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GAO-07-906R 1 (2007-05-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptavmi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: S=GAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 May 25, 2007 The Honorable Bob Dole The Honorable Donna Shalala Co-Chairs President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors Subject: GAO Findings and Recommendations Regarding DOD and VA Disability Ss tems As of April 2007, about 26,000 service members had been injured as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), according to the Department of Defense (DOD). Those service members injured in the line of duty are eligible for military disability compensation. When they leave the military, they may also be eligible for compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In fiscal year 2005 alone, the Army, Navy, and Air Force evaluated over 23,000 military disability retirement cases and, in fiscal year 2004, over $1 billion in permanent and temporary military disability retirement benefits were paid to over 90,000 service members. Through the VA disability compensation and pension claims programs, about $34.5 billion in VA cash disability benefits went to more than 3.5 million veterans and their survivors in fiscal year 2006. On April 23, 2007, we briefed the Commission on the results of our recent studies of DOD and VA disability systems (see app. I). This report presents the information we provided during that briefing. Background In the DOD military disability retirement system, each of the military services administers its own disability evaluation process. According to DOD regulations, the process begins with a medical evaluation board (MEB) that takes place at a military treatment facility when a physician identifies a condition that may interfere with a service member's ability to perform his or her duties. Cases in which service members do not meet military retention standards according to the MEB are then referred to a physical evaluation board (PEB), which is responsible for determining if service members can no longer perform their assigned military duties, and if the illness or injury that renders them unfit for duty is linked to military service. Depending on the overall disability rating and number of years of active duty or equivalent service, the service member found unfit with compensable conditions is 1Service members who do not meet military retention standards but whose conditions have not stabilized when their cases reach the PEB are placed on the temporary disability retired list pending a final decision. GAO-07-906R Military and VA Disability Systems Page 1

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