DoD Strikes PTSD Retirement Deal with Veterans

In response to a class-action lawsuit, The Department of Defense has agreed to retroactively upgrade the disability ratings of more than 4,000 Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder since 2002, but who received low military disability ratings.  The new agreement will increase these Veterans’ disability rating to 50 percent. 

The increase rating is a critical victory for these Veterans who suffer from PTSD.  It provides them with eligibility for disability retirement and access to the military’s triple health insurance option, for Veterans, their spouses and dependent children.  The new benefits will be effective as of their original date of discharge. 

These newly-classified disabled “retirees” could also receive retroactive compensation for any out-of-pocket medical costs incurred since their discharge.  They will also receive retiree access to military base shopping and recreational services.

The settlement comes as a result of a class action lawsuit brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP).  The organization argued that former service members, diagnosed with PTSD and then separated as unfit for service, were illegally denied retiree status and medical benefits for years.  

The military’s Service Physical Evaluation Boards (PEBs) disregarded the Department of Veterans Affairs’ disability rating schedule, which mandates a minimum 50-percent rating for PTSD victims.  Service member were routinely separated from the military with ratings as low as 10 percent.

A board decision below 30 percent personnel costs, providing Veterans with a lump sum severance instead of an annuity and lifetime insurance coverage.

Judge George W. Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed to stay a final ruling in the case of Sabo, et al v. United States after DoD agreed to cut a deal.  Seven Veterans were named as original plaintiffs in Sabo but the claims court expanded the scope of the lawsuit to a class action.  Defense officials gave NVLSP the names of 4300 Veterans who should be invited to apply to have their ratings reviewed and upgraded, but there could be more.

By October 2008, under pressure from Congress, DoD did revise its guidance to the services on rating PTSD to adhere to the VA rating schedule.  Meanwhile, Congress ordered DoD to create a special board to review any service-generated disability ratings of 20 percent or less brought forth by Veterans who were separated as medically unfit since Sept. 11, 2001.

The deal will not benefit tens of thousands of Veterans diagnosed with

PTSD over the last 30 years, only those discharged with a rating for PTSD of less than 50 percent after Dec. 17, 2002, and before Oct. 14, 2008.  

As the dates indicate, the deal doesn’t include even all PTSD Veterans discharged since Sept. 11, 2001.  That’s because the lawsuit was brought under the Tucker Act, which has a six-year statute of limitations from the date a complaint is filed against the government, which was in December 2008. 

Source: Military.com