washingtonscene
ical conditions other than those explicitly authorized by DoD regulations. It’s long past time to end this grossly
unfair practice that blatantly abrogates the military’s proper responsibility to those whose service cost them their health. “Fit but unsuitable” discharges are
not only oxymoronic, they are shameless and shameful.
Senate Leaders
Seek Feedback MOAA highlights deficit panel risk.
Sen. Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) O
Sen. Daniel Akaka
(D-Hawaii)
n July 21, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and 21 other democratic senators, including the
chairs of the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees, invited MOAA Presi- dent Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., and other association leaders to discuss military and veterans’ legislative issues. Key topics were the need for measures to
help wounded warriors get disability claims resolved promptly and fairly and employ- ment help for returning veterans. Noting the unemployment rate for
new veterans is more than 12 percent, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asserted, “Our [veterans] were first in line to sign up when we needed them in wartime, and they shouldn’t be waiting in line when they return and are looking for a job.” Attendees showed support for Sen. Max
Baucus’ (D-Mont.) and Sen. Patty Mur- ray’s (D-Wash.) veterans’ jobs bill and Sen. Daniel Akaka’s (D-Hawaii) initiatives to im- prove Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage, caregiver protections, and claims processes. There was a consensus the disability-
claims system needs a fundamental over- haul, in consultation with stakeholder veterans’ associations. Attendees also urged Hill and administration leaders to more ac-
3 8 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R S E P T EMB E R 2 0 1 0
tively invest in veterans’ employment. “We spend lots of money on recruiting and train- ing and the GI Bill,” said VFW Executive Director Bob Wallace, “but we spend zero on marketing veterans’ skills to employers.” Ryan expressed MOAA’s disappointment
that the president’s concurrent-receipt pro- posal was removed from the unemployment compensation extender bill at the last mo- ment and urged senators to include it in the Defense Authorization Bill. He also called for guarding against any insensitive propos- als by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform for deep cuts in military and VA benefit programs.
Age-26
TRICARE Fees? Military children shouldn’t be penalized.
N
ational health care reform legislation authorized adult children to be covered under their
parents’ health care plan up until age 26. To bring TRICARE into compliance with this new policy, both the House and the Senate included provisions in their ver- sions of the FY 2011 National Defense Authorization Bill to allow dependent children to remain in TRICARE until age 26 (nicknamed “TRICARE 26”). These provisions would require parents to pay additional premiums, to be set by the Pen- tagon, for their children’s coverage. The logic was, “If gray-area reserve re-
tirees will need to pay a full premium, aged- out dependents probably should, too.” MOAA’s assumption at the time was civilian insurance plans implementing the new requirements for coverage of children until age 26 also would require a special additive premium for that coverage. But that’s proving not to be the case. Many civilian plans already have imple-
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140