washingtonscene
promoting servicemember and spouse li- censure and the Interstate Compact on Ed- ucational Opportunity for Military Children.
MOAA Testifies C
on VA Care Access and coordination of care are top priorities.
mdr. René Campos, USN-Ret., deputy director of Government Relations, offered MOAA’s input
on several VA health care bills at an April 16 hearing before the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee. Access and coordination of care and support services for wounded, ill, in- jured, and disabled servicemembers and their families topped the list. Campos focused on three bills:
• H.R. 1460 would allow automatic en- rollment of combat theater veterans into the VA medical system. MOAA supports automatic enrollment and urged expand- ing the bill to authorize enrollment of all Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans. • H.R. 3279 would expand benefits eligibili- ty under the new VA caregiver legislation to include caregivers of veterans with “serious illnesses” in addition to those with “serious injuries.” MOAA supports the bill, which is in line with Congress’ intent in establishing the benefit for caregivers of veterans with severe service-caused conditions. • H.R. 3016 would direct DoD and the VA to jointly operate the Federal Recovery Co- ordination Program. The issue of joint-care coordination between the two agencies long has been a serious concern of MOAA’s and the subcommittee’s. Instead of additional legislation to force the agencies to cooper- ate and collaborate, Campos urged Con- gress to continue to keep pressure on the agencies and hold them accountable.
40 MILITARY OFFICER JUNE 2012 After a decade of wartime experience,
it’s frustrating that much remains to be done to ensure delivery of needed care and benefits. MOAA will continue to work with Congress, the Pentagon, and the VA to address these needs.
TSP Roth Option
Announced Delay for servicemembers is expected.
T
hrift Savings Plan (TSP) lead- ers announced they will launch a new Roth option starting May 7. The
Roth TSP option, which MOAA has advo- cated for, has been in the works for nearly three years after being authorized by Con- gress in 2009. It will allow TSP members to invest after-tax pay into retirement funds that will grow without any tax liability on future earnings. The Roth TSP will be available to federal civilian employees and uniformed service- members, but it might not be available to all participants May 7. According to the Thrift Savings Board, some agencies or services have yet to completely modify their existing payroll systems to handle two contributions coming into the TSP — pretax for the regu- lar TSP and post-tax for the Roth option. According to a Federal Times article, de- fense civilian employees and Marine Corps members will see the Roth option early this summer. Army, Air Force, and Navy person- nel will wait until early fall.
MO
— Contributors are Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF- Ret., direc tor; Col. Mike Hayden, USAF-Ret.; Col. Bob Norton, USA-Ret.; Cmdr. René Campos, USN- Ret.; Capt. Kathy Beasley, USN-Ret.; Col. Phil Odom, USAF-Ret.; Karen Golden; Bret Shea; and Matt Murphy, MOAA’s Government Relations Depart- ment. To subscribe to MOAA’s Legislative Update, visit
www.moaa.org/email.
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