2024-27268. DoD Discharge Appeal Review Board

Table 1—Estimated Public Cost for DARB Review

Activity	Hours	Rate	Total cost
Review case	0 to 2.00	$24.95	$0-$49.90
Submit petition	0.08 to 0.50	$24.95	$6.24 to $12.48
Additional cost to submit petition via mail		Postage at $0.55	$0.55
		Certified Mail at $3.75	$3.75
		Mail Return Receipt at $3.05	$3.05
		Electronic Return Receipt at $1.85	$1.85
Total Cost			$6.24 to $69.73

Next, we estimate the costs associated with the intake, review, and processing of a final review request, which is illustrated in Table 2. Once the DARB receives a final review request, it is anticipated that it will take approximately 4 hours of time for intake procedures such as data entry for case creation, verifying BCM/NR case information, receiving case file records, bookmarking key documents in the record, sending acknowledgement letters to petitioners, and assigning the case to a three-member panel. Assuming a GS-11 at the step 5 salary rate of $84,941 based on the 2022 Washington DC, locality pay table, which is equivalent to an effective rate of $81.40 (hourly rate of $40.70 plus benefits at 100%), the cost for this case management activity per final review request is $325.60 (effective rate of $81.40 multiplied by 4 hours of work).

While the complexity of a case will vary and significantly change the time of review, we estimate that approximately 30 hours in total would be spent by board members reviewing the case file records, voting, and drafting a recommendation on whether to upgrade the characterization of the discharge or dismissal. Assuming a GS-14 at the step 8 salary rate of $155,687 based on the 2022 Washington DC locality pay table, which is equivalent to an effective rate of $149.20 (hourly rate of $74.60 plus benefits at 100%), the cost for the review of a petitioner's request is $4,476.00.

Additionally, if a petitioner's case involves a mental health issue, a military or civilian healthcare provider ( print page 94608) will review the case file records to determine if an advisory opinion was required and included by the BCM/NR. We anticipate this medical review will take about 1 hour on average. Assuming a GP-15 at the step 5 salary rate of $147,942 based on the 2022 General Schedule base pay table with the additional $20,000 General Medical Officer incentive pay incorporated, which is equivalent to an effective rate of $141.78 (hourly rate of $70.89 plus benefits at 100%)), the cost for this case management activity per final review request is $141.78. Based on data from January 2022-March 2022, 41% of the cases before the DRBs and BCM/NRs involved Mental Health claims ( https://boards.law.af.mil/​stats_​CY2022.htm).

Table 2—Estimated Government Sub-Process Cost

Review process	Work hours	Employee grade	Effective rate	Number of employees	Cost per process
Intake	4	GS-11(5)	$81.40	1	$325.60
Board Review	30	GS-14(8)	149.20	3	4,476.00
Medical Review	1	GP-15(5)	141.78	1	141.78

Based on the anticipated 2,955 final review requests a year,^[46] assuming 41% of these petitions will involve Mental Health claims necessitating a military or civilian healthcare provider review and 59% will not, we estimate the total annual costs for processing and reviewing these requests to be $14,360,565, as shown in Table 3.

Table 3—Estimated Total Government Cost

Review process	Percent petitions	Cases	Process cost	Total cost
Intake and Board Review	59	1,743	$4,801.60	$8,369,188.8
Intake, Board Review, and Medical Review	41	1,212	4,943.38	5,991,376.56
Total Cost				14,360,565