The U.S. House will consider legislation this week that would give medically retired veterans both full military retirement pay and Veterans Affairs disability compensation, as well as allow surviving spouses to retain military benefits if they remarry before age 55.
Both provisions are among the 62 consolidated in the Take Care of America’s Veterans bill proposed June 10 by the Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees to address several top priorities.
The legislation includes the Maj. Richard Star Act, which would give 54,000 wounded veterans who are eligible for combat-related special compensation their military retirement pay and VA compensation without offsets, and the Love Lives On Act, which would let surviving spouses keep VA and Defense Department benefits if they remarry.
Sponsors Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said they worked with veterans and advocates to find a “path forward” to pass the legislation — particularly the Major Richard Star Act, which, despite having broad bipartisan support, has been blocked by members over cost concerns.
“Over the past few months, we have heard from the thousands veteran voices who want to see Congress pass the Major Richard Star Act to grant thousands of disabled veterans the benefits they are eligible for,” Bost said in a statement while introducing the bill.
“It takes hard work and consensus building to pass legislation that meets the needs of veterans and has the ability to become law. This is not just like a symbolic thing that we are ‘with our veterans.’ it’s how do we make something that matters so greatly to them [into] actual law,” Moran said June 9 in remarks on the Senate floor.
Paying for it
The Star Act has the support of 336 House members and 79 senators. But since the bill did not include proposals for covering the estimated $11 billion cost over the next decade, it has been blocked by lawmakers who said it must have a mechanism for paying for it.
To address that issue, the Take Care of America’s Veterans bill would accelerate updates proposed in 2022 to the VA’s ratings schedule to update sleep apnea and tinnitus standards.
Under the bill, veterans with asymptomatic sleep apnea or a mild case controlled by treatment would receive a 0% to 10% disability rating.
Similarly, tinnitus, which currently receives a 10% disability rating, would be treated as a symptom of another condition, such as hearing loss or a traumatic brain injury, and would no longer get a standalone rating.
While the changes would affect only veterans who apply for disability compensation for these conditions moving forward, the approach has rankled several veterans service organizations and lawmakers.
Disabled American Veterans National Commander Coleman Lee noted that the change could affect 1.5 million veterans and reduce disability compensation over the next 10 years by $57 billion.
“While we appreciate all good faith efforts to develop and enact a package of positive veterans legislation, we reject the premise that the only way to fulfill the promises made to the men and women who served in the past is by cutting benefits for veterans in the future,” Lee said in a June 10 statement.
“The VFW strongly opposes the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act as currently drafted because it asks future disabled veterans to bear the cost of expanding benefits through changing the VA rating schedule for tinnitus and obstructive sleep apnea which are common conditions associated with combat poly trauma,” VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore said June 11.
“We have long maintained that veterans’ benefits are an earned obligation of the nation, a promise made through the military service contract, and should not be financed through offsets, fee increases or reductions that place additional burdens on veterans, military families and survivors,” Whitmore added.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has called on Congress to pass the Major Richard Star Act unanimously, because, Blumenthal said, the Defense Department could cover its cost by using funds from the $1.7 trillion Military Retirement Fund.
The method of payment proposed in the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act is “wrong and must be stopped,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
“Correcting this injustice for combat-injured veterans should be done without depriving other veterans of benefits they need and deserve which this Republican package would do,” Blumenthal said.
Roughly 1.3 million veterans receive disability compensation for sleep apnea while more than 1.5 million veterans currently receive disability benefits for tinnitus.
A ‘pragmatic path’
Some major veterans organizations said the proposal is needed to move forward on the widely supported legislation that will help thousands of veterans.
“Critics may focus on trade-offs, but the alternative is continued gridlock on major reforms in an increasingly challenging budgetary and political environment. Legislative success requires a pragmatic path forward, not just good intentions,” American Legion National Commander Dan Wiley said in a statement.
In May, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he supported the Richard Star Act but did not make any recommendations on covering the cost.
Other provisions in the 554-page bill include: the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, which would raise disability compensation for families of veterans with catastrophic injuries by $10,000 a year and increase payments to survivors by 1%; increases in VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for the survivors of veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; authorization for the VA to send traveling physicians to U.S. territories and Pacific Island nations to treat veterans; and grants for mental health professionals to provide treatment to veterans.
The bill also would require several studies, including an annual VA report on the causes of death among veterans; a study on access to rural care to veterans; a Government Accountability Office review of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment for traumatic brain injuries; and an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry on health conditions affecting the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances.
The House is expected to consider the legislation, H.R. 9237, this week. The Senate has not yet placed the bill on its calendar.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
