After The PDBR

Well today I called Tricare to start the process of claiming reimbursement for all of my medical expenses. Well I was told officially that Tricare will NOT reimburse me for my expenses what so ever!!!!! So, I am going to reach out to my congressman as well as I have informed the PDBR board of what happened in detail. I don't have time to rant and rave about his....atleast i have tricare prime taking effect at the end of the month. As far as DFAS goes for some odd reason I feel like we are not getting the full story on this whole deal as far as severance pay as well as retired pay!!!
 
I received a statement from DFAS re: the retro. They did a full audit of my MILITARY account but have not heard from the VA re: how much has been recouped. Since I don't qualify for CRDP, they applied the balance of the retro to the recoupment. They're also supposed to start recoupment out of the DFAS account, which I believe the VA noticed as the amount being withheld from VA comp decreased quite a bit resulting in an increased VA comp. I didn't think to go to the VARO for the recoupment summary; I called the debt center and they gave me a dollar amount as of 1 Jan 2012. I also noticed I can see both civilian and military pay in myPay, but the mil pay won't show any documents (yet).
 
What contact number are you using?
 
NDBravehart84
Congrats on your retirement. Regarding the AKO/DKO account info. That is the information I get from "help desk" whenever I attempt to establish an account. What we have here is them telling us one thing and doing another when it's time for action. I was medically separated and had been out nearly 6 years before the PDBR, so my account had been deactivated. I cannot reactivate it without going through them, so as long as they keep denying me and using that explanation, the info remains.

Have you ever asked for a SUPERVISER....."They" like "we" operate with rules and regulations.... AKO's own 1SG says YOUR NOT CORRECT. Maybe you should ask for some help when you talk to them or perhaps talk to RETIREMENT SERVICES.

My problem is you keep telling everyone here the wrong information because of your experience, like your case is the gospil or something. Your case is unique because "YOU WERE Medically Seperated".......... and years later IT'S CHANGED NOW TO RETIREMENT.

Come on BOO BOO you know it takes forever to correct something that's changed... Maybe You Need To Talk To The Right Person And Send Them Copies of YOUR NEW PAPERWORK .....or file an IG Complaint. :mad:



First, follow the instructions they send you.
E-mail / AKO/DKO Account

Medical retirees with less than 20 years do not get AKO/DKO accounts. AKO/DKO is the email account with the format "[email protected]", for instance. I tried to create an account and had to call the "help desk" who informed me of that.

I sent an inquiry to AKO And this is what AKO said:
Thank you for taking the time to send me your thoughts. Below, you'll find your original feedback and my answer.
Here is a copy of what you submitted: I have been told that I will no longer have access to AKO after my impending Medical Retirement becaause I don't have 20 years service. Is this true? I am Medically Retiring w/90% disability (all occurred in combat) TDRL w/19 years service. I don't believe it..... but It's what we have been told. Is this true?
My response to your feedback: This is not correct. If you are medically retired, you will retain AKO access. If you are being medically discharged, then you wouldn't have access to AKO.
Respectfully,
1SG O'Cloud
I HOPE THIS CLEARS THE AIR AND KEEPS EVERYONE ON THE CORRECT PATH WITH THE CORRECT INFORMATION
 
It really is crazy that DFAS says that our first priority is to get our pay started. Although they haven't done an audit to ensure that severance pay had been recouped or not. To me this is a total waste of time. They are just like the IRS...if you owe them $$$ they are quick to take it back, but when they owe you it is the opposite. And what kills me is that the VA already recouped mine (sev pay) from June 04-Oct. 08. I did not get a compensation during that entire period while the recoupment occurred. Now they are taking it back again.
To many excuses and not enough explanation of this entire process. Alot of shooting from the hip!
I was able to establish my AKO account and it is up and running.
 
nolansgrandma,

At no time during my 10 year active duty career, along with my 7 year hitch with the National Guard have I telephonically contacted and spoken to DFAS as many times as I have since I was placed on PDRL through the PDBR; I call them alot...asking stuff like...Status this status that...STATUS, STATUS, STATUS.
I have spoken with The Helpful and Speculative representative. The Robotron. The Pleasant but "In the Dark" Rep. The More Time, More Time, More Time, Rep. I could go on, but you get the point.
While within the plethera of inquiries, I have detected a pattern from those I speak with (DFAS Folk)...I have stumbled upon an answer to a question I did not ask. The DFAS reps don't know squat! I have heard 15 different answers to my 1 simple question.

Now I get to the point: If you feel that DFAS has yet to nudge your PDBR case, and you feel this because a telephone conversation you have had with a DFAS rep (probably The-Not This PDBR Crap Again Rep). Don't worry, you may be over-estimating them, lending them too much creedance. My PDBR/REcoup/Severance/CRSC/DFAS experience went entirely different from what I was told...what was predicted by any DFAS rep. It was a bit time consuming, but it all panned evenly and smoothly.
 
badge4107,

You are right on point. I do the same thing with DFAS and get the same result.

Did you get retro retirement pay?
 
I did!

It came the day after a DFAS Rep told me to wait a few more weeks. I did have access to MyPay at the time. There was no E-RAS showing for the payment, it just landed in my account on some obscure day of the week. About one month later I got the audit breakdown in the mail.
 
I did!

It came the day after a DFAS Rep told me to wait a few more weeks. I did have access to MyPay at the time. There was no E-RAS showing for the payment, it just landed in my account on some obscure day of the week. About one month later I got the audit breakdown in the mail.

My pay has been set-up and they are still in the audit process with me. How long do you estimate I should expect an audit to conclude? just wondering....Thanks
 
Well today I called Tricare to start the process of claiming reimbursement for all of my medical expenses. Well I was told officially that Tricare will NOT reimburse me for my expenses what so ever!!!!! So, I am going to reach out to my congressman as well as I have informed the PDBR board of what happened in detail. I don't have time to rant and rave about his....atleast i have tricare prime taking effect at the end of the month. As far as DFAS goes for some odd reason I feel like we are not getting the full story on this whole deal as far as severance pay as well as retired pay!!!

I really do think that we ALL need to get congress involved. My plan was to serve 20 plus years. I did not choose to be medically discharged and be cheated out of all of those years of missed benefits, be unemployed on a few occasions and ultimately loose our home to foreclosure. It is not just to give those over 20 years both retirement and VA compensation. I contacted and filed a complaint with both of my reps. (congress). I am tired of getting the run around. I encourage everyone on this board to follow suit.
 
PDBR notification in 1 October 2011, first pay in my account (the retro I mentioned was the first pay), January 2012.
 
Badge,

That's pretty quick turn on your deposit, and congratulations! I can now see my mil retirement and civ pay account on the same myPay screen, but nothing behind the mil pay portion when you try to drill into the account. I received my pay audit from them, but they don't show any recoupment having been collected by the VA. I called and asked where the 5-figures paid to date went. They only said "we don't have anything from the VA so this is just an estimate". It makes me wonder other aspects of DFAS work was “just an estimate” I agree that they should have had my VA comp and recoupment in hand before creating a pro forma audit.

Also, I don't know if you had this experience or not: I had to fax all the separation and retirement documents to DFAS even after the people at the PDBR sent them in. This cost another month or so in added processing time. I hope my personal info isn't in some dumpster somewhere.
 
Updates (in blue):

Action - Start - My Action - Status - Completed Date
Request for review of Military Separation: 3/29/2011 - Review Completed: 5/18/2011
SAF/MRBR Application Reviewed:5/18/2011
Requested STRs via FOIACompleted: 6/16/2011 - Records Received by PDBR:6/16/2011
Review Completed: 10/28/2011
PDBR decision: 10/28/2011Completed: 11/29/2011
Retirement Granted: 11/29/2011Completed: 12/6/2011
----------------------------- AFTER Decision------------------------------------
Directive Sent from SECAF to CSAF: 12/6/2011 - Completed: 12/22/2011
TRICARE: 12/22/2011 - Completed: 2/16/2012
Corrected Retirement Orders: 12/22/2011 - Completed: 2/17/2012
ID Cards: 2/17/2012 - Completed: 2/22/2012
DD214: 2/1/2012 - Completed: 2/29/2012
DFAS Account Created: 2/6/2012 - 5/1/2012
DFAS/VA Audit complete: 2/6/2012 - ?? - as of 5/4/2012, no word on recoupment calculations

TRICARE Reimbursement: Documents submitted,Gathering all documents; will submit with letter quoting TRICARE retroactive payment rules: Open

I have written a detailed letter to submit to all providers for the past 6 years quoting the portion of the TRICARE reg that allows for retro-payment of claims beyond the one-year point. I'll redact and post a copy, and am curious to see if it works.
- as others have stated, you need your EOB (if you had other insurance), detailed bill and a claim form for each provider.
 
Hello all,
Just wondering if anyone on this board has received back retirement pay after having paid their severance pay back? I paid or I should say that the VA recouped all of my severance pay back from 2004-2008. Is anyone else in a similar situation?
 
Nolansgrandpa, that is a great question.....I am in the same situation as you as well as others. I am still waiting on DFAS to setup my account...they were given 30 days which ends next week. I am not sure what is going to happen!!! I wonder if anyone has gotten anything!!!!
 
I received a detailed accounting of my DFAS account. They calculated severance (without the VA recoupment) and applied 5-figures of back-pay to the severance. I called to ask "what happened to the $75K that the VA collected so far??" and was told the VA hadn't provided a recoupment history and balance when DFAS did the audit. I may have to FOIA the VA for this info and forward to DFAS. I had to send DFAS the retirement documents myself because when I pressed them, the rep (DFAS) said they hadn't received anything from the AF.

SO - let's see what I can get the VA to send re: recoupment accounting....
 
I finally got tired of being led on a wild goose chase and getting no solid answers. I got my congressman involved. I am waiting to hear back from them.
I know one thing for sure and that is that 2 things have got to happen.
1. Congress needs to enact a bill to get rid of the SBP. My wife was in the military (a military spouse that dealt with uprooting the family from duty assignment to duty assignment) with me. Why should we have to pay for them to keep what they have earned.
2. Concurrent receipt law needs to be changed. By only giving the retiree (with less than 20 years of service) one or the other but not both, says to me that I didn't really matter! Like a wad of bubble gum whose flavor was chewed out of it and then I was spit to the curb.

Congress will not listen unless we all start talking!
 
Thinking while I wait....Dang, those retro dollars that I will eventually get, CRSC,CRDP, are gonna be worth alot less tomorrow. Hmm, I won't get them tomorrow, maybe 30-60 days. Similar to my retro active retirement pay that I should have been receiving 3 years ago. Hmm, a sucessful PDBR retirement would be an entities admission of a mistake made. Hmmm, one would think that the DOD would try correct this with HASTY and equitable resolve. Hmmm, one thinks while one waits.
 
I finally got tired of being led on a wild goose chase and getting no solid answers. I got my congressman involved. I am waiting to hear back from them.
I know one thing for sure and that is that 2 things have got to happen.
1. Congress needs to enact a bill to get rid of the SBP. My wife was in the military (a military spouse that dealt with uprooting the family from duty assignment to duty assignment) with me. Why should we have to pay for them to keep what they have earned.
2. Concurrent receipt law needs to be changed. By only giving the retiree (with less than 20 years of service) one or the other but not both, says to me that I didn't really matter! Like a wad of bubble gum whose flavor was chewed out of it and then I was spit to the curb.

Congress will not listen unless we all start talking!


YOU KNOW "WE" ARE THE ONLY TRUE AMERICAN 1%'s (The Percentage Of The United States Of America's Citizenry That Has Served This Great Nation In It's Armed Forces)

Just thought I'd remind "US" that "WE " should not support any individual running for political office that does not support our country's veterans by their actions not just their mere words at even the lowest elective office levels... As men and women that have worn the uniform as the defenders of our nations freedom... that's how we have been always been judged.
 
YOU KNOW "WE" ARE THE ONLY TRUE AMERICAN 1%'s (The Percentage Of The United States Of America's Citizenry That Has Served This Great Nation In It's Armed Forces)

Just thought I'd remind "US" that "WE " should not support any individual running for political office that does not support our country's veterans by their actions not just their mere words at even the lowest elective office levels... As men and women that have worn the uniform as the defenders of our nations freedom... that's how we have always been judged.

Sorry, I had ONE to many been's in the last phase that was important... sometimes I just can't make the words right (25% COGNITIVE FUNCTION LOSS AS A RESULT OF TBI) But I won't give up. I'm not handicapped, I'm just a little beat up.
 
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