washington scene
Alvarez was prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which makes it a crime to falsely claim “to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States.”
Alvarez pleaded guilty but challenged the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act, claiming his remarks were free speech protected by the First Amendment.
The 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with Alvarez in a 2-1 decision, ruling the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court will make a final decision whether Congress has constitutional authority to prohibit lying about military awards and decorations.
MOAA and two dozen other veterans’ organizations filed an amicus brief supporting the administration’s argument that the Supreme Court should uphold the Stolen Valor Act. The court likely will render a ruling sometime this spring.
Payment Cut Deferred
Congress approves a 10-month fix for Medicare/TRICARE cuts.
Congress reached an agreement in mid-February to stave off a 27-percent cut in Medicare/TRI-CARE payments to doctors, which was scheduled to take effect March 1.
But the deal only delayed the cut for another 10 months, until Jan. 1, 2013. The deal was paid for in part by requiring future federal employee hires to contribute more toward their retirement plans. A previous initiative to impose the higher contribution requirement on current federal employees was dropped.
Another temporary fix for this persistent problem is far better news than letting a 27-percent cut go through.
But passing this temporary Band-Aid rather than fixing the underlying law that imposes these annual cuts only guarantees another health care crisis when the extension expires at the end of December.
VA Budget Spared
Health and employment programs are addressed.
In a year when the defense budget is being tapped for severe cuts, the administration’s budget request leaves VA health care and other discretionary programs unscathed.
The total VA budget would increase to $140 billion, including $64 billion for veterans’ medical care and other discretionary spending and $76 billion for disability, survivors, educational benefits, and other mandatory spending programs.
The budget plan includes:
• $3.5 billion for female veterans’ health care needs, a 17-percent increase over the current fiscal year;
• new VA hospitals in Denver; Las Vegas; New Orleans; and Orlando, Fla., with others planned for Dallas; Palo Alto, Calif; Seattle; and St. Louis;
• $583 million for medical research with emphasis on traumatic brain injury, suicide prevention, and post-traumatic stress;
• support services on 80 college campuses serving about 80,000 veterans; and
• a 14-percent increase in funds for vocational, rehabilitation, and employment services to wounded warriors and other disabled veterans. To address the disability claims backlog, the VA will invest $128 million in technology, establish a case-management approach to claims, and reengineer business processes, including launching an all-online claim system sometime this spring.
COLA Back to Zero
• Inflation climbed almost one-half percentage point in January. For the year, the CPI is nearly back to its initial baseline. Keep tabs on month-to-month inflation trends at
www.moaa.org/colawatch.
APRIL 2012 MILITARY OFFICER 35
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