With all due respect you did not read the original post thoroughly. First, as the post mentioned, if 100% P and T on the VA side you and your family get CHAMPVA. Now, this is not really the place to debate all the different aspects between the two, but I researched Tricare for life vs. CHAMPVA and they really are equitable. I mean, sure, Tricare is more valuable for some families in some situations and CHAMPVA is more valuable for other families in other situations. There is no real solid winner, at least not as far as I can tell. So, I believe these off-set one another.i tend to disagree because the perk of severance pay is only a temporary kick( nice check) but not enough for a lasting impact. dod retirement is forever. with a big perk of tricare for family and a check if va runs out. 100 percent va cand be taken away or lowered at any moment whether its [email protected] or not as many of us have found out. the lure of a severance check is just that, its a lure. take the retirement
As far as VA check being taken away - I am not sure what you mean here. All the sources I consulted with, and this includes VA attorneys, etc., state that once 100% P and T this cannot be taken away. Not sure what you mean by "as many of us have found out." VA P and T, to my knowledge, cannot be taken away, not legally. Not unless the whole VA laws change. Yes, if not 100 P and T then you can be re-evaluated, and benefits can be taken away that way, but not if P&T. I do not know this from personal experience, but I created a whole thread on this topic, have consulted military lawyers, etc. and not one person has mentioned that 100% P&T can be taken away. Changes to compensatory laws can change over time (like the changes that are being proposed for Sleep Apnea), but any proposed changes to a condition (again, lets use Sleep Apnea as an example) will take place for any new claims and diagnoses. If, for example, the law changes from a max benefit for SA from 50% to say, 30%, it will have an effective date from the date of change and the future. But that does not mean that all previous SA claims found to be 50% disabling, not if the Vet. is 100% P&T, will be lowered as well.
Sure there is always the chance of some major catastrophe that demands the VA laws to be re-written and perhaps this to change. HOwever, if you are arguing that VA laws can change in terms of benefits for 100% P&T Vets, it would take a catastrophic event to cause this, and DoD laws are not impervious to this sort of change either. After 10 years of serving on the officer side of the DoD, I can tell you that DoD compensation laws can change just as easily as VA laws can be. So, again, these things off-set one another.
So, really it boils down to lump-sum of $$ versus Tricare for life and other DoD benefits, like commissary access, etc. For some, the lump sum can be several hundred thousand dollars. In such very specific cases, as mentioned in the original post, such a lump sum can be considered a greater benefit than even any reasonable expectation of the difference between Tricare for life vs. CHAMPVA...