Yahoo! News - Few Injured, Ill Troops Get Disability Pay
WASHINGTON - Nearly one-third of the National Guard and Reserve troops returning from war with illnesses or injuries are forced to wait more than four months to learn whether they'll be compensated under the military's disability system.

That's only one problem in a compensation system that can be as unforgiving as the battlefield. Fewer than one in 10 applicants receives the long-term disability payments they request.

The majority, 56.1 percent, were given a one-time, lump-sum payment in 2003. Seventeen percent received nothing because they either were declared fit for duty or determined to suffer injuries unrelated to their service or due to negligence.

An additional 17.1 percent received temporary disability payments that can be reviewed within five years. And just 9.8 percent won long-term disability pay that lasts for life.