Watchdog Cites Benefits-Payment Overlap

More than 59,000 military retirees received military retirement pay from the Defense Department, as well as disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in 2013, for a total that exceeded $3.5 billion, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) stated in a Sept. 30 report. More than 2,300 recipients each received concurrent payments that met or exceeded $100,000, with one person receiving $208,757, according to the report. Recipients ranged in age from 19 to 66. While 81 percent of recipients of concurrent payments had VA disability ratings of 50 percent or greater, 17 percent received compensation due to combat-related disability. The report came such entitlement pays, particularly Social Security, are drawing increased scrutiny because of projected insolvency in future years if costs are not brought under control. “The SSDI trust find faces serious fiscal-sustainability challenges,” GAO stated. The report made no specific recommendations to each agency, citing agreement within VA, DoD and the Social Security Administration to the potential severity of the issue.