Further, they passed a law in summer '11 that allows the FAA unfettered access to the VA medical records system. Now, so far, they have only gone after the gross offenders as rickair7777 mentioned. However, I didn't claim anything at all when I retired earlier this year.

The VA disability system is hard for us to understand and even harder for the civilian population. We all know that if you get 10% for hearing, 10% for a shoulder injury years ago, and 10% for an old knee injury, that 30% doesn't really mean much. Yes, your hearing is worse than it was 20 years ago, but whose isn't? The shoulder and knee are nothing more than a bad sprain and a scope that happened years ago that no longer bother you. Assuming you get a 30% disability rating from the VA, the VA pulls $469 of your pay out of your paycheck, taxes the remainder of your pay and adds the $469 back in tax free. You're talking $30-50 every month.

You need a VA rating of 51% to get concurrent receipt and 'real' money as a result. At 51%, you get whatever the VA pay is added in to your pay on top of your full retired pay and the additional amount is tax free.

Now, flash forward to the day you're involved in an air carrier accident and the reports splash on the front page read, "Pilot Was Collecting Disability Pay; VA Records Show Pilot Had 30% Disabling Injuries" - now, we all know that 30% means nothing, but imagine it splashed across CNN or USA Today. How do you think the civilian air-traveling public views that?

So far, it's not been an issue, but we don't know how the FAA will handle their new access to VA records. So far, you report any old injuries and your AME signs you off. So far, you can just put, "Previously reported, no changes" and you're good. If we knew it would stay that way, that no government creep would occur, that bureaucracy wouldn't expand, well, it might not be a big deal.

Who knows what the FAA will do. Perhaps they may do nothing (we can only hope). Perhaps they may force you to have your old injuries re-evaluated and cleared to "soothe the flying public's confidence". Perhaps they may put limits on VA disability and the ability to gain a Class 1. Who knows?

But is $50 worth risking that? Only you can answer that. Only your level of trust in the government & FAA and desire for $50 can answer that. For me, knowing that government always expands and never contracts, $50 wasn't worth the, admittedly small, risk. $100-200 probably wouldn't have been worth it. Had I been confident I could've gotten 51% rating, I would have taken it, and I'm really close. I even think I have a shot at >51%, but if I don't reach it, I'm not comfortable with the potential alternative. But at 51%, at that point, the money is worth the present small risk IMO.