Published September 9, 2026. The benefits-news items below were current as of that date. This is an archived issue of our weekly email — subscribe here to get new issues first.
What Friday’s number does, and what it doesn’t
Nothing moved in the retired-pay column this week: no rate change, no new DFAS rule, no CRSC policy shift. The next hard number lands Friday, September 11, when BLS publishes the August CPI-W. That is the second of the three readings (July, August, September) that set the 2027 COLA. The third publishes in mid-October, and only then is the rate real. Anything quoted as “the 2027 COLA” before then is a projection, not a rate. (Source: BLS CPI release schedule.)
It is worth being clear about what Friday’s number touches. It does not change your September or October check. A COLA takes effect December 1 and shows up in the payment you receive in January. If you are weighing a CRDP-versus-CRSC election, that January timing is why the decision gets worked now rather than in December.
Bottom line: no action is required on Friday. The reading is information, not a change to your check. To see what the CRSC-versus-CRDP side of the math looks like on your own numbers, run them through the calculator.
Form 21-526EZ goes to OMB: 15 pages down to 5
Published in the Federal Register today: VA’s shortened disability application cleared its next gate. VA Form 21-526EZ has gone to the Office of Management and Budget for review, dropping from 15 pages to 5, with the estimated time to complete it falling from 25 minutes to 15. A new 30-day public comment window is open and closes October 9, 2026. VBA says it is targeting the end of calendar year 2026 for the shorter form. (Source: 91 FR 57451, OMB Control No. 2900-0747, published September 9, 2026.)
We flagged the first comment window on this back in August. This is the next step in the process, not the finish line, and the current form is still the one to use until VA says otherwise.
Why it matters here: a CRSC packet is built on the ratings a VA claim produces. Anything that changes how those claims get filed eventually reaches the CRSC side of your file.
Reading “shorter form” as “less proof”
The 21-526EZ is a routing document. It tells VA what you are claiming. It has never been the place a claim is won.
The same holds on the CRSC side. DD Form 2860 is a short form, and the decision is not made on it. It is made on award citations and orders, service treatment records dated at the time of the injury, line-of-duty determinations, and personnel records that put you at the event.
Fewer pages on the front end means the evidence behind them carries more weight, not less. A thin file with a tidy form on top still reads as a thin file.
This week, build your condition list.
Pull your most recent VA rating decision, and specifically the code sheet, not just the summary letter. Write down every service-connected condition, its percentage, and its effective date. Then mark the ones you can trace to a specific event: combat, hazardous service, an instrumentality of war, or simulated combat training.
That marked list is the entire starting point of a CRSC packet, and no form on either side asks you to make it. Eligible retirees who walk in with it already built tend to learn where they stand in one conversation instead of three.
Want a second set of eyes on that list? We will go through it with you — book a free 15-minute review.
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