BCNR Help...

[djj1104]

Hello,

I know there's a ton of information here and the question may have already been asked and answered so I apologize for the redundancy. Hear me out...

In 2016 I had a surgery on my feet and ankle, which after recovery and therapy, I was deemed unfit by my podiatrist and apparently at some point, she referred me for MEB however I was not informed of this. Fast forward a few months, I separated after completing my term of service obligation and received an honorable discharge. I had been fighting with the VA to get to 100% P/T and have won that battle. During one of the visits with my VSO and upon review of my medical records in 2022, he asked why I didn't accept the MEB and I was confused as to what he was talking about.

So although it wasn't relayed to me during my visit with the podiatrist in 2016 but was requested, would this provide me somewhat of a leg to stand on to get the discharge changed to medical retirement, ASSUMING the BCMR approves the case? If the BCMR approves, what would that mean for me as far as benefits?

Hopefully I'm asking these questions correctly. Thanks for your help!

DJ

 

[Provis]

Hello,

I know there's a ton of information here and the question may have already been asked and answered so I apologize for the redundancy. Hear me out...

In 2016 I had a surgery on my feet and ankle, which after recovery and therapy, I was deemed unfit by my podiatrist and apparently at some point, she referred me for MEB however I was not informed of this. Fast forward a few months, I separated after completing my term of service obligation and received an honorable discharge. I had been fighting with the VA to get to 100% P/T and have won that battle. During one of the visits with my VSO and upon review of my medical records in 2022, he asked why I didn't accept the MEB and I was confused as to what he was talking about.

So although it wasn't relayed to me during my visit with the podiatrist in 2016 but was requested, would this provide me somewhat of a leg to stand on to get the discharge changed to medical retirement, ASSUMING the BCMR approves the case? If the BCMR approves, what would that mean for me as far as benefits?

Hopefully I'm asking these questions correctly. Thanks for your help!

DJ

The net gain is tricare. Any pension would be offset by your VA compensation. The only other benefit is that you could eke out a bit more compensation via CRSC if you qualified. You can't get CRSC unless you are retired. How long were you in? The longer you served the more CRSC can benefit you.

So its a long process but expect to get Tricare instead of CHAMPVA. That is the only thing that is certain if you win and get a medical retirement. If you win and are medically retired then you can apply for CRSC if you have combat related injuries that may help you recoup some of the VA offset but its limited by how much your earned longevity pension + your total VA compensation. So if you were in enlisted and in for 8 years for example as an E6 in the legacy retirement (Not BRS). Then lets say your high 3 was $3,500 a month. 8 years time 2.5% = 20%. 20% times $3,500 = $700 a month as a cap for CRSC as long as you are approved for CRSC for an amount of $700 or more. Since CRSC uses the same VA charts you would need to be approved for 40% CRSC to max out compensation at $700 a month.

So you can see there a lot of what if's regarding CRSC and so you would be fighting for Tricare. Its very possible though that a foot condition wouldn't get 30% meaning that they would have given you severance instead which you would have recouped by the VA for that same condition.

So you really need to get into the minutia of your situation to see if there was a clear error/injustice in your situation. That is because you could do all the work for a BCMR and wait for several years to just get denied OR win your case but not qualify for CRSC meaning you only get Tricare.

 

[djj1104]

The net gain is tricare. Any pension would be offset by your VA compensation. The only other benefit is that you could eke out a bit more compensation via CRSC if you qualified. You can't get CRSC unless you are retired. How long were you in? The longer you served the more CRSC can benefit you.

So its a long process but expect to get Tricare instead of CHAMPVA. That is the only thing that is certain if you win and get a medical retirement. If you win and are medically retired then you can apply for CRSC if you have combat related injuries that may help you recoup some of the VA offset but its limited by how much your earned longevity pension + your total VA compensation. So if you were in enlisted and in for 8 years for example as an E6 in the legacy retirement (Not BRS). Then lets say your high 3 was $3,500 a month. 8 years time 2.5% = 20%. 20% times $3,500 = $700 a month as a cap for CRSC as long as you are approved for CRSC for an amount of $700 or more. Since CRSC uses the same VA charts you would need to be approved for 40% CRSC to max out compensation at $700 a month.

So you can see there a lot of what if's regarding CRSC and so you would be fighting for Tricare. Its very possible though that a foot condition wouldn't get 30% meaning that they would have given you severance instead which you would have recouped by the VA for that same condition.

So you really need to get into the minutia of your situation to see if there was a clear error/injustice in your situation. That is because you could do all the work for a BCMR and wait for several years to just get denied OR win your case but not qualify for CRSC meaning you only get Tricare.

I definitely appreciate your insight....wholeheartedly!

The fight would definitely be for Tricare and also the fact that it wasn't even mentioned as a option for me when I separated. I was a E5 with 7 years so the pay wouldn't be much but anything extra would be a help in todays economy!