We have 3 Action Item today at Issue 2 (1) and 3 (2)

Summary of Issues
At Issue 1. we see LAWMAKER BLASTS PLAN TO CAP MILITARY PAY RAISE. Proposal to cap pay for 4th straight year meets opposition.The Personnel Subcommittee chair speaks out against a proposal to widen the military pay gap. (See Issue 1 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 2. we see YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO ACT The military deserves top-tier health coverage. Urge Congress not to break faith with those who have served. (Click on YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO ACT here or above to take you the Legislative Action Center screen where you can scroll down and edit the draft message if desired and verify or enter your personal information before hitting the Send Message button to send messages to your three Legislators. GF)

At Issue 3. we see ELIMINATING THE WIDOWS’ TAX. Military survivors deserve better. Urge your legislators to fix this unfair situation. (See Issue 3 below for the details and to send two messages to your Legislators. GF)

At Issue 4. we see SUBMIT YOUR RESOLUTION. Help shape MOAA’s future. Any MOAA member may propose a resolution addressing a legislative or policy issue related to MOAA’s missions and goals. (If you are MOAA member and are interested, click on SUBMIT YOUR RESOLUTION here or above to submit a propose a resolution. GF)

Collectively We Can and Are Making a Difference

FOR ALL, Please feel free to pass these Weekly Legislative Updates on to your group of Veteran Friends –
don’t be concerned with possible duplications – if your friends are as concerned as we are with Veteran issues, they probably won’t mind getting this from two or more friendly sources

ISSUES

Issue 1. LAWMAKER BLASTS PLAN TO CAP MILITARY PAY RAISE
March 11, 2016

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Personnel Subcommittee chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told service chiefs he’s not happy DoD is proposing yet another reduced military pay raise for 2017.“For the last three years, this administration has failed to allow servicemembers’ pay to keep up with the private sector wage growth,” said Graham. “This is the fourth year in a row where the department is shortchanging servicemembers.”

The proposed 1.6 percent pay raise is being touted by DoD as the largest raise in the last four years. However, it is still below the average American’s 2.1 percent raise, as measured by the Employment Cost Index (ECI). If Congress doesn’t reject the Pentagon proposal, the cumulative four-year pay gap will increase to 3.1 percent.

Graham also took issue with the Pentagon’s proposal to make changes to the new blended retirement system scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2018 for new entrants.

Under current law, the new system cuts military retired pay by 20 percent, but provides up to a 5 percent government match to servicemembers’ deposits in federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts. Government matching begins when a servicemember reaches three years of service. DoD’s budget proposes delaying government matching until the fifth year of service.

This proposal directly counters one of the main reasons why Congress originally approved the change to retirement: to provide a retirement benefit to more servicemembers, especially the majority who do not stay for twenty years.

“Let me be clear. It is our commitment to the many servicemembers who go out on deployment before reaching their fifth year of service that they, too, have earned some retirement,” said Graham.

MOAA agrees with Sen. Graham’s concern on both the pay raise and TSP matching issues

Issue 3. ELIMINATING THE WIDOWS’ TAX
March 11, 2016

Survivors of deceased servicemembers are required to forfeit all or part of their military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity when military service results in the death of their sponsor. This is often referred to as the ”widows’ tax.”

Retiring servicemembers may purchase SBP insurance coverage to provide their surviving spouse up to 55 percent of their retired pay in the event of their death for any reason. SBP coverage is automatically provided for deaths that occur on active duty.

If death is determined by the VA to be service-connected, the VA pays the survivor an additional payment called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). Currently DIC recipients receive $1,254 monthly, or about $15,000 a year.

However, under the current law, the amount of DIC awarded must be deducted from military SBP annuities. The widow’s tax wipes out most – if not all – of the SBP for the vast majority of survivors.

For instance, in the case of an E-6:

In multiple Congresses, lawmakers acknowledged the inequity and co-sponsored corrective legislation to recognize SBP and DIC are paid for different reasons. SBP is a servicemember-purchased annuity, whereas DIC is an indemnity payment when military service caused the member’s death.

Further, service-disabled retirees have limited opportunities to purchase additional life insurance, and policies that are available impose exorbitant premiums.

No other federal surviving spouse is required to forfeit his or her federal annuity because military service caused his or her sponsor’s death. Additionally, the offset does not apply to surviving military children – only to the spouse.

Tasked by Congress to review the widows’ tax in October 2007, the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC) agreed with MOAA and other veterans associations that when military service causes the member’s death the VA indemnity compensation should be paid in addition to the SBP annuity, not subtracted from it.

In 2008, Congress authorized a Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) as partial recompense for the SBP-DIC inequity. Then-House Armed Services Committee Chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), expressed the intent to continue increasing the SSIA and ultimately phase out the widow’s tax. SSIA is $275 per month in FY16, and will rise to $310 per month in FY17, covering about 25 percent of the SBP-DIC offset.

However, the legal authority to pay SSIA expires on Oct 1, 2017. Unless Congress repeals the SBP-DIC offset or extends the SSIA authority this year, SBP-DIC survivors will suffer the additional loss of the SSIA, totaling $3,700 annually.

MOAA believes the SBP-DIC offset should be repealed. Because of the current budget environment, securing sufficient funding for a total repeal – approximately $6.5 billion – will be difficult. If full and immediate repeal is not feasible, SSIA should be extended and increased to continue the path toward phasing out the offset.

There are two current bills that would repeal the widows’ tax. Click the links to send your legislators messages supporting H.R. 1594 sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and S. 979 sponsored Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

(Click on H.R. 1594 here or above to send a message to your Representative. After clicking on the Bill number, at the next screen, the Legislative Action Center, scroll down and enter your Zip Code at the lower right of the screen and hit Go to get you Take Action and Compose Message section. There the message can be edited if desired. Then check or enter your personal information before hitting Send. Then come back and repeat the process by clicking on S. 979 here or above to send a message to your Senators. GF)

That’s it for today- Thanks for your help over the years!

We have 1 Action Item today at Issue 1 or 2

 

 

Summary of Issues

At Issue 1. we see MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON HEALTH CARE FEE HIKES. Help prevent disproportionate DoD-proposed cuts and fee increases. Urge Congress not to break faith with those who have served.

(See Issue 1 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 2. we see PAY, BENEFIT CUTBACKS HURTING TROOP MORALE. Troops take notice. Senior enlisted leaders tell Congress actual and proposed benefits cuts are affecting currently serving troops. (See Issue 2 below for the details and to send messages to our Legislators. GF)

At Issue 3. we see CONGRESS GOES TO BAT FOR WASPS, OTHER WWII VETS Eligibility issues for Arlington clarified. Female pilots, Merchant Mariners, and others fight to regain inurnment rights. (See Issue 3 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 4. we see CALLING FOR APPLICATIONS FOR MOAA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS. Applications are due by March 31. This year, eligible MOAA members will elect 12 new members to serve on our board. The association needs highly qualified officers with proven track records in the grades of W-1 though O-10 to serve on the board.

(If you are MOAA member and are interested, click on CALLING FOR APPLICATIONS FOR MOAA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS here or above to see the details. GF)

                               

Collectively We Can and Are Making a Difference

 

FOR ALL, Please feel free to pass these Weekly Legislative Updates on to your group of Veteran Friends –

don’t be concerned with possible duplications – if your friends are as concerned as we are with Veteran issues, they probably won’t mind getting this from two or more friendly sources

 

ISSUES

 

Issue 1. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON HEALTH CARE FEE HIKES

 

Help prevent disproportionate DoD-proposed cuts and fee increases. Urge Congress not to break faith with those who have served.

(Clicking on MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON HEALTH CARE FEE HIKES here or above to take you to a link where you can scroll down to LEGISLATION ACTION CENTER to send messages to our Legislators. However, I suggest that you go to Issue 2 below and read more detail on this issue and then come back here and click on MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON HEALTH CARE FEE HIKES here or above to send the messages. GF)

 

NOTE: At the LEGISLATION ACTION CENTER you can scroll down to the usual “Compose Message” section that shows who will receive your message (Your U.S. Senators and/or Your U.S. House Representative) and enable you to select the option of “Email” or “Printed Letter”. And again some of you who haven’t used the system before or recently, may have to enter your Zip Code someplace along the line.

 

You can then scroll down to see a draft message which can edit if desired. And scrolling down further you will see the usual “Sender Information” section where your usual personal information needs to be entered if it does not automatically appear due to your past participation (which it did for me today). Check the information closely and make any corrections. And at the bottom check the  “Remember Me!” block so that you won’t need to enter or change any information the next time you use the process..

 

Then hit “Send Message” or hit “Preview Message” if desired and then hit ”Send Message”.

 

For any whom this is not enough detail to send the messages, drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know what type of problems you are having.

 

Gene Fenstermacher

[email protected]

(520) 378-1471

 

 

 

 

Issue 2. PAY, BENEFIT CUTBACKS HURTING TROOP MORALE

 

March 4, 2016

The Senior Enlisted Advisors for each of the military services testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies on quality of life issues. Topics at the hearing ranged from single-sailor housing to suicide prevention and spouse employment.

Other prominent topics included erosion of compensation benefits, such as pay raises and housing allowances, certification and licensure for servicemembers transitioning, the new retirement system, and health care.

Of particular concern was the erosion of pay and benefits over past and forthcoming years. “Fiscal conservation is our duty as leaders in public service, but it’s hard to explain program and compensation cuts to a young solider and his or her family,” said Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel A. Dailey. “Whether actual or perceived, these things affect how they view our decisions.

”The other advisors on the panel echoed the sentiment: the mere discussion of cuts shakes the morale of the force and their trust in leadership.2016 is the second year of a five-year plan to reduce housing allowances, and the FY 2017 budget proposes capping the military pay raise below the average American’s for the fourth year in a row. Discussions over reform to the commissary and health care could increase other current and future out of pocket expenses.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Cody said, “If the Budget Control Act is not repealed and current trends continue, our projections show that compensation for an average E-5 with dependents stationed in or near (sic) Washington, D.C. will fall behind private sector pay in 2018 and behind increases in household expenses in 2021.”All of the witnesses echoed his concerns.

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green voiced worry over upcoming changes to the retirement plan and the ability of Marines to make the right choice when the plan becomes active on Jan. 1, 2018. “Most of them will have a choice, either one system or the other…we’re pedaling away trying to get that information out there, but it’s very important…and that ship will take a long time to turn if we get it wrong,” he said.

Witnesses also discussed health care reform, acknowledging that while care in military treatment facilities is good, access can be difficult for families. Previous surveys by MOAA on beneficiary access say the same thing.

As the committee has jurisdiction for military and veteran appropriations, Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Chairman Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) emphasized a need for better DoD and VA integration in health care delivery.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens touched on the risks in health care reform. He said, “It’s important that as we…look at ways to save monies and reduce costs of military medicine that we don’t overreach and start counting too much on the civilian sector both inside the states and really outside the states…because it can impact readiness without really knowing about it until it’s too late.”

(Now click on MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON HEALTH CARE FEE HIKES here or at Issue 1 above to send messages to our Legislators..  GF)

Issue 3. CONGRESS GOES TO BAT FOR WASPS, OTHER WWII VETS

4 March 2016

 

Eligibility issues for Arlington clarified

Female pilots, Merchant Mariners, and others fight to regain inurnment rights.

(Click on CONGRESS GOES TO BAT FOR WASPS, OTHER WWII VETS here or above to see the interesting details and participate in a one question survey about  “What do you think Arlington National Cemetery should do moving forward” and view the current results of the survey after you make your selection.  GF)

 

That’s it for today- Thanks for your help over the years!

 

We have No Action Items again today

 

 

Summary of Issues

At Issue 1. we see TRICARE GETS A GRADE. Legislators say it’s not a high one. Military health care trails civilian innovations. (See Issue 1 below for the details. GF)

                               

At Issue 2. we see VA WILL COVER HEPATITIS C.  New ruling extends Hepatitis C treatment. Good news for the 200,000 vets affected. (See Issue 2 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 3. we see SECURING YOUR FUTURE. Experience all MOAA has done to help military members like you.  (Click on  SECURING YOUR FUTURE here or above for the details. Scroll down beyond the MOAA President’s Comments then scroll down the issues on the right side until “2016 Legislative Goals” appear near the end. Then in the center of the page, click on “Click here  “  or try it here to see MOAA’s top 10 Goals for 2016. Or See them pasted at Issue 3 Below.  GF)

Collectively We Can and Are Making a Difference

 

FOR ALL, Please feel free to pass these Weekly Legislative Updates on to your group of Veteran Friends –

don’t be concerned with possible duplications – if your friends are as concerned as we are with Veteran issues, they probably won’t mind getting this from two or more friendly sources

 

ISSUES

 

Issue 1. TRICARE GETS A GRADE

February 26, 2016

This has been a busy week for the Military Health System (MHS) on Capitol Hill. It isn’t a secret Congress is intently focused on reforming the MHS, including the TRICARE program, and held several hearings this week on that topic.

MOAA and The Military Coalition submitted written testimony for these hearings, stressing the need for system improvements, and not just fee increases for beneficiaries. Particular areas of concern include:

• Unresponsive TRICARE Prime appointment and referral systems
• Lower patient loads of military vs. civilian providers
• Outdated payment systems for pediatric care
• Wellness and case management program shortfalls
• Inconsistent/inadequate coverage for Reserve Component beneficiaries

At a Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “…we need to learn how we can redesign an outdated 20th Century health care system that’s become unsustainable and does not work as well as it should for service men and women and their families.”

Just how outdated is the system? That was addressed by a panel of witnesses from the civilian health care industry, and was followed by a panel of MHS leadership, including the service Surgeons General.

The first panel focused on positive trends within civilian health care, which the witnesses said is becoming much more consumer-driven.

Provider performance has become more transparent to a more discerning consumer, with access becoming a key measure of system performance. Access to care was highlighted as what sets a first-class system apart from the rest.

Civilian health care industry leaders also discussed how payments to providers are changing – rapidly. More civilian health organizations are basing their payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers on value and quality outcomes, rather than simply paying a set fee for each patient visit. In other words, civilian payment systems are focused more and more on rewarding superior system performance and penalizing underperforming providers – doctors whose patients don’t recover as well, or hospitals with higher-than-normal readmission or infection rates, for example.

The second panel of defense and service medical leaders discussed the current state of the MHS. While described as providing excellent operational and superior survival rates for battlefield injuries, the MHS struggles with providing consistent peacetime beneficiary care.

They acknowledged their own internal surveys show the MHS is fragmented, administratively cumbersome, and plagued by difficulties in accessing care.

From access to military hospitals to the design of the TRICARE network contracts, the system has not kept up with modern practices. The surgeons general acknowledged these issues and vowed to make changes. Success depends on improving access to care, as well as better aligning the readiness mission with beneficiary care.

“I think TRICARE as its design is really antiquated. I wouldn’t give it a B,” said Sen. Graham. “…we’re going to look at TRICARE and turn it upside down and make it more transparent and make it more accountable…”

MOAA will work with Congress in the coming months in our ongoing efforts to improve access and other problem areas while doing our best to protect against imposing disproportionate fee increases.

“We’re pleased Congress seems serious about improving care delivery and healthy outcomes for military beneficiaries, and is digging deeper than just fee hikes,” said MOAA Deputy Director of Government Relations, Capt. Kathy Beasley, USN (Ret).

Issue 2. VA WILL COVER HEPATITIS C

February 26, 2016

A new VA ruling – effective immediately – extends coverage of Hepatitis C treatment to all veterans, regardless of stage of liver disease.

Last year, the VA faced a $2.6 billion budget deficit, largely due to the costs of newly developed Hepatitis C treatments. Medication and treatments developed within the last three years can actually cure the disease, have no side effects, and save tens of billions of dollars in late-life intervention from medical complications.

The VA ruling comes at a time when an estimated 200,000 veterans suffer from Hepatitis C.MOAA is aware of the extraordinary costs of these medications, but we are pleased Congress recognizes the importance of this life saving treatment.

MOAA is proud to have worked with our Military Coalition and Veteran Service Organization partners to help vets get the best medical care available.

Issue 3. MOAA’s top 10 Legislative Goals for 2016

1. Ensure any TRICARE reform sustains top-quality care

Military health care recommendations from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission have the potential to stimulate major changes to military health care programs. MOAA will strive to ensure the problems with TRICARE are addressed in a systemic manner, programs that are working well are sustained, and problem areas are addressed to improve care, coverage, and readiness.

2. Prevent disproportional TRICARE fee increases

A unique military health care plan is an essential offset to the arduous conditions in a military career. Any fee-adjustment formula must recognize that military beneficiaries prepay very large premiums for their lifetime coverage through decades of service and sacrifice, and the country must have a higher obligation to them than what corporate employers demonstrate for their employees. To that end, a percentage increase in military beneficiaries’ health care fees in any year should not exceed the percentage increase in their military compensation.

MOAA adamantly will resist proposals to make military health care programs more like those offered by civilian employers and that add thousands of dollars a year to military beneficiaries’ costs.

3. Sustain military pay comparability with the private sector

Congress worked to improve military pay after previous pay-raise caps caused retention problems. For 2016, the military pay raise was capped at 1.3 percent, 1 percentage point below the 2.3-percent private-sector pay growth, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index (ECI). This is the third consecutive year of capping military raises below the statutory ECI standard, and the president’s budget envisioned additional caps for six consecutive years. Past history with military pay-raise caps shows they continue until they hurt retention and readiness. MOAA strongly objects to further planned pay caps. This unwise process generated retention crises in the 1970s and ’90s. Sustaining pay comparability is essential to long-term retention and readiness.

4. Block erosion of compensation and commissary benefits

Protect against privatization, consolidation, reduction in services, or elimination efforts in commissary and exchange programs. Sustain funding support, and guard against diminution of this substantial benefit for active duty, reserve, and retired servicemembers and their families and survivors.

5. Protect military retirement/COLAs

Proposals to cap annual COLAs below inflation or to redefine and depress the Consumer Price Index for the purpose of geometrically depressing successive annual adjustments would break long-standing statutory commitments to them.

Accordingly, MOAA is gratified the FY 2016 NDAA repealed the final section of a COLA-reducing law that was enacted two years ago for future military retirees. Under the repealed law, future military retirees would have had their annual COLAs capped 1 percentage point below inflation until age 62.

MOAA was instrumental in repealing the COLA cap, with members sending more than 300,000 messages to Capitol Hill in just a few months.

MOAA will continue to exert every effort to preserve the congressional intent, as expressed in the House Armed Services Committee Print of Title 37, U.S. Code, “to provide every military retired member the same purchasing power of the retired pay to which he was entitled at the time of retirement [and ensure it is] not, at any time in the future … eroded by subsequent increases in consumer prices.”

6. Sustain wounded-warrior programs and expand caregiver support

A recent RAND Corp. study of caregivers found more than 1 out of 6 of our nation’s 5.5 million caregivers are caring for post-9/11 veterans. Nearly 40 percent of these caregivers are under the age of 30 and will remain in the role of caregiver for decades to come. We must do more to support these caregivers who are providing an estimated $3 billion a year in services to our wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers and veterans. Improvements to respite care, employment accommodations, and health care are a priority. Full-time caregivers of severely disabled veterans from conflicts prior to Sept. 11, 2001, must be included in Caregiver Act services, support, and respite care.

More must be done to ensure medical and benefit systems are providing continuity of care and coverage for wounded warriors of all services and components, including reasonable assistance, training, mental health and family-marital counseling, and compensation for their dependent and nondependent caregivers.

DoD and the VA have made progress toward increasing the number of behavioral health care providers, but timely access to qualified, appropriate mental health intervention and treatment remains difficult in many DoD and VA health care facilities. The shortage of mental health care providers results in increased referrals to civilian providers, many of whom have little knowledge or understanding of military culture and the unique needs of military families. Specialized training and military cultural-awareness programs should be expanded for community providers to improve efficiency when working with servicemembers and veterans and their families.

The health and well-being of the all-volunteer force has never been more critical. DoD and the VA must have viable and effective systems of care and support that address all warrior physical, mental, and emotional issues, including managing pain, substance use, and complex trauma conditions. Senior commanders must continue to strengthen efforts to establish a command climate that eliminates stigma associated with seeking mental health care. Establishing a culture that encourages individuals to seek help as an act of strength rather than as a sign of weakness is central to transforming the willingness of servicemembers to seek treatment.

7. End disabled/survivor financial penalties

MOAA supports a plan to phase out the disability offset to retired pay for all disabled retired servicemembers, with initial priority for those who were prevented from serving 20 years solely because they became severely disabled in service. MOAA will work with Congress, DoD, and the administration to advance this proposal as a further important step toward ending the offset for all disabled retirees.

In addition, MOAA will continue to fight for full repeal of the deduction of VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities for survivors of servicemembers who died of service-connected causes.

MOAA strongly believes when military service causes a servicemember’s death, DIC should be paid in addition to SBP rather than being subtracted from it. To the extent funding cannot be obtained for immediate, full repeal, MOAA will seek interim steps to extend and substantially upgrade compensation for these most deserving survivors by supporting legislation to extend the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) beyond the current statutory expiration date of Oct. 1, 2017. Congress enacted SSIA as an interim means of easing financial penalties for survivors affected by the deduction of DIC from SBP. Since October 2008, qualifying surviving spouses have received gradually increasing monthly payments. The FY 2017 monthly allowance will be $310. It will be essential to include an extension provision in the FY 2017 defense bill to keep these survivors from experiencing a significant income loss.

8. Fix Guard/Reserve retirement

Guard and Reserve families cannot be indefinitely burdened with irreconcilable tradeoffs between civilian employment, personal retirement planning, and family obligations. Operational Reserve policy requires reservists to serve one of every five years on active duty, though many already have served multiple combat tours equal to active force deployment cycles. Regardless of reemployment protections, periodic long-term absences from the civilian workplace can only limit these servicemembers’ upward mobility and employability, as well as personal financial security. The new hybrid retirement plan (for service entrants on or after Jan. 1, 2018), composed of reduced retired pay and a matched 401(k)-style system, will require robust financial education of all servicemembers, including guardmembers and reservists, to protect their retirement interests.

9. Improve spouse and family support

Preserve funding for family support; morale, welfare and recreation; exchange; commissary; and other critical support services and quality-of-life programs. Improve and enhance access to affordable, quality child care. MOAA recognizes the significance of continued crucial support of military family members bearing the brunt on the home front of over a decade at war. MOAA will work with Congress, DoD, and others in ensuring necessary family support and quality-of-life services across all components, installations, and communities. Military families with a special-needs member face additional stressors. More must be done to enhance support services and health care for these families.

10. Assure timely access to the VA, and eliminate the VA claims backlog

The VA must aggressively implement reforms to assure timely access to the quality care most enrolled veterans experience. Changes in leadership in some facilities, recruitment of separating DoD medical professionals, upgrades of clinical space, and an overhaul of the out-of-date scheduling system are needed. MOAA supports a comprehensive, strategic plan for VA health care delivery in the 21st century.

The VA must double down on efforts to improve mental health care delivery and address the number of veteran suicides. The VA and DoD need to strengthen their collaboration in delivering long-term medical and benefits counseling and caregiver support for catastrophically disabled veterans.

To sustain VA services to the nation’s veterans, two-year funding across all VA accounts must be enacted. MOAA will continue to be watchful against any initiative that would force dual-eligible beneficiaries, solely as a cost-savings measure, to choose between the DoD and VA health systems.

If you have questions or concerns about MOAA’s legislative goals please call the Member Service Center at 1-800-234-6622 or email [email protected].

 

That’s it for today- Thanks for your help over the years!

 

 

 

 

 

We have No Action Items again today

 

 

Summary of Issues

At Issue 1. we see COLA INCHES TOWARDS ZERO. Modest growth can’t get COLA out of red. Weak energy and a strong dollar keep the January Consumer Price Index low. (See Issue 1 below for the details. GF)

                               

At Issue 2. we see NEW TRICARE FEES COULD BE COMING TO YOU Budget hikes copays, enrollment fees, deductibles, TRICARE beneficiaries continue to be targets in budget-balancing schemes.  (See Issue 2 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 3. we see WITH PROPOSED TRICARE CHANGES, TIME IS NOT ON YOUR SIDE. It’s not just the fees, it’s how they’re adjusted. In his February As I See It column, MOAA Director of Government Relations Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF (Ret), highlights how a less-apparent aspect of DoD-proposed health care fee changes could really bite you. (See Issue 3 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 4. we see MOAA’S ANNUAL LETTER. This year promises to be a big one for military health care

Find out how MOAA is striving to secure the future of our servicemembers and their families in 2016. (Click on MOAA’S ANNUAL LETTER  here or above for the details. GF) 

Collectively We Can and Are Making a Difference

 

FOR ALL, Please feel free to pass these Weekly Legislative Updates on to your group of Veteran Friends –

don’t be concerned with possible duplications – if your friends are as concerned as we are with Veteran issues, they probably won’t mind getting this from two or more friendly sources

 

ISSUES

 

Issue 1. COLA INCHES TOWARDS ZERO

In order for a positive COLA next year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has to make pretty significant increases.

COLA remains in the red, but is up slightly from last month.

The January CPI is 231.061, increasing marginally to 1.4 percent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline. Because there was not a positive COLA in FY 2015, the FY 2014 baseline is used.

The CPI for February 2016 is scheduled to be released on March 16, 2016.

Note: Military retiree COLA is calculated based on the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), not the overall CPI. Monthly changes in the index may differ from national figures reported elsewhere.

Related content: Retired Pay vs Active Duty Pay Adjustments

(Click on Retired Pay vs Active Duty Pay Adjustments here or above to see the details  GF)

Issue 2. TRICARE REFORM, OR JUST FEE INCREASES?

February 19, 2016

Last week’s legislative update opined the proposed FY17 DoD budget was light on specifics to improve value for beneficiaries – but heavy on across the board TRICARE fee increases.

(Click on but heavy on across the board TRICARE fee increases here or above after scanning below to see more detail  GF)

We also promised you more details on how these complicated budget proposals would affect various categories of beneficiaries.

We’ll start with TFL, which covers uniformed services beneficiaries age 65 and above, and certain other severely disabled retirees who are eligible for Medicare.

The budget proposes future TFL-eligibles – specifically, those who become Medicare-eligible on or after Jan. 1, 2017 – would have to start paying an annual enrollment fee based on a percentage of the sponsor’s retired pay.

Under this proposal, beneficiaries already enrolled in Medicare on Jan. 1, 2017 would be exempted from the new fee. (You can draw your own conclusions whether that exemption might be reconsidered in the future.) Chapter 61 retirees and survivors of servicemembers who died on active duty also would be exempt from the new fee.

The annual enrollment fee would start at 0.5 percent of gross retired pay in 2017, increasing to 2 percent of retired pay by 2021. In the first year, the fee would be capped at $150 for lower grades and $200 for retired flag and general officers. As the fee increased to 2 percent of retired pay over the next four years, those caps also would increase, reaching $632 and $842 annually in 2021.

The chart below shows the schedule of increases for the first five years. The fees shown would be for a married couple, both eligible for Medicare. Singles would pay half the rate indicated.

MOAA is particularly concerned at this plan to means-test service-earned health care benefits. No other employer means-tests retired employees’ health benefits.

MOAA objects to such means-testing, which would impose successively greater financial penalties for longer and more successful service.

It is particularly inappropriate to seek to impose additional fees on TFL-eligibles for three other reasons.

First, this population is already paying the highest fees of any military beneficiaries, as TFL requires enrolling in Medicare Part B and paying the associated premiums, which start at $2,500 per year for a married couple and can run far higher.

Second, the expressed intent of Congress in enacting TFL was that Medicare Part B premiums would be the only enrollment fee for TFL, acknowledging that Medicare would be paying 75 percent of these beneficiaries’ health costs. DoD and Hill leaders at the time opined that a career of service and sacrifice constituted a full, pre-paid premium for TFL coverage of the other 25 percent.

Third, the Pentagon’s costs for TFL have dropped dramatically – from $11 billion in FY11 to an estimated $6.4 billion in FY17, as Defense actuaries now have 15 years of actual experience with the program and can more accurately project program costs. Rather than “spiraling out of control,” DoD health costs for this group are spiraling downward – so why the need to charge them an additional fee?

Retirees under age 65 will also see huge increases under the budget plan, with lots of fee and copay changes. Among the more complex changes are proposed cost-shares for various kinds of provider visits.

TRICARE Prime enrollees would see some increases in fees for seeing civilian network providers. TRICARE Standard beneficiaries would pay flat fees (and would not have a deductible) if they see civilian providers in the network. If they see out-of-network providers, they would still pay 25 percent of TRICARE-allowed charges, but would see their current deductible doubled – from $150/$300 (single/family) to $300/$600.

The chart below summarizes the various cost-share changes for different types of provider visits.

Prime beneficiaries who use out-of-network care without a referral would be subject to steep point-of-service fees: 50 percent of allowable charges after paying a $300/$600 deductible.

In addition, the DoD plan proposes charging all military retirees under age 65 an annual enrollment fee for participating in either TRICARE Prime or Standard. The Prime enrollment fee would rise to $350/$700 (single/family) vs. the current $283/$565.

The new enrollment fee for Standard would be even higher – $450/$900 (single/family) – plus the $300/$600 deductible for out-of-network care.

Retiree copays and cost sharing also would apply to survivors (except those whose sponsors died on active duty) and TRICARE Young Adult beneficiaries with a retired sponsor.

TRICARE Select and TRICARE Retired Reserve beneficiaries would continue their current premium levels, and their deductible and cost-shares would be the same as proposed for TRICARE Standard.

Care in Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) would continue to be provided at no cost.

Active duty family members would not see the same drastic increases, unless they use out-of-network providers, in which case they also would incur the $600 family deductible (and high point-of-service charges if they don’t have a referral).

Active duty family copays and cost sharing would apply to survivors whose sponsors died on active duty, TRICARE Young Adult beneficiaries with an active duty sponsor, and the Transitional Assistance Management Program.

All fees, deductibles, and copays for all categories of beneficiaries would be increased annually by a national health care expenditure index, projected to rise over 5 percent annually. See this month’s As I See It column for an assessment of the impact this would have over time.

Needless to say, MOAA believes this wide array of fee increases would impose disproportionate financial penalties on retired military beneficiaries.

In addition to our concerns about the fees, we want to see more details on how DoD plans to improve beneficiaries’ timely access to quality care.

Issue 3. WITH PROPOSED TRICARE CHANGES, TIME IS NOT ON YOUR SIDE

By: Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF (Ret)Director, Government Relations

Strobridge, a native of Vermont, is a 1969 ROTC graduate from Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. He was called to active duty in October 1969 and began his career as a Basic Military School training officer and commander and as a military personnel officer. He subsequently served as a compensation and legislation analyst at HQ U.S. Air Force and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as director, Officer and Enlisted Personnel Management, with intervening assignments in Thailand and Germany.

His final assignment was as chief of the Entitlements Division at HQ U.S. Air Force, with policy responsibility for military compensation, retirement and survivor benefits, and all legislative matters affecting the military community. He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and National War College. 

Strobridge retired from the Air Force in January 1994 to become MOAA’s deputy director for Government Relations. In 2001, he was appointed as director of Government Relations and elected as co-chair of The Military Coalition.

He retired from MOAA in April 2013 but was recalled as Government Relations director in September 2015.   

 

The variety of fee changes proposed in the FY 2017 DoD budget will make your head spin:

• new enrollment fees;
• new names for TRICARE Prime and Standard;
• means-tested fees (basing fees on your retired pay amount);
• different charges for seeing in-network versus out-of-network providers;
• changing some cost shares from a percentage of the doctor bill to flat fees that vary for different kinds of providers;
• adjusting fees by a new measure of health care inflation instead of the same COLA that applies to retired pay;
• and more.

Put all those changes together, and it’s tough to figure out what they mean for real people.  How, exactly, would they change what you can expect to pay for your military health care coverage?

The answer, as usual, is it depends.

It depends on whether you use TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Reserve Select, TRICARE For Life, etcetera. It depends on whether you get your care in a military facility, from a civilian doctor in the DoD network, or from a doctor who’s not in the network. It depends on how much health care you and your family use.

MOAA has prepared some examples to show how the changes would affect annual costs for various currently serving and retired military families, assuming certain levels of health care needs. Most active duty families probably would see lower costs, while most retired families would pay significantly more.  (Click on examples here or above to see the examples  GF)

But these are only snapshots, estimating what your costs would be in the first year if all the various changes were enacted by Congress.

The real penalty they entail lies in how they would change your share of health care expenses over time.

Under current law, selected fees and copayments are adjusted annually by the same percentage as the retired-pay COLA.

The new proposals would adjust all fees and copayments annually by a measure of health care inflation called the National Health Expenditures (NHE) index — which is projected to grow at about 5.2 percent a year.

What would that mean to you? The charts below show how annual fees for a retired family in TRICARE Prime (in-network) and a family in TRICARE Standard (out-of-network) would jump the first year (2018) and then would grow dramatically faster in future years than they would if fees stayed indexed to the retired-pay COLA.

And how about the proposal to change in-network cost-shares from a percentage of the provider’s charges to a flat fee?

When you pay a percentage of charges under TRICARE Standard, your cost share rises over time by the same percentage as the payment to the doctor. TRICARE payments to doctors are tied to Medicare’s, and Medicare payments to doctors have risen very slowly over the past decade as Congress has tried to keep a lid on health costs. That means your cost share (20 percent of allowed charges for active duty families; 25 percent for retirees) has risen slowly as well.

But what if your payment is switched to a flat fee that is adjusted subsequently at the rate of 5.2 percent a year, as envisioned in the defense budget proposal?

At that rate, your cost would double in about 11 years — much faster than Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors have grown.

Let’s assume your doctor bill is $100. Your TRICARE Standard cost-share as a retiree under 65 today is 25 percent of that, or $25. That’s exactly the flat fee the new budget proposals envision for an in-network primary care visit in 2018.

But how would that change over time?

Let’s assume that $100 Medicare/TRICARE payment to the doctor grows at 1.5 percent a year — which is faster than it actually has grown in the past.

In 10 years, the TRICARE payment to the doctor would be $122, but your $25 flat fee would have grown to $46 — and instead of paying 25 percent of the doctor bill, your share would have risen to 37 percent.

No matter what you think of the initial fee changes, the biggest potential effect of these proposals, if enacted, might be how much faster they would escalate your health care costs over 20 to 30 years.

Suffice to say, time would not be on your side from that perspective.

 

That’s it for today- Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

 

 

We have No Action Items today

 

Summary of Issues

At Issue 1. we see HISTORY REPEATING. Budget targets TRICARE, pay, and commissary. The administration’s FY17 budget once again includes several proposals to shift more DoD costs to servicemembers, retirees, and families. (See Issue 1 below for the details. GF)

                               

At Issue 2. we see TRICARE REFORM, OR JUST FEE INCREASES?  President’s budget proposal hikes TRICARE costs. Proposal includes little detail on how to fix access and other problems.  (See Issue 2 below for the details.  GF)

At Issue 3. we see SURVEY SAYS: DRAFT REGISTRATION FOR ALL.  Opening combat positions leads to calls for universal draft. As the military continues to introduce women into previously closed jobs, one final taboo remains. (See Issue 3 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 4. we see VA BUDGET BOOST DRAWS HILL ATTENTION.  VA’s budget supports more transformational change. Will this budget produce much-needed reform?(See Issue 4 below for the details. GF) 

At Issue 5. we see VETERANS PACKAGE CLEARS HOUSE. House passes controversial vet bill. Will this budget produce much-needed reform?  (See Issue 5 below for the details. GF) 

Collectively We Can and Are Making a Difference

 

FOR ALL, Please feel free to pass these Weekly Legislative Updates on to your group of Veteran Friends –

don’t be concerned with possible duplications – if your friends are as concerned as we are with Veteran issues, they probably won’t mind getting this from two or more friendly sources

 

ISSUES

 

Issue 1. HISTORY REPEATING

February 12, 2016

On Feb. 9, the administration unveiled its proposed FY17 budget. The request is strikingly similar to the administration’s budget proposal last year and once again calls for a military pay raise cap, commissary funding cuts, and higher TRICARE fees.

Military Pay and Retirement

Under the Pentagon budget proposal, servicemembers would receive a capped pay raise for the fourth year in a row. The proposed 1.6 percent pay raise is another .5 percent below the average American’s 2.1 percent raise, as measured by the Employment Cost Index (ECI). The proposed cap further expands the pay gap between the military and the private sector to 3.1 percent. The budget touts this as “the largest raise in four years;” but each of the last seven military raises have been lower than any raise during the previous 48 years. (Click on receive a capped pay raise  here or above for more detail. GF)

The budget proposal also proposes adjustments to the new, blended retirement system that will take effect for new service entrants in 2018. The new system will cut military retired pay for this group by 20 percent, in order to provide up to a five percent government match to federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts held by military members.

Under current law, government matching begins when a servicemember reaches three years of service. DoD proposes delaying government matching until the fifth year of service. The budget also proposes extending the government match – which stops at 26 years – until retirement, and increasing the government matching potential to 6 percent. The Pentagon is also pushing for greater flexibility on the continuation pay portion of the new system that comes at the 12 year mark.

MOAA supports improving the match and extending it for the full career, as other 401(k)-like programs do. But we’re not in favor of delaying the match until the fifth year of service for junior troops.

Commissary

One surprising proposal was a $221 million cut to commissary funding.

“That’s perplexing,” said MOAA President Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, USAF (Ret). “Last year, the administration proposed cutting $300 million as the first step toward privatizing commissaries. After Congress restored the funding, administration officials agreed the benefit needs to be preserved, and they’d accept whatever level of savings might be realized by business efficiencies without reducing the benefit. To us, that’s inconsistent with proposing a $221 million cut. Without context, that seems considerably more than any efficiencies could be expected to generate in one year.”

MOAA will push to restore commissary funding to a level consistent with reasonable expectations of system efficiency improvements that won’t affect the value of the benefit.

Issue 2. TRICARE REFORM, OR JUST FEE INCREASES?

February 12, 2016

In the FY16 Defense Authorization Act, House and Senate leaders signaled their intent to pursue significant military health care reforms for FY17. They made it clear their intent was to improve care access and delivery. While they said they expected higher fees would be part of the reform, their focus would be on improving the benefit, not just raising beneficiary fees.

MOAA hoped to see some specific proposals in the FY17 budget to address well-documented problems with access, continuity of care, referrals, National Guard and Reserve programs and other documented healthcare problems.

In the briefing accompanying the budget rollout, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Dr. Jonathan Woodson, said the budget includes initiatives to:

• Allow options to obtain urgent care without a referral
• Ensure “first-call resolution” on appointment requests
• Improve telehealth and quality measures
• Extend after-hours care at military facilities
• Enhance care for special-needs beneficiaries

MOAA certainly supports all of those initiatives, but awaits more details and explanation of how they will be worked into the system under current contracts.

In contrast, the budget was very specific in detailing a wide variety of fee changes and increases, including:

• Rebranding TRICARE Prime and TRICARE Standard as TRICARE Select and TRICARE Choice, respectively (for clarity purposes, we’ll continue to refer to them as Prime and Standard in the discussion below)
• Changing most copays for network provider visits to flat fees (out-of-network care would continue to have copays of 20 percent for active duty family members and 25 percent for retirees and family members),
• Establishing new annual “participation fees” for all retired members and families, under which those who didn’t pay the fee would be denied coverage for the year
  • $350/$700 (single/family) for TRICARE Prime
  • $450/900 for TRICARE Standard
  • .5 percent to 2 percent of retired pay for a TFL-eligible couple, phased in over 5 years, with a complicated system of separate caps for flag officers and lower grades
• Establishing a zero deductible for Standard and Prime beneficiaries who use in-network providers, but a $300/$600 (single/family) annual deductible for care from out-of-network providers
• Raising the catastrophic cap (maximum out-of-pocket expenses) to $1,500 per year for currently serving families and $4,000 for retired families (vs. current $1,000 and $3,000)
• Roughly doubling most pharmacy copays via a 10-year schedule of increases
• Increasing all flat-dollar fee amounts annually by medical inflation (via a measure currently projected to increase at 6.2% per year)
• Exempting medical (Chapter 61) retirees and survivors whose sponsors died while on active duty from higher enrollment fees and copays paid by retired members
• Implementing the means-tested TRICARE For Life enrollment fee as of Jan. 2017, and the other changes as of Jan. 2018.

These are selected highlights of the proposals. We’ll provide additional details in next week’s update.

In the meantime, MOAA has done some calculations to illustrate how the cumulative changes would affect various categories of beneficiaries:

TFL beneficiaries would also be subjected to a means-tested enrollment fee, based on a percentage of retired pay. Means testing TFL beneficiaries is unprecedented and inappropriate for service-earned health coverage. It imposes financial penalties for longer and more successful service on a population that is already paying the highest fees of any military beneficiaries.

Current TFL beneficiaries would be grandfathered. Means-tested enrollment fees would be applied only to those attaining age 65 on or after January 1, 2017.

Active duty servicemembers and their families do well under the proposed budget, especially if they remain in Prime, and would have no copays for receiving care in network with a referral. Seeing a non-network provider would still incur a 20 percent cost share of the TRICARE allowable charge.

MOAA’s initial concerns about the proposals, in addition to the disproportional fee hikes, include:

• The focus on driving more care to military hospitals and clinics, when those facilities have been unable to accommodate current patient loads, as evidenced by appointment shortages and referral problems.
• Tying all health care fees, including premiums and copays, to a medical inflation index that is projected to grow at more than 6 percent a year. MOAA continues to believe fee adjustments should be capped at the annual COLA percentage.
• The continued effort to escalate pharmacy copays, which have already been doubled and tripled over the past 5 years.
• Requiring an annual decision to enroll and pay the “participation fee” or be denied care for a year.
• The failure to substantively address the need of Guard and Reserve members and families for more consistent and rational health coverage.

“It’s important to appreciate the budget submission is just the first step in a long process,” said MOAA President Lt Gen Atkins, USAF (Ret). “MOAA and our partners in The Military Coalition will be working with leaders and staffs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees in the coming months in our ongoing efforts to improve access and other problem areas while doing our best to protect against imposing disproportional fee increases on those who earned their military health care coverage through decades of service and sacrifice.”

Issue 3. SURVEY SAYS: DRAFT REGISTRATION FOR ALL

February 12, 2016

An informal survey by MOAA indicated many currently serving respondents (especially males) have doubts about the recent decision to open all combat positions to women.  But most agreed (especially males) the next logical move, once that’s done, would be to require both men and women to register for the draft.   (Come back and click on informal survey  here or above for more detail. GF)

 

In MOAA’s survey, women were more likely to support opening all positions to women than their male counterparts were. Despite their support, women were somewhat less likely than men to think women should now register for the draft.

The results mirror the events at a recent Senate hearing, where representatives from the services offered mixed messages on the issue. At the hearing, the top generals in the Army and Marine Corps told Senate lawmakers that women should be required to register for the draft. The Secretary of the Navy and Acting Army Secretary were more nuanced in their responses, saying that the topic should be put to a national debate.

Issue 4. VA BUDGET BOOST DRAWS HILL ATTENTION

 

February 12, 2016

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fared well in the administration’s proposed FY17 budget.

 

The $182.3 billion budget represents nearly an 86 percent increase in the department’s budget since 2009. This builds on Secretary Bob McDonald’s MyVA transformation initiative, which aims to make the department’s health and benefits systems more responsive to veterans and their families.

 

Much of VA’s budget – $103.6 billion – covers veterans’ disability compensation and pensions. For the first time, thanks to Congress’ new statutory mandate, VA’s budget includes $103.9 billion in advance appropriations for 2018, largely to protect veterans’ payments from stopping should the government shut down.The remaining $78.7 billion funds mostly health care programs and services, an almost 5 percent from this year. The budget also includes $70 billion for medical advance appropriations in 2018.Some lawmakers are skeptical about the VA’s growing cost and doubt the department will be able to fix systemic problems that remain.

 

“This budget request is almost double the VA budget in 2009, and since then, the VA has been plagued by scandals and mismanagement and has consistently proven its inability to use its existing resources,” said Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). “The solution to fixing a broken agency is not simply giving it more money.

 

”At a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing this week, McDonald stressed the importance of these funds in executing MyVA, including VA’s plan to consolidate all of its community care programs into a single, new Veterans Choice Program.In 2014, Congress provided $5 billion for VA to hire more physicians and staff and another $10 billion to improve access to non-VA providers under the Veterans Choice program. This funding will expire in 2017, leaving a great deal of uncertainty about future funding for the program.

 

Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) sent a clear message to officials at the hearing, saying, “I will fight to ensure VA has the resources it needs, but given the complete lack of accountability for the department’s string of past financial failures, this budget request will receive every bit the scrutiny it is due.

 

”There is no question that system-wide VA reform is necessary. MOAA will continue to work closely with lawmakers, the administration, and VA to help the department make needed cultural, efficiency, and capability changes to meet the needs of veterans and their families now and for the future.

Issue 5. VETERANS PACKAGE CLEARS HOUSE

 

February 12, 2016

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the Veterans Employment, Education, and Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 3016) which, among other things would:

• Extend the recently enacted Gunnery Sgt. Fry Scholarships to surviving spouses who lost their military spouse between 2001 and 2006.  This group of survivors will have until 2021 to use GI Bill-equivalent benefits to complete college or job training.
• Make this same group eligible for matching additional funds by private colleges and the VA under the Yellow Ribbon program
• Raise Medal of Honor recipients to the first enrollment priority group and exempt them from all co-payments for inpatient, outpatient, long-term care, and prescriptions.
• Authorize newborn child care for women veterans receiving VA maternity care with post-delivery services for 14 days if the veteran delivered the child in a VA facility or contracted VA facility.
• Cap flight training payments paid through the Post-9/11 GI Bill to the same cap in place for tuition and fees at all private and for-profit colleges.
• Extend service credit for GI Bill eligibility purposes for time spent in medical hold by wounded, ill, and injured members who now may spend as much as a year or two in this status without GI Bill service credit.
• Increase the service requirement for eligibility to transfer GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child by requiring completion of 10 years plus a commitment to serve 2 more years (vs. the current 6 years plus 4 more).
• Reduce the housing allowance by 50 percent for dependent children whose sponsors transfer GI Bill benefits to them in the future (military spouses with transferred benefits will retain the full housing benefit).

The last item proved controversial, as the savings from this reduction is what funded the other improvements in the bill.

Last year, the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission Report recommended abolishing the housing allowance for GI Bill benefits transferred to spouses and children. Part of the rationale was that the benefit is set at the Basic Housing Allowance rate for an E-5 “with dependents” residing at the location of the college or university. The commission questioned whether that is appropriate when the spouse may remain at home or for a single child age 18-22.

Some lawmakers expressed concern that since transferability is open to all servicemembers who sign up for the additional service, it is perceived by military families as an earned benefit, rather than as the intended retention incentive it was designed to be, like reenlistment bonuses.

In the end, House members preserved the full housing allowance for spouses, who may need to use the benefit after the servicemember’s retirement.

But a majority felt the 50 percent allowance reduction for dependent children was not out of line, since most students are single and have roommates when they enter college, and the savings from the change was needed to fund the other important improvements.

MOAA would have preferred to find another way to pay for the other fixes, but appreciates the reduction would grandfather existing transferred contracts and apply only to new GI Bill transfers executed more than 180 days after the change is enacted.  This will allow eligibles who haven’t yet transferred benefits to a child time to do so without incurring the allowance reduction.

That’s it for today- Thanks for your help!

We have No Action Items today.

 

 

Summary of Issues

At Issue 1. we see TOP GENERALS: ISSUE WOMEN DRAFT CARDS. Women should register for the draft too, say generals.. (See Issue 1 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 2. we see ANOTHER YEAR OF PAY CAPS. Pentagon pushes pay caps. Fourth consecutive year of pay caps in Pentagon budget. See Issue 2 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 3. we see MTFS: A BALANCE BETWEEN READINESS AND ACCESS . Congress puts military health care under the microscope. Lawmakers scrutinize Military Treatment Facilities at hearing. (See Issue 3 below for the details. GF)

At Issue 4. we see $100 FOR AN ER VISIT? New proposals emerge on VA care. A House panel held the first of a series of hearings this week on a plan to create a network of providers for veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. (See Issue 4 below for the details. GF)

Collectively We Can and Are Making a Difference

 

FOR ALL, Please feel free to pass these Weekly Legislative Updates on to your group of Veteran Friends –

don’t be concerned with possible duplications – if your friends are as concerned as we are with Veteran issues, they probably won’t mind getting this from two or more friendly sources

 

ISSUES

 

Issue 1. TOP GENERALS: ISSUE WOMEN DRAFT CARDS

February 5, 2016

The top generals in the Army and Marine Corps told Senate lawmakers that women should be required to register for the draft.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the generals said it would take about three years for women to fully integrate into combat roles, following Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s directive to open up all military jobs to women.

The topic of the hearing was on how the services were moving forward under the new implementation of the full integration directive, but the topic of women and registration for the draft quickly took center stage.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said they believe every physically qualified American should be required to register for the draft. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Acting Army Secretary Patrick Murphy were more nuanced in their responses, saying the topic should be put to a national debate.

The service leaders all agreed that they would not lower standards to accommodate women.

Although America officially ended the draft and moved to an all-volunteer force (AVF) in 1973, men between the ages of 18 and 26 still are required to register for the draft to create a pool of eligible recruits in the event of a national emergency. Women have previously not needed to register because they weren’t allowed to fill critical combat specialties.

That has changed, as previously closed military specialties are now open to women.

MOAA is interested in your thoughts on this issue. Please take a moment to provide your input via our brief survey.

(Click on brief survey or on TOP GENERALS: ISSUE WOMEN DRAFT CARDS here or above to participate in the survey. GF)

Issue 2. ANOTHER YEAR OF PAY CAPS

February 5, 2016It’s not official yet, but advance word indicates the Pentagon will propose capping the 2017 military pay raise below the average American’s for the fourth year in a row.

 

Based on the Employment Cost Index (ECI, the statutory standard for the average American’s pay raise), the military should receive a 2.1 percent pay raise next year. Instead, the Pentagon is proposing a 1.6 percent capped pay raise in its budget proposal, which will be submitted to Congress next week.

 

That may not seem like a significant cut, but it adds up to hundreds of dollars out of pocket for servicemembers over the course of a year.

 

The proposed 0.5 percent reduction in pay further expands the pay gap between the military and the private sector. The pay gap now stands at 2.6 percent. If Congress passes the Pentagon raise proposal, it will increase to 3.1 percent.

 

When military pay raises started being capped in past times of budget constraints, they continued until retention and readiness suffered. This unwise process generated retention crises in the 1970s and the 1990s.

 

Congress responded over the course of the first decade of this century by gradually plussing up military raises to close the pay gap. But the restoration of pay comparability lasted only a few years before budget stresses caused a return to capping raises, and current budgets assume this trend of undoing Congress’ pay comparability work will continue.

 

MOAA believes the government should learn from history rather than repeat it. Congress should reject the Pentagon’s proposal for a fourth consecutive year of pay caps, and provide servicemembers the full 2.1 percent pay raise. –

Issue 3. MTFS: A BALANCE BETWEEN READINESS AND ACCESS 

February 5, 2015

As it considers major reforms, Congress continues to examine all components of military health care. On Feb. 3, House lawmakers held a hearing on military treatment facilities (MTF).

MOAA raised the issue of balancing mission readiness and beneficiary access in December testimony to Congress, and this issue was a key question for lawmakers Wednesday. (Click on  December testimony to Congress here or above to see details of the testimony. GF)

Military beneficiaries’ continuity of care is disrupted when their primary care doctors or nurse practitioners deploy – especially if it is sudden.

Testifying on behalf of the MTFs were hospital commanders of four facilities representing the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The commanders said balancing resources and training for a variety of missions, good communication with the communities they serve, and placing the right type of providers based on beneficiary demand are all essential for success.

When questioned about beneficiary access, Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune Commander Capt. Rick Freeman, USN, said different generations of beneficiaries prefer to experience access in different ways. Some prefer access through electronic means, while others favor face-to-face communication.

Mental health care transition from active duty into the VA system continues to be a challenge. From a national perspective, there are not enough mental health providers to meet the demand in many areas.

Witnesses acknowledged MTF access to care can and should be improved, but cited progress. Madigan Army Medical Center Commander Col. Mike Place, USA, emphasized that the 98 percent patient survival rate from the battlefield has been successfully achieved through the superior training of military medical personnel – and most of that training is done in the MTF.

Through MOAA’s and other surveys, the beneficiary access problem has consistently been  centered in MTFs. MOAA’s perspective is that fixing the system’s problems will necessarily entail finding ways to increase beneficiary appointments in these facilities.

Maintaining readiness is essential, but so is delivering timely, quality care to all military beneficiaries.

Issue 4. $100 FOR AN ER VISIT?

. February 5, 2016

The House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) heard from veteran service organizations and the VA on plans to integrate community care programs for enrolled veterans.

Panel Chairman Dan Benishek (R – Mich.), a physician, noted that there are seven community care programs sponsored by the VA. He termed the VA plan to consolidate the programs “bare bones” and expressed concern over the lack of detail in it.

Under the Choice Act, all enrolled veterans get a card to access health care outside of the VA, provided they meet certain distance or time requirements.

Chairman Benishek specifically cited MOAA’s input and agreed that veterans’ access to care should be driven by clinical need, not administrative requirements.VA officials presented a broad outline of their plan to coordinate and integrate care. Community appointments have increased by 36 percent in the past year. The VA supports opening urgent care to veterans and clarifying policies on access to emergency care.

But the VA proposed charging veterans a $50 copay for an urgent care visit and $100 for an emergency room visit. Ranking Member Julia Brownley (D – Calif.) asked for the rationale for the $100 ER copay.

Dr. Baligh Yehia, the lead VA witness, said emergency rooms are clogged with non-emergency care. He said the VA was working on expanding same-day care primary care and using other measures like nurse advice lines to deal with urgent and emergency care.

MOAA strongly supports expanding veterans’ access to urgent care and emergency room care but believes veterans seeking care for service-connected issues should not be burdened with copays. –

That’s it for today- Thanks for your help!