Special Pays
Back Dated Special Pay Requests Due 3 DEC
Here are some bullets about the recently released pay plan from the Medical Corps Chief’s Office:
- Eligible members have until 3 Dec 2022 to be able to submit requests effective for 1 Oct 2022 without having to use the retroactive templates. Any request submitted and dated on, or after, 4 Dec 2022 for an effective date more than 30 days prior will be required to use the retroactive templates.
- BUMED cannot guarantee pay before end of year tax cutoff for an acceptance letter received on, or after, 1 December 2022. If received after 1 December for an effective date in calendar year 2022, and it does not get paid in tax year 2022, then the member could receive two payments in tax year 2023.
- Additional guidance can be found at the BUMED Special Pays webpage https://www.med.navy.mil/Special-Pays/
- Contact your local special pays representative with processing questions.
FY-23 Medical Department Officer Special Pays for Active Duty
The pay guidance/amounts are on the BUMED Special Pays website. Here is the NAVADMIN... ROUTINE R 032056Z NOV 22 MID200012864273T FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO ZEN/CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 249/22 MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/NOV// SUBJ/FY-23 MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OFFICER SPECIAL PAYS FOR ACTIVE DUTY// REF/A/DOC/USC/28JAN08// REF/B/DOC/DOD/30DEC15// REF/C/DOC/OPNAV/28DEC05// NARR/REF A IS SECTION 335, TITLE 37, U.S. CODE, SPECIAL BONUS AND INCENTIVEPAY AUTHORITIES FOR OFFICERS IN HEALTH PROFESSIONS. REF B IS DODI 6000.13, ACCESSION AND RETENTION POLICIES, PROGRAMS AND INCENTIVES FOR MILITARY HEALTH PROFESSIONS OFFICERS (HPO). REF C IS OPNAVINST 7220.17, SPECIAL PAY FOR MEDICAL CORPS, DENTAL CORPS, MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS AND NURSE CORPS OFFICERS. RMKS/1. This NAVADMIN announces the continuation of authority granted in references (a) through (c). 2. Submission of requests for fiscal year (FY) 2023 special and incentive pays may begin upon release of this NAVADMIN in line with reference (c) and specific FY-23 medical department special pay guidance. 3. Specific special pays implementation guidance, administrative procedures, and Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery special pays point of contact information is available at https://www.med.navy.mil/Special-Pays/. If not a member of Navy Medicine, common access card (CAC) users will need to register their CAC upon first access to the site. All personnel eligible for medical department officer special pays are strongly encouraged to review their corps-specific guidance located at the aforementioned link. 4. This message will remain in effect until superseded or canceled, whichever occurs first. 5. Released by Vice Admiral Richard J. Cheeseman, Jr., N1.// BT #7956 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//
Reminder to Graduating Residents – You are Now Eligible for GMO Incentive Pay
Congratulations to those who graduated residency. Medical Corps officers who complete initial residency on active duty are eligible for the General Medical Officer (GMO) Incentive Pay (IP) the day after completing residency. For those who complete residency while not on active duty (NADDS), they are eligible on they day they report to their permanent command.
This means you need to go to your Special Pays coordinator, if you haven’t already, and apply for the GMO IP. It increases you from a residency IP of $8,000 per year to the GMO IP of $20,000 per year.
Guest Post – Summary of Changes in Navy Medical Corps Specialty Pay in FY22
By CDR Dustin Schuett, MC, USN
(The views expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.)
The FY-22 Navy Active Component Medical Corps Special Pay Guidance was released on February 12, 2022.
Notable changes in the FY-22 Navy Medical Corps Special Pays included $2,000/year increases for Navy Staff Physicians on 2- and 3-year Retention Bonuses for Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Gynecologic Surgery & Obstetrics (GSO), Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Urology as well as $3,000/year increases for Physicians on 2- and 3-year Retention Bonuses specialized in Pathology, Pediatrics, and Radiology. The 4-year Retention Bonus for Cardiology increased $10,000/year. This was the largest increase of any existing Retention Bonus from the FY-21 plan.
Additionally, the 4-year Retention Bonus returned for Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, GSO, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Urology, Subspecialty Category II (IM Nuclear Medicine), and Subspecialty Category V (Fellowship in Ophthalmology, ENT, GSO, or Urology). The 6-year Retention Bonus returned for Cardiology. All of these 4- and 6-year Retention Bonuses were not in the FY21 plan.
Removed from the FY-21 plan is the increased Incentive Pay for Anesthesiologists, General Surgeons, Neurosurgeons, General Orthopedists, and Subspecialty Category Physicians on a 4- or 6-year Retention Bonus. Accompanying those changes are an increase in the 4- and 6-year Retention Bonuses for those specialties equal to the prior difference between the baseline Incentive Pay and the 4- and 6-year Incentive Pay rates. In short, the total money is the same, but more of it will be paid as an annual lump sum as opposed to pro-rated across the year.
Termination and renegotiation of existing Retention Bonuses is now allowed for Family Medicine Sports Medicine, Nuclear Medicine, and Radiation Oncology physicians under the FY-22 plan provided they are not under an Active Duty Service Obligation for medical education, training, or a Special pays Retention Bonus with additional obligation. Under the FY-21 plan, physicians in these specialties were not allowed to renegotiate Retention Bonuses under any circumstances.
The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which became law on January 2, 2021, authorized an increase in Board Certification pay for Military Physicians from $6,000 per year to $15,000 per year as well as significant increases in the allowances for Incentive Pay (from a max of $100,000 to a max of $200,000 per year) and Retention Bonus (from a prior max of $75,000 to new max of $150,000). However, while NDAA 21 authorized these increases, Congress has not appropriated any additional money. In addition, when NDAA 21 was signed BUMED was already working on the FY-23 budget. In other words, due to the way budgeting works in the DoD and Navy, there is at least a 2 year lag between any pay changes authorized and the budgeting process. In February 2022, the Navy is currently working on the FY-24 budget. (Editor’s Note – The Corps Chief’s message in the last MC magazine explains all of this in detail and can be read here.)
In summary, no specialty received an increase in Incentive pay. The 2- and 3-year Retention Bonuses went up $2-3,000 for several specialties. The 4-year Retention Bonus for Cardiology increased $10,000. 4- and 6-year Retention Bonuses returned for several specialties after not being available under the FY-21 plan.
The 2021 NDAA authorized an increase in Board Certification Pay to $15,000 from $6,000, which was not enacted.
The 2021 NDAA authorized increases in Incentive Pay or Retention Bonuses beyond the previous limits of $100,000 and $150,000 per year, but these were not enacted.
5 Specialties/Subspecialty Categories (Anesthesiology, General Surgery, General Orthopaedics, and Subspecialty Category I) had increases in 4- and 6-year Retention Bonuses, however this was a shifting of money from Incentive Pay to Retention Bonus with no increase in total earnings for Physicians on these Retention Bonus plans.
There has been no change in Board Certification Pay or Incentive Pay for any specialty including Interns, General Medical Officers (GMOs), and Residents since FY2017.
FY22 Special Pay Plans Released
Here’s the message from the Medical Corps Chief’s Office and plans:
The special pays program manager highlighted changes from last year in yellow. This year’s pay plan includes several increases in incentive pay, specialty pays, and a return of all the previous four and six-year retention bonuses.
-Requests, with CO endorsements, dated between 11 Feb 22 – 11 Mar 22, and requesting an effective date as far back as 1 Oct 21, will not require to be retroactive; however, any request/CO endorsement dated 12 Mar 22 or later will have to be retroactive.
-BUMED Special Pays webpage https://www.med.navy.mil/Special-Pays/ will be updated as soon as possible.
-Contact your local special pays representative with processing questions
Note: The pay plan is a continuous evolution. Each of the services’ pay plans are based on the DoD pay plan, and the pay planning cycles are not aligned with the budgeting process. For example, the FY21 NDAA that authorized increases in Board Certification Pay was signed after the FY22 DoD Pay Planning and FY23 DoD Budget planning were in progress. To that end, it can take up to two years after legislation for NDAA changes to be considered, budgeted, and published in our special pay plans. RDML Hancock has an article that explains this in detail in our MC winter magazine that I’ll send out next week.
Your pay is a top priority, and the Medical Corps Chief’s Office will continue to advocate for maximum pays whenever possible!
FY22 Special Pays NAVADMIN Released!
I will post the specific pay plans and amounts once the Corps Chief’s Office disseminates them, but here is the NAVADMIN, which means that you can start applying for FY22 special pays:
UNCLASSIFIED//
ROUTINE
R 111949Z FEB 22 MID600051511899U
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC
BT
UNCLAS
NAVADMIN 034/22
PASS TO OFFICE CODES:
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/FEB//
SUBJ/FY-22 MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OFFICER SPECIAL PAYS FOR ACTIVE DUTY//
REF/A/DOC/USC/28JAN08//
REF/B/DOC/DOD/30DEC15//
REF/C/DOC/OPNAV/28DEC05//
NARR/REF A IS SECTION 335, TITLE 37, U.S. CODE, SPECIAL BONUS AND INCENTIVE
PAY AUTHORITIES FOR OFFICERS IN HEALTH PROFESSIONS.
REF B IS DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INSTRUCTION 6000.13, ACCESSION AND RETENTION
POLICIES, PROGRAMS AND INCENTIVES FOR MILITARY HEALTH PROFESSIONS OFFICERS
(HPO).
REF C IS OPNAVINST 7220.17, SPECIAL PAYS FOR MEDICAL CORPS, DENTAL CORPS,
MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS AND NURSE CORPS OFFICERS.
RMKS/1. This NAVADMIN announces the continuation of authority granted in
references (a) through (c).
- Submission of requests for fiscal year (FY) 2022 special and incentive
pays may begin upon release of this NAVADMIN in conformity with reference (c)
and specific FY-22 medical department special pay guidance. - Specific special pays implementation guidance, administrative procedures
and Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) special pays point of contact
information is available at MyNavy Portal athttps://my.navy.mil/ by
navigating to Quick Links, BUMED, Careers, Special Pays. All personnel
eligible for medical department officer special pays are strongly encouraged
to review their corps-specific guidance located at the aforementioned link. - This message will remain in effect until superseded or canceled,
whichever occurs first. - Released by Vice Admiral John B. Nowell, Jr, N1//
When Will the FY22 Pay Plan Be Out? BLUF – Probably Late JAN or Early FEB
People have been asking when the FY22 pay plan will be released, and right now the best info we have is that it is tracking toward a late JAN or early FEB release. All special pay requests get back dated to 1 OCT 2021, so you do/will get your back pay.
While we’d love to have it out earlier than this, as I’ve said before, part of the reason it is delayed is because the Medical Corps Chief’s Office fights so hard to make sure we maximize special pays.
Reminder to Graduating Residents – You are Now Eligible for GMO Incentive Pay
Congratulations to those who graduated residency. Medical Corps officers who complete initial residency on active duty are eligible for the General Medical Officer (GMO) Incentive Pay (IP) the day after completing residency. For those who complete residency while not on active duty (NADDS), they are eligible on they day they report to their permanent command.
This means you need to go to your Special Pays coordinator, if you haven’t already, and apply for the GMO IP. It increases you from a residency IP of $8,000 per year to the GMO IP of $20,000 per year.
Why Board Certification and Other Pays Probably Will Not Increase Until FY22
I have received a lot of questions about why Board Certification Pay and potentially other pays will probably not increase until FY22. The short answer is below, and I need to point out that all the services are saying the same thing right now, for the reasons spelled out below. The Navy is not unique here.
The pay plan is essentially a continuous evolution. As soon as the FY21 plan is signed (which just happened), the planning for the FY22 plan begins. The services’ play plans are based on the DoD pay plan. For example, in FY21 the DoD plan was worked on for months and then signed on 27 AUG 2020. Then months of planning began on the Navy pay plan. Each service has the latitude to pay “up to” the maximum pays that the DoD plan sets. In other words, just because NDAA 21 raised maximum pays, this doesn’t mean that the services are going to automatically pay them. In other words, now that NDAA 21 was just passed, it will take time for DoD and then the services to adjust the pay plans. This will likely happen with the FY22 plan. Could it happen sooner than FY22? I supposed anything is possible, but the pay planning and budgeting processes are not quick.
In the MC Chief’s Office, we advocate extensively for maximum pays whenever possible, and that is part of the reason why the pay plan has taken so long to come out the last 2 years. We will continue to advocate the best we can for maximal pays.
FY21 Special Pays Plan and NDAA 21 Pay Increases
The FY21 special pays NAVADMIN is out. You can read it at this link.
That said, what you really want is the Corps specific plans. I sent them to the Specialty Leaders and other senior MC leadership earlier today via e-mail, and they will be posted on the BUMED Special Pays site as soon as possible. It is a fine line I have to walk sometimes deciding what I can or cannot post on the blog, and I just don’t think I can post them here until they are on the BUMED site. Sorry, but that’s the way I feel.
Many have also noticed that NDAA 21 increased some maximum special pays. Because the FY21 DoD and Navy plans were already signed before the NDAA veto override and neither included any of these pay increases, the new maximum amounts will be considered for the FY22 pay plan. In other words, as of now your Board Certified Pay is not going to increase from $6K per year to $15K per year. That could change at some point in the future, but that is the answer I’m getting at BUMED as of now.
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 