The Major Richard Star Act: Systemic barriers to benefit eligibility and care deficits within the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

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Who is Major Richard Star?

Major Richard Star, an Army combat engineer and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, cleared dangerous Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to ensure freedom of movement and safety for civilian populations as well as U.S. and NATO forces. Throughout his career, he fiercely advocated for his soldiers, and this commitment continued into his post-service transition, where he became a leading voice for his fellow combat-injured veterans. In February 2021, Maj. Star passed away from lung cancer linked to toxic burn pit exposure he endured during his military service.

What does the Major Richard Star Act do?

The Major Richard Star Act (Star Act) supports over 50,300 combat-injured veterans by allowing them to receive both vested longevity pay and VA disability benefits concurrently. Currently, combat-injured veterans who are often seriously disabled are subject to an off-set, wherein their retirement pay is reduced for every dollar of VA disability benefit they receive. These veterans have earned their vested retirement pay through years of service, just like any federal or private sector eligible employee, and have earned their disability compensation through personal sacrifice in service. These are two distinct payments from two separate authorizing sources (DOD and VA), earned through two different qualifications. In no other venue of our U.S. benefit and compensation landscape would an off-set such as this withstand legal scrutiny.

In the FY 2004 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress acknowledged this injustice but fell short of fully addressing the concerns of those service members who were disenfranchised by it. Specifically, the Act did not provide for veterans injured in combat and forced to retire before completing 20 years of service. The Star Act does not authorize back pay due to cost sensitivity and does not seek funding at the expense of the armed forces community.

How does the Star Act highlight systemic barriers within the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a complex bureaucratic institution staffed with civil servants, often veterans themselves, who are dedicated to serving our military and veterans' community. The VA faces challenges such as crumbling infrastructure, technological setbacks, staffing shortages, and relentless criticism, with little reprieve. While criticism of the VA is warranted, it is important to provide context and acknowledge the hard work of the VA's dedicated civil servants. The VA struggles to modernize and adapt to effective modes of communication, and counterproductive cultural norms within, which is regularly highlighted within VA and Department of Defense (DOD) related bills, but rarely openly discussed.

The Star Act is a recent example that provides context and demonstrates the corrosive consequences of a systemic barrier within the VA. The rulemaking and compliance milieu of our federal bureaucracies, in this context executive branch administrations, share bureaucratic cultural norms that manifest in several ways, most notably within the operational processes and mechanisms through which these organizations engage their constituencies. Often, these operational processes and mechanisms are products of legislative necessity. In other words, many bills that move through Congress, once adopted as laws, create the framework for programs and initiatives that executive administrations are responsible for implementing and administrating to the public.

The contemporary federal policy process is a highly fiscal political endeavor that results from our political processes, which determine who gets what, when, and how. The fiscalization of processes and mechanisms within bureaucratic institutions can manifest as barriers to access, which serve necessary purposes such as protection against fraud, conservation of national resources, and security of public health. However, fiscal legislative norms within our federal policy processes fail to recognize the uniqueness of the VA in relation to other executive branch administrations, particularly the VA's outward-facing, service-oriented mission, and role as a direct medical care provider.

Congress often applies "cost-saving" processes and mechanisms within DOD and VA related law that are just as prevalent as any other law, but the legislative norms that dictate their application within law are at issue. Culturally, Congress does not recognize that the application of "cost-saving" processes and mechanisms within DOD and VA related law cannot universally follow legislative norms. When improperly applied, they create care deficits with physical and social consequences within the military and veterans' community, leading to individually realized consequences ranging from frustration to financial insecurity and death.

The passage of the Star Act, allowing concurrent receipt of vested longevity pay and VA disability benefits, presents an opportunity for Congress to catalyze dialogue within the military and veterans' community regarding congressional culture, the application of legislative norms, and the consequences of fiscal "cost-saving" processes and mechanisms that create care deficits. Until Congress, administrators, civil servants, and military and veterans' community leaders analyze the VA's purpose and mission holistically, the consequences of systemic barriers within the VA will never truly be realized, and the true cost of these "cost-saving" processes and mechanisms will prevent the military and veterans' community from receiving the care they are owed.