FRA NEWS-BYTES

12 March 2010

This week in NewsBytes:

Senate Extender Bill Addresses Medicare/TRICARE Rates
FRA Presents Top Concerns to Senate Armed Services' Subcommittee
Spouses Tuition Assistance Program Restored
FRA Supports Veteran Status for 20-Year Reservists
VA Revisits Gulf War Illness Claims

Senate Extender Bill Addresses Medicare/TRICARE Rates
The Senate this week passed legislation (H.R 4213) with various tax breaks and economic safety net extensions, which includes further delaying a scheduled cut in reimbursement rates for doctors seeing Medicare and TRICARE patients. The 21-percent cut was originally scheduled to take effect March 1st, but Congress extended the deadline to April 1, 2010. This new measure, if passed by the House and signed into law, will further extend the delay until January 1, 2011. If these cuts take effect, many physicians may stop accepting Medicare and TRICARE patients. This is top priority for FRA and members are urged to use the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org to ask their U.S. Representative to pass this important bill.

FRA Presents Top Concerns to Senate Armed Services' Subcommittee
FRA's National Executive Director (NED) and other Military Coalition (TMC) leaders testified this week before the Senate Armed Service's Personnel Subcommittee to address their top legislative priorities. The hearing was the first for the panel's new chairman Sen. Jim Webb (Va.), who along with the subcommittee's ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), heard testimony from DoD officials and a panel of five TMC organization leaders.

FRA and the other Coalition witnesses addressed a broad range of active, guard and Reserve, retiree, survivor and military family issues detailed in the Coalition's extensive 42-page statement. These included health care issues, end strengths, stress on the force, military pay, PCS benefits, military recruiting, Reserve retirement, gray area retiree benefits, wounded warrior programs, Post-9/11 education benefits, concurrent receipt, the SBP/DIC offset, Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA) reform, family readiness, MWR programs and commissaries. FRA's full statement is posted at www.fra.org.

Spouses Tuition Assistance Program Restored
On February 16th, the Defense Department (DoD) unexpectedly announced a temporary halt to the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (CAA) program that offers up to $6,000 in financial assistance to eligible spouses pursuing education and training in portable career fields. Then, just as abruptly, DoD resumed the program this week. The My Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) program will resume as of noon Saturday, March 13th, restoring tuition benefits to 136,583 military spouses who had applied for and been enrolled in the program. No new applications are being accepted at this time. For more information, visit the MyCAA Website at https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa.

FRA Supports Veteran Status for 20-Year Reservists
FRA supports legislation (H.R. 3787, S. 1780) that will grant veteran status to Reservists who completed 20 years or more of service, but do not otherwise qualify for veteran status and associated benefits.

Some Reserve personnel who complete 20 years of service, but are never called to active duty service do not currently qualify for full veteran status. At age 60, they are entitled to Reserve military retired pay, government health care and other benefits of service, but are ineligible for the full range of veterans' benefits. Members are urged to use the FRA Action Center (www.fra.org) to contact their elected officials on this important legislation.

VA Revisits Gulf War Illness Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a re-examination of disability claims of Gulf War veterans suffering from ailments they blame on their service during the first Gulf War. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's call for a "fresh, bold look" at what's commonly called "Gulf War illness" may lead to compensation for some of the 700,000 veterans who served during the Gulf War. Shinseki indicated he wants standards put in place that don't leave veterans waiting decades for answers to what ails them. The VA will be reviewing regulations and giving veterans the opportunity to have a rejected claim reconsidered.

About 175,000 to 210,000 Gulf War veterans experience a pattern of symptoms that include rashes, joint and muscle pain, sleep issues and gastrointestinal problems, but the cause of the symptoms remains unclear. Approximately 3,400 veterans have qualified for benefits under a 1994 law that allows the VA to compensate Gulf War veterans with certain chronic disabilities from illnesses the VA could not diagnosis.

The VA plans to improve training for medical staff who work with Gulf War vets, to ensure vets are not simply told their symptoms are imaginary, as has happened to many in the nearly 20 years since the conflict ended. The announcement signifies a possible shift in how VA ultimately cares for these vets and may also alter how the department handles war-related illness suffered by future veterans.