washingtonscene Because purchased care complements \\ COLA News //

Steady Rise The May Consumer Price Index of 232.91 increased 0.6 percent compared to last month. It remains 0.6 percent below the FY 2014 COLA baseline. Fol- low the trends at www .moaa.org/colawatch.

VA’s direct care system, MOAA recom- mends Congress engage the Commission on Care to map out a long-term strategy to integrate all aspects of VA managed care. Given the importance and scope of designing VA care for the 21st century, the Commission on Care should be given a year to develop a plan. MOAA also urged Congress to support other changes to the way VA does busi- ness, including:  building up the capacity to deliver VA care more efficiently in its facilities by hiring and training more providers, fixing the scheduling system, and reengineering clinical space along the lines of leading civilian health care entities;  recruiting more mental health care pro- viders and training them on the unique needs of veterans;  extending the time surviving spouses have to use new GI bill Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarships;  authorizing VA benefits to Vietnam War blue water Navy veterans exposed to Agent Orange;  providing veteran status to career Na- tional Guard and Reserve members who are eligible for non-regular retired pay and who are entitled to certain veterans’ benefits but who do not have active duty service under Title 10 orders; and  extending special services and support to the full-time caregivers of severely disabled veterans who served before Sept. 11, 2001. Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-La.), chair of

the House panel that oversees veterans’ disability assistance, questioned what could be done to make further progress on the claims backlog. Norton said new legislation, S. 1203, offers “practical, low-cost measures” aimed at further improving the claims system. He added that MOAA is working

34 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2015

with the Disabled American Veterans and other groups to streamline procedures governing appealed claims, which cur- rently take about three years to resolve. Norton described the plight of Coast

Guard veteran Alexis Courneen, who suf- fered a severe brain injury in service in 1999. Her husband, Jason, is her full-time caregiver, but the couple is ineligible for respite care, CHAMPVA, training, or a stipend under the Caregivers Act. Under current law, those benefits are available only to catastrophically disabled veterans who served after Sept. 10, 2001. In response to Norton’s testimony that, “there’s no policy reason to exclude Alexis and Jason from Caregivers Act benefits,” Senate Veterans’ Affairs Com- mittee Chair Sen. Johnny Isakson (R- Ga.) said the committees would be taking up the issue soon.

DoD Supports A

Benefit Changes Defense officials sign off on military retirement overhaul.

fter months of delays, DoD of- ficials voiced support of changes to the military retirement system,

setting the stage for major reforms later this year. House and Senate lawmakers already

introduced retirement reform proposals earlier this year. Their proposals cur- rently are being negotiated as part of this year’s defense bill. DoD officials are asking Congress

to make changes to its retirement proposals. Sharing the same concerns that MOAA has raised to lawmakers over the past year, DoD officials also are asking Congress to change disability retirement, the length of government