PTSD Vets Win Retirement Deal By Tom Philpott | February 5, 2010 Military Update milupdate@aol.com                                                                          PTSD Vets Discharged Since 2002 Win Retirement Deal                                More than 4300 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who were diagnosed in service as suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but got low military disability ratings, have won an agreement with the Department of Defense to upgrade those ratings retroactively to 50 percent.                                     The higher rating will represent an important win for this group of veterans mentally scarred by war.  It will mean, from date of discharge, eligibility for disability retirement and access to TRICARE, the military’s triple health insurance option, for the veterans, spouses and dependent children.

Any out-of-pocket medical costs since discharge also could be paid retroactively, and these soon-to-be-designated disabled “retirees” will gain access to discounted shopping and recreational services on base.                                    Sparking the agreement is a class action lawsuit brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) which contends that the services illegally denied retiree status and medical benefits for years to these veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD then separated as unfit for service.                                                         Service Physical Evaluation Boards (PEBs) would ignore the disability rating schedule used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which requires a minimum 50-percent rating for PTSD victims, and routinely separate their members with ratings as low as 10 percent.

A board decision that keeps ratings below 30 percent lowers personnel costs.  Instead of immediate annuity and lifetime TRICARE coverage, veterans rated below 30 percent get only a lump sum severance pay.                                             Judge George W. Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed to stay a final ruling in the case of Sabo, et al v. United States after DoD agreed to cut a deal.  Seven veterans were named as original plaintiffs in Sabo but the claims court expanded the scope of the lawsuit to a class action.  Defense officials gave NVLSP the names of 4300 veterans who should be invited to apply to have their ratings reviewed and upgraded, but there could be more.                                                            Misty Sabo, wife of former Army Sgt. Michael Sabo, an original plaintiffs, said she was “totally excited” to learn of the agreement this week.  Five of their six children are disabled with bilateral cleft lip and palate, which creates hearing, dental and speech problems and requires multiple surgeries.  Family medical bills, said Misty, are enormous.

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