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5.9. Compensation Rates

Compensation rates are established by Congress. The VA compensation system is based on the rated percentage of disability ("scheduler rating") and not on the rank of the veteran at time of discharge. At present, a senior officer and a junior enlisted who are each rated as 30% disabled each will receive the same amount of compensation per month from VA.

At one time the amount of VA benefits payable for the same condition was different depending on whether the veteran served in a time of war or not. Under the current payment schedule, compensation benefits for both classes of veterans are the same. So veterans with the same percent rated disability today receive the same monetary compensation regardless of when they served. [link to 38 USC 1110 v. 1131]

38 U.S.C. section 1114 sets forth the compensation rates for all awards of disability compensation, whether based on a new claim or a claim retroactively granted on the basis of CUE in a prior VA decision.  When the rates are set by Congress, they have a specific effective date and remain in effect until they are changed.  Nothing in the statute provides for payment of a higher rate when the payments are retroactive, and the Court cannot find any intent for payment at the higher rate without a clear, explicit waiver of the Government's sovereign immunity from the payment of interest.  38 U.S.C § 1114; see also Smith v. Principi, 281 F.3d 1384, 1387 (Fed. Cir. 2002) ("waiver of the no-interest rule must be express").  Further, the suggestion that section 1114 requires that an award of retroactive benefits must be calculated at the rate in effect at the time of payment was expressly rejected by the Federal Circuit in Sandstrom v. Principi, 358 F.3d 1376, 1380 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

Thus, a claimant is not entitled to receive an amount not authorized by Congress during a particular time frame.

Refer to:  Appendix III Compensation Tables

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