Error in law overdue for legislative fix

Joe Gluvna of Penn Hills had 21 years in the military before he retired with two honorable discharges to his name. He’s 69 and, while he hopes to live a lot longer, he has decided one thing about his death: He does not want his casket draped with the American flag.

“I have no respect for the American government,” he said.

His bitterness is frustration with a counter-intuitive federal law that coordinates two U.S. military programs: veterans pensions and veterans disability compensation.

Mr. Gluvna is entitled to both: the first, for his military service; the second, because of service-related hearing loss.

His problem is this: The dollar amount of his monthly pension, which he began collecting in 2009, is reduced dollar-for-dollar by the amount of his monthly disability payment, which he had begun collecting in 2002.

He is not alone. There are thousands like him. Many retired veterans who collect a pension and who also collect a disability payment will see the amount of their pension offset by the amount of the disability payment. We are incredulous. So are many U.S. legislators. “It’s a crazy situation but it’s true,” said Matt Dinkel, a spokesman for Rep. Mike Doyle, a Forest Hills Democrat who represents Mr. Gluvna.

Unless a veteran’s level of disability reaches a certain rating (and there’s lots of paper-pushing involved in making that numeric determination), the veteran’s pension will be offset by his disability payment. As is it with any government program, there are exceptions. But this depiction of the “concurrent receipt” law is the general rule.

Mr. Doyle and others in the House on both sides of the aisle have been trying for decades to get changes. In fact, House Bill 303 — the “Retired Pay Restoration Act” — was first introduced in 1987 and has been reintroduced under the same name every two years since. Hundreds of congressmen have supported it, but the House leadership has not found the will to push it forward.

Why? Mr. Dinkel said it boils down to money. In 2001, it was estimated it would cost the government $41 billion over a 10-year period to stop the disability offset protocol. That’s in addition to the approximate $10.3 billion annually the government pays out in disability payments. In September 2016, there were 529,117 retirees receiving “concurrent retirement and disability payments.” That’s according to a congressional report that concludes: “Concurrent receipt continues to be an often misunderstood and controversial military retirement issue and one that remains the object of intense public and congressional interest.”

“It’s a huge mess and there are any many subcategories and exceptions,” Mr. Dinkel said. “The bottom line is this: It’s all about money, money, money.”

It may be about the cost, but it should be about payments due. A veteran who is deemed disabled to some extent is entitled to a disability payment. That’s the rule. A veteran who served long enough in the military to earn a veteran’s pension is entitled to a veteran’s pension. That’s the rule. Each payment is a separate thing. Mr. Gluvna and those like him deserve both. No matter the cost.

In December, President Donald Trump signed into law a 2018 defense budget that authorized just under $700 billion in defense spending. The 10-year impact of the Retired Pay Restoration Act” is comparative pennies. More importantly, fair is fair. And Mr. Gluvna feels like a victim. “They call it offsetting. I call it stealing,” he commented.

If the Congress can find the will to do the right thing, maybe Mr. Gluvna will want the military honors to which he would be entitled at his death.