washingtonscene
Eliminate the Offset Working with a coalition of associations, MOAA has engaged congres- sional leaders to help eliminate the reduction of military retired pay due to VA disability compensation. Three bills already have been introduced — in the House, H.R. 333, intro- duced by Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), and H.R. 303, introduced by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), and in the Sen- ate, S. 66, introduced by Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.); other bills are being worked as well. Up until FY 2001, any
retired servicemember who received VA dis- ability compensation had an amount equal to their VA compensa- tion deducted from their military retired pay; this is known as an offset. MOAA long has supported “concurrent receipt” — eliminating the offset entirely so servicemembers receive both the full amount of their service-earned military retired pay and the full amount of their VA disability compen- sation. Since 2001 we’ve achieved partial victories, in the form of Combat-Related Special Compensation and Con- current Retirement and Disability Pay. MOAA will continue
to help shape any effort to eliminate this offset while seeking broad sup- port from Congress.
department after several high-profile re- ports about long wait times and subpar care at VA centers.
“I am going to be serious about mak- ing these changes and regaining this trust,” Shulkin said. “And if I don’t do it, I should be held accountable.” Despite some missteps, Shulkin stressed the majority of VA employees are incred- ibly hardworking and care a great deal for veterans. He shared an example from a recent trip to a VA hospital in St. Louis, where a veteran drove three hours to get to an appointment only to have it postponed. He missed his bus home, and when a VA employee saw him sitting in the lobby, she asked him why he still was there. When the patient explained he had missed his bus and had nowhere to stay in St. Louis, the employee told him she’d drive him home, despite it being a three-hour trip. “These are our employees,” Shulkin said. “These are the people you don’t hear about. They’re there not for the money, despite the bad press. They’re there because they’re passionate about helping veterans.” Shulkin pledged to improve two key ad-
ministrative procedures that have long left veterans frustrated: the process for appeals and scheduling appointments. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the need for appeals reform “extraor- dinarily necessary,” as too many veterans face lengthy backlogs when trying to get their claims reviewed. Shulkin agreed, calling on Congress to
introduce an appeals modernization act. The VA has one appeal that has been out- standing for more than 30 years, he said. “The appeals process is broken,” he said.
“The system was designed in 1933, and every now and then you need to update it, and we’re way past that. … We will not fix this problem without legislation to fix it.” As for scheduling veterans’ medical ap- pointments, Shulkin said VA employees
34 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2017
don’t have the right tools to do their jobs well, because they’ve been forced to use an outdated system. The VA is moving for- ward with a new commercial scheduling program, he said. So far, 10 locations have tested the new technology, and department officials plan to make a decision on full implementation over the next week. “We need a new scheduling system,
we’ve known that for years,” Shulkin said. “We’re finally going to do it.” When it comes to making some of these improvements, Shulkin said he’ll continue to listen to veterans service or- ganizations, which he called “treasured resources to me as a voice for veterans.” “I consider my relationships with them absolutely critical to the success of what I currently do, and certainly criti- cal to the success of a secretary,” Shulkin said. “That commitment is absolutely there. And if we need to do more than what we’re doing, then we’ll do it.”
MOAA Members
Want to Know The new secretary of the VA answered your questions.
M
OAA members provided more than 50 questions to share with members of Congress in prepara-
tion for Dr. David Shulkin’s hearing before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Like you, the committee wanted to know if the undersecretary was up for the challenge of leading the VA.
Q: What will you address first, and how will you measure success? A: When I came to [the] VA, I focused on the most urgent health care needs of our veterans first and reorganized our ap-
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