special pays
Special Pay Notification
This was an unusually busy year for processing special pay requests as the Navy Medicine Special Pays team in partnership with DFAS processed over 4,000 special pay requests, amounting to five times the normal annual workload. With the large volume of requests processed, we ask that constituents review their Leave and Earning Statements (LES) for accuracy. If an anomaly is discovered, please follow the steps outlined below.
o Constituent will contact Command Special Pay Coordinator or Command Pay and Personnel Administrator.
o Constituents Command Special Pay Coordinator or Command Pay and Personnel Administrator should review constituents Master Military Pay Account for errors.
o If anomalies are discovered, Command Special Pay Coordinator or Command Pay and Personnel Administrator will contact the BUMED Special Pay Program Manager with constituent’s name and details of anomaly.
Guest Post – FY24 Navy Medical Corps Special Pay Guidance – What Changed?
By CDR Dustin Schuett, MC, USN
The FY-24 Navy Active Component Medical Corps (MC) Special Pay Guidance was released on October 17, 2023 following the release of the DoD Medical Corps Certification Pay, Incentive Pay, and Retention Bonus FY-24 document on October 1, 2023.
The most notable change is that Board Certification Pay (BCP) increased from $6,000 to $8,000 per year. The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) enacted on July 1, 2021 authorized an increase in Board Certification Pay from $6,000 per year to $15,000 per year. The increase to $8,000 in the FY24 plan is the first increase in Board Certification Pay since the FY 2017 MC Special Pay Guidelines released in September 2016. This change is retroactive to October 1, 2023, however, to receive this $166.67 per month increase in BCP, physicians must agree to remain on active duty for 12 months from October 1, 2023. Physicians will need to submit a request for the increase in BCP.
Several specialties received increases in Retention Bonuses (RB). Physicians in Aerospace Medicine and Pediatrics received $2,000 increases in 2-year Retention bonuses and Psychiatry received a $1,000 increase for 2-year retention bonuses. Aerospace Medicine received a $5,000 per year increase for 3-year RBs. Several specialties received $5,000 per year increases for 4-year RB’s including Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Neurology, OBGYN, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pulmonary Critical Care and Physicians in Subspecialty Categories II through V.*
The 4-year RB for Cardiologists, Radiologists, and Urologists increased by $10,000 per year and the 4-year RB for Neurosurgeons functionally increased by $21,000 as the Incentive Pay (IP) for Neurosurgeons on a 4-year RB increased from $59,000 to $80,000 though the actual Retention Bonus did not change.
Family Medicine physicians regained the option for a 6-year RB for the first time since the FY19 Special Pay document at $55,000 per year. The 6-year RB for Emergency Medicine and Pulm/Critical Care increased by $5,000 and the 6-year RB for Adult Cardiologists increased by $10,000.
A change to prior policy is that subject to acceptance by the Chief of BUMED, a physician with an existing RB contract who has served at least half of that RB contract may request termination of that contract in order to enter into a new RB contract with an obligation equal to or longer than the remaining obligation of the current RB.
The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act authorized an increase Incentive Pay (from a max of $100,000 to a max of $200,000 per year), despite this, no specialty has seen an increase in Incentive Pay since the FY17 Medical Corps Special Pay Document. There have been no changes to Incentive Pay for Interns, Residents, or General Medical Officers since the FY17 Special Pay Guidance. The cumulative inflation in the US since the FY17 Special Pay Guidance was released is over 28%.
A 2020 study by the Government Accountability Office found that physicians in 2/3 of specialties cannot reach the 20th percentile of civilian compensation for their specialty. The FY-24 Special Pay Guidance did not significantly change that statistic even without accounting for the 9.6% average increase in civilian average physician income.
*Subspecialty Category II: IM Nuclear Medicine,
Subspecialty Category III: IM/Pediatrics Subspecialties in Allergy, Immunology, Nephrology, Heme/Onc, and Neonatology
Subspecialty IV: Other IM/Peds subspecialties not in Cat I or III, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology, Geriatrics, Endocrinology, Clinical Pharmacology, Developmental Pediatrics, and Peds Intensive Care
Subspecialty V: Physician Fellowship Trained in Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Gynecologic Surgery & Obstetrics, and Urology
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.
This document was approved by the Public Affairs Office at Naval Medicine Readiness and Training Command San Diego.
FY24 Special Pays Plan Released
All of the new guidance can be found on the special pays page. Here is the update they posted that tells about the new increased Board Certification Pay:
17 Oct 2023: The FY24 NAVADMIN and Pay Guidance has been released, and requests effective as far back as 1 Oct 23 have 30 days (15 Nov 23) to be submitted, and not required to be retroactive. There are significant changes in the Pay Guidance for each Corps, which are highlighted in yellow, and there is a power point on the webpage with the changes as well.
For the BCP change a member who is receiving BCP prior to 1 Oct 23, needs to submit a new request for the BCP change effective 1 Oct 23, if eligible, and agree to remain on active duty for one year from the effective date of the BCP to receive it, and if board certified prior to 1 Oct 23, and not receiving BCP, must submit two requests for each rate of BCP.
Any questions please direct them to your command Human Resources Department/Administrative Office, who should contact BUMED at the below email address.
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.
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//
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