Why is MOAA supporting less than full concurrent receipt?
MOAA believes that this compromise represents a great step forward for retirees with VA disabilities, as it will offer full compensation to the most severely disabled and combat-wounded retirees. MOAA got the best deal it could with Congress. Most legislative battles are won one step at a time, and concurrent receipt is no exception. We got a very modest foot in the door ($50-$325 monthly special compensation) for certain severely disabled retirees a few years ago, expanded that, added Combat-Related Special Compensation, and now we have expanded CRSC and have “real” concurrent receipt. We are going to keep pushing–but this is a big step along the way. It’s important to recognize that slow, steady progress is a much better route to progress on Capitol Hill than an “all or nothing” approach. For example: If we had rejected compromise, then DoD and the House leadership could have gone ahead with no concurrent receipt in the Defense bill. When asked, they would say, “We tried to address
