Originally Posted by
kcpunk
You say real money with 51 percent concurrent, what would a good estimate be for the annual amount they would receive.
Pull up any online calculator to get an estimate. But it works differently at 50%. Prior to 50%, you get a fixed amount tax free. It is removed from your pay, the remainder of your pay is taxed, then it is added back in. At 50%, you get the VA payment on top of all of your retired pay - that's concurrent receipt.
As a quick example, a 30% rating garners $395 of your pay as tax free resulting in about $40-50/month net increase in retired pay. While a 50% rating results in an additional $810 of pay added on top of your total retired pay.
Google VA Disability Calculator if you're interested in more info.
Originally Posted by
kcpunk
If you are truthfull and have documentation, the VA will determine your percentage, if any, not you.
Yes. I was merely using generic examples to illustrate a point, not claiming I could guess what an individual at the VA would subjectively determine my overall disability rating would be. I do have recent cases to estimate my own, but as I said, I can't be sure because it is a subjective process.
Originally Posted by
kcpunk
Make sure your VA disability reasons match your FAA electronic filed documentation. You now need to have a FAA account and complete the form prior to your FAA doctor visit.
Yes. And?
Originally Posted by
kcpunk
Talk to your FAA medical examiner before your VA Physical, there are many injuries that validate a disability that will not prevent you from receiving a class 1.
Yes. However, that is not the point I was making. The point is, we do not yet know what the FAA will do with this new access to the VA medical records. You may choose to believe that things will continue as they are. I will not debate that - they may well continue as-is. What I will say is that bureaucracies never get smaller or less intrusive. Knowing that and not knowing what the FAA's plans are, for me, it wasn't worth the small dollars. For now, I don't have to check the box on my medical that says I receive any type of disability compensation, so if the FAA does decide to change the rules regarding VA disability & medicals, I don't need to worry about it.
I don't mean to sound like a scare monger, I just want folks to understand where things are at right now and how much money we're talking about so people can make an informed decision.