Fit for Duty: Alternative Approaches for Determining Department of Defense Disability Compensation
Abstract
As service members perform their jobs, occasions arise when they might face injury or illness that makes them unable to perform the duties required of their position. In these circumstances, a service member might be referred for disability evaluation to determine whether their medical condition allows them to return to duty or whether the condition is severe enough that the member is discharged from service and, in turn, paid disability compensation. Over the years, the disability evaluation process has undergone many reforms to improve process efficiency. Less attention has been paid to the method for calculating disability compensation. Although prior proposals have introduced alternative approaches to compensating service members for disabilities, a rigorous evaluation of what those alternatives might look like, and their potential impact on service member benefits and costs to the Department of Defense (DoD), has never been conducted until now.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 10, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1159279
Entities
People
- Beth J. Asch
- Douglas C. Ligor
- Heather Krull
- Jonas Kempf
- Michael Dworsky
- Michael G. Mattock
- Stephanie Rennane
Organizations
- RAND Corporation