10, eventually all recipients of retired pay and VA compensation, including individuals who fall under chapter 61, will most likely end up receiving concurrent receipt. If you go with severance, game over you will never get it.
 
John Bittner said:
I was not saying that he/she would get concurrent receipt, what I was saying was that there are multiple bills being brought to the floor in both houses of congress and the natural progression of things...
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John,
Sorry, that wasn't aimed at you. That was in response to point 2 of the OP's question not point 2 of your response.

Yes, there are many proposed bills that would fix the fact that chap 61 retirees w/ less than 20 are being left out on CRDP. If I could have served for that long I would have, it wasn't my choice to leave. Hopefully we do make progress soon.

Mike,
Jason may have more insight into what may or may not be voted on and when. In the mean time you can track these bills too. I use this site to track legislation I'm interested in:
GovTrack.us: Tracking the U.S. Congress
Some of the proposed concurrent receipt bills are:
HR 333
HR 303
HR 186
HR 1979
S 344

If you haven't already, please write your Congressman/woman. Informing them of what we want is our civic duty.
 
It is important to note the distinction between being placed on the TDRL and PDRL.

TDRL placement will garner at least 50% for pay purposes (e.g. regardless of a 30% or 40% rating, the member will be paid at the 50% rate). Past 50%, the member is paid commensurate with their rating, up to the 75% ceiling.

PDRL retirees are paid commensurate with their rating, up to the 75% ceiling.

The privileges and benefits are the same with TDRL/PDRL. The TDRL obviously has the downfall of being a temporary placement, with the added obligation of re-evaluations every 18 months for up to 5 years.
 
If my discharge is changed from honorable to medically retired will it affect my va comp.i am at 100 from the va
 
usafaviator said:
A medical retirement is an honorable discharge. We are not punished for getting injured/ill while serving.;)
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Well said, and thank the Lord! :)

Best Wishes!
 
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