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Sgt Shaft Article Military Update
FRA Newsbytes 04/23/2010
Shipmates Storm Capitol Hill
Members of FRA's National Board of Directors (NBOD) visited their
respective senators and representatives this week in Washington, D.C.
During the more than 30 Capitol Hill office visits, shipmates discussed
priority legislative issues including fully funding TRICARE, adequate
reimbursement for doctors serving TRICARE and Medicare patients, and the
impact of national health care law on TRICARE and VA health care. The
members also expressed support for expanding the concurrent receipt of
military retired pay and VA disability compensation. Each member of
Congress received point papers outlining FRA's positions on these
important issues and the Association's full legislative agenda. FRA's
NBOD is conducting its annual meeting today and Saturday at FRA National
Headquarters in Alexandria, Va.
FRA Presents its 2010 Pinnacle Award to Senator Webb
FRA presented its 2010 Pinnacle Award to Senator Jim Webb (Va.)
yesterday during a Capitol Hill reception in his honor. Webb was
recognized for his efforts to improve the quality of life for military
personnel and his leadership in developing enhanced education benefits
for veterans, military personnel and their families.
FRA annually presents its Pinnacle Award to a member of Congress who has
championed legislative initiatives that advance the Association's agenda
of preserving and enhancing pay and benefits for current and former
members of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Webb was selected to
receive FRA's highest honor in recognition of his leadership in enacting
the Post-9/11 GI Bill, efforts to improve care for wounded warriors and
work to clarify that TRICARE beneficiaries meet requirements for health
care coverage mandated by the new health care reform legislation.
Photos from the day's events are available on FRA's Facebook
page. Become a fan of FRA at
www.fra.org/fb to
see them!
Congress Approves Veterans' Improvements
The House and Senate approved "The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus
Health Services Act," (S. 1963) this week and sent it onto President
Obama for approval. Among its many provisions, the bill creates a
caregiver support program, improves health care services for rural and
female veterans, and expands the mental health services provided by the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The bill creates a program to offer caregiver training, access to mental
health counseling, and 24-hour respite care for a disabled veteran in
his home, allowing caregivers temporary relief without having to leave
the veteran at a medical facility. Veterans who served in Operation
Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) are eligible to
select a caregiver to receive a financial stipend along with travel and
lodging expenses associated with the veteran's care.
Key provisions in the bill also improve health care for rural veterans
by authorizing stronger partnerships with community providers and the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These collaborations
will allow VA to offer health care options to service members living far
from VA medical facilies and also requires the VA to establish a grant
program for veteran service organizations to provide transportation
options to veterans living in highly rural areas. Additionally, the
measure expands and improves VA services for the 1.8 million women
veterans' currently receiving VA health care.
DFAS Will Begin Recoupment of Separation Pay
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) will resume recouping
military retirees' Voluntary Separation Incentive, Special Separation
Benefit and other separation payments in August. These separation
expenditures were offered to active-duty service members to reduce
manpower in certain career fields, primarily during the 1990s. Because
federal law prohibits service members from receiving both separation and
retirement payments for the same period of service, provisions of these
programs required repayment of the separation pay if an individual
joined the Ready Reserve or returned to active duty and earned status as
a military retiree.
In response to retirees' concerns, DFAS officials temporarily stopped
deducting these repayments from retirement pay on June 1, 2009, so that
DoD could conduct a formal review of the recoupment process. Before the
review, the federal statutes did not allow DFAS to provide alternative
repayment plans, regardless of the financial hardships a retiree may be
experiencing. The review is now complete and new policies help limit the
financial strain on affected military retirees by reducing the maximum
recoupment rate from 90 percent to 40 percent. DFAS also will consider
more lenient repayment plans for retirees who are experiencing financial
hardship.
Retirees impacted by recoupment will receive notification letters at
least 90 days before recoupment begin again. Former spouses affected by
this recoupment will also receive a notification letter before the
recoupments resume.
President Nominates DoD's Top Doc
President Obama nominated Army Reserve Brigadier General Jonathan
Woodson, an associate professor of surgery and associate dean at Boston
University School of Medicine, to serve as Assistant Secretary Defense
(Health Affairs). Woodson has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo,
Saudi Arabia, and Central America. He is currently the deputy commander
of the Army Reserve Medical Command and assistant surgeon general for
reserve affairs, force structure and mobilization in the Office of the
Army Surgeon General. If confirmed by the Senate, Woodson will be the
principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense on health issues and
direct the country's Military Health System.
(Top of Page)
Mail service for military retirees
Dear Sgt. Shaft,
Last year the APO function was moved from the DOD to the State Department. Shortly after that The State Department canceled mail privileges for all military retirees. This was done without any explanation. By canceling this mailing privilege, it prevents TRICARE Pharmacy from shipping medications to those retired military personnel that live overseas. TRICARE will not ship to foreign addresses. I have written my Senators and Congresswomen, but never received an explanation nor reply. If this was done for cost savings, why not allow us to pay a small monthly postal fee to offset the cost. By the way, the cost is minimal since retires have a restriction of less than 16 ounces per envelope or package. I would appreciate anything you can do to clarify this.
Thank You,
Brendan B
USAF, Ret Quito, Ecuador
Dear Brendan
My sources provided the following information in a question and answer format that should be helpful concerning the issue of Department of State (DoS) Mail Services to Military Retirees and Employees of DoD Contractors.
Q: Why can't I continue to receive my mail at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate?
A: These postal facilities now are Department of State (DoS) run and funded. The DoS has previously informed the DoD that it will not continue to provide mail services for military retirees and employees of DoD contractors at postal facilities located at embassies or consulates without reimbursement from DoD. It was determined that there is no legal authority for the DoD to reimburse DoS for these services.
Q: Why was DoD able to provide mail services to military retirees and employees ofDoD contractors at DoS facilities in the past and now is unable to provide these same services?
A: These postal facility operations now are DoS run and funded. When DoD historically operated and funded postal operations at embassies, it was able to provide limited mail services at those facilities to retirees on space-available basis because it could absorb the added operational costs (just as it does at overseas military installations). DoD no longer has the ability to internally absorb these additive marginal costs at embassies because it no longer funds the operation of those facilities and does not have any ability to transfer funds to DoS for a service that isn't being provided to or for DoD.
Q: When will my mail service end?
A: Mail service at the DoS embassy or consulate ended on December 31, 2009.
Q: When was the decision to transition the responsibility from DoD to DoS?
A: The decision was made in 2006 to begin transitioning responsibility as DoS was already providing mail services to DoD employees and military retirees. Recently, the DoS requested reimbursement for military retiree mail services. However, it was determined that there is no legal authority for DoD to reimburse DoS for these services.
Q: What should I do to continue to receive my mail from CONUS?
A: You should complete a change of address form and return it to the post office located at the Embassy or Consulate as soon as possible. Additionally, you should immediately notify family, friends, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), businesses, magazines subscriptions, etc, of your new, international mailing address.
Futher information is available at http://hqdainet.army.mil/mpsa/RetireeMail_FAQ.pdf
Shaft notes
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. presented its 2010 Congressional Award to Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) for his outstanding service to national defense, homeland security, and to veterans, servicemembers and their families. The presentation took place Monday during the recent opening session of the annual VFW Legislative Conference at the Hyatt Regency in nearby Crystal City. The VFW Congressional Award has been presented annually since 1964 to one member of the House or Senate for significant legislative contributions on behalf of veterans and military service personnel.
Congressman Skelton chairs the powerful House Armed Services Committee, and he has been a staunch advocate of America's military, her veterans, and their families throughout his 17 terms in Congress. He hails from Lexington, Mo., and his family was close friends with a local World War I veteran and VFW member by the name of Harry S. Truman, who was a county judge at the time. Young Ike would go on to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, an Associate's Degree from Wentworth Military Academy, and a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Law degree from the University of Missouri. Prior to running for Congress in 1977, he was a member of the Missouri State Senate, as well as a prosecuting attorney and special assistant attorney general.
Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, DC 20035-5900; fax 301/622-3330, call 202/257-5446 or e-mail sgtshaft@bavf.org.
Congress votes help for vet caregivers, women vets
By Tom Philpott
Primary in-home caregivers to severely wounded veterans of current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be paid a stipend by the Department of Veterans Affairs, under a bill Congress has passed unanimously.
The stipend, payable to a spouse, parent, child, friend or even a hired caregiver, will be based on number of hours and level of care. But it will at least match pay for caregivers in the private sector.
The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act (S. 1963) also will direct VA to provide training and medical coverage to caregivers, to include stress counseling, if needed. The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) would be made available to caregivers who have no health insurance option.
VA also will pay lodging and meals to those who accompany severely injured veterans on long trips for VA health care evaluation and treatments. And when a caregiver needs respite, VA will pay for temporary caregiver replacements for up to 30 days a year.
Two thousands caregivers are expected to benefit from the full range of initiatives. Caregivers of veterans severely injured in earlier wars will gain access only to the more modest support services in the legislation including care training. But to hold down costs, they w ill not be eligible for the stipend, the new travel reimbursements and several other benefits.
The House passed the bill Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, forwarding it to the White House for the president’s signature.
Other parts of the comprehensive new law will:
- Expand VA services for 1.8 million women veterans currently receiving VA care or expected to enroll in the system. VA for the first time will cover up to seven days of newborn care for enrolled female veterans. Other initiatives will force changes to the VA health system to make it respectful of privacy and other needs of female veterans. VA is directed to launch a pilot for providing patient childcare services too
- Improve health care options to rural veterans by authorizing stronger partnerships with community providers and the Department of Health and Human Services. VA also will establish a grant program for veteran service organizations to provide transportation options to veterans in highly rural areas needing medical care.
- Expand VA locations that provide support services to homeless veterans.
- Require VA to study veterans’ suicides and provide counseling referrals for members of the armed forces who are not otherwise eligible for VA readjustment counseling
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, endorsed House changes to the original Senate bill, passed last November, and swiftly shepherded it through final passage.
"For too long, the families of wounded warriors across America have paid the cost of war without sufficient support from the government [that] their loved ones risked all to serve. I look forward to President Obama signing this important bill for the families of disabled veterans, and for women veterans, veterans in rural areas, and those veterans sleeping on the streets tonight," Akaka said.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), chairman of the House committee, said caregivers of "heroes" who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan brain-damaged or with other severe wounds have had to quit their jobs, putting financial strain on families. As voluntary caregivers, they also have received little or no training in care delivery.
"We had a young lady who testified she hurt her back because she didn’t know how to get her husband out of the wheelchair," Filner said. "And when you’re dealing with this for 24 hours a day, you need some rest yourself [and] to bring in people to take care of that.
The new law, he said, will provide pay "to make up for loss of income; training to the caregiver; funds for respite care and some other expenses. It’s not just the young man or woman who comes home [who is changed]. It’s the whole family involved and we’ve got to help the whole family."
Filner said other parts of S. 1963 focus on VA health care "access for people who don’t normally have access. Like women. It’s time to think about childcare, privacy curtains, to think about respect, basically."
Older veterans will find it refreshing, he said, to see children of women veterans, from time to time, in waiting areas of VA medical facilities.
"It changes the whole ambiance of the place," Filner said."It’s no longer a bunch of dying people. There’s life! And so…childcare not only helps the families with kids but the whole atmosphere."
The cost of S. 1963 will be about $750 million a year in discretionary spending, Filner said, adding less than one percent to VA’s $120 billion budget which already is to rise by 5 or 6 percent a year.
"We’ve increased the [VA] budget 60 percent in three years and we put the advanced funding in to ensure yearly political battles no longer interrupt flow of funds to VA clinics and hospitals," Filner said.
"Now we’re making sure neglected parts of the system get some attention with the extra money we’ve added," the House chairman said.
Eligibility for the stipends, he added, "will have to expand because as soon as you start them someone will say, ‘I’m a caregiver 12 hours a day too and my guy was injured in the Persian [Gulf] War.’ But right now it’s for [Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom] vets."
Service veterans groups were united in praise of the House-Senate compromise, though some noted the VA secretary will have considerable flexibility to set final details of the stipend program.
"We’re just feeling great relief that they got to it, finally," said John Bradley, a consultant on legislative affairs for Disabled American Veterans.
MEDICARE FEE HIKE DELAYED – Congress once again has blocked a 21.2 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors, this time until June. The scheduled fee cuts would impact TRICARE too in its ability to retain participating physicians. The lowered fees are tied to a controversial formula for setting Medicare physician rates adopted in 1997. Congress has blocked its full effect since 2002 so threatened fee cuts only grow larger each year.
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