washingtonscene
combat and other active duty tours served between Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 28, 2008. Now, yet another glitch has cropped up to add insult to injury for America’s Guard and Reserve warriors. The language of the law change autho-
rized three months’ retirement-age credit for each 90 days served on active duty “in any fiscal year.” But Pentagon lawyers allowed credit only when the 90-day period falls entirely within a single fiscal year. No problem if you start a 12-month
active duty tour on Jan. 1, April 1, July 1, or Oct. 1. But starting a tour on almost any other date means you only get nine months of credit for a one-year tour — be- cause at least one 90-day period crosses the boundary between fiscal years. Start a six-month active duty tour in
March, and you get six months of retire- ment age credit. Start the same six-month tour in June,
mid-July, August, or September, and you’ll only get three months of credit. For guardmembers or reservists who
serve a cumulative four years on active duty, this glitch will cost them at least a full year’s retired pay. In summer 2010, House Armed Ser-
vices Committee leaders chastised DoD officials for implementing it this way and were told, “We could only do what the language of the law required.” If the law has to be changed, Armed
Services Committee leaders face a sig- nificant problem because congressional rules require them to find offsetting funds via cuts to other retirement, survi- vor, or health care programs — a particu- larly unpalatable option. So while the Pentagon and Congress blame each other for the problem, it’s the troops being called up for war who are paying yet another stiff price and being denied the service credit they’re due.
36 MILITARY OFFICER MAY 2011
And because this is a below-the-radar accounting glitch the affected people don’t usually see, most won’t even know they’ve been shorted — until their early retirement check doesn’t arrive when they expect it. This is just one more added bit of
irony when our country says, “Thanks for your sacrifice.”
Humana Wins TRICARE
Contract Appeal of South Region is upheld by DoD.
O
n Feb. 25, DoD announced Hu- mana Military Health Services (the current TRICARE contrac-
tor for the South Region) has won a $23.5 billion TRICARE South Region contract to provide health care services for 3 mil- lion beneficiaries in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and most of Texas. This contract award follows a success-
ful protest lodged by Humana with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in July 2009 over the government’s initial award of the contract to UnitedHealth Military and Veterans Services. Health care delivery under the new con-
tract is scheduled to begin April 1, 2012, and as is customary, the contract contains five one-year options exercisable by DoD. So what does this mean to military beneficiaries? The award process is not over. In early
March, DoD issued a stop-work order on the contract because of (what else?) a protest from UnitedHealthcare, the group originally awarded the new South con-
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