Details emerging from the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee markup indicate that they also rejected the increased fees.  Good news for now, but AUSA remains concerned about the future and with good reason.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., suggested that military personnel may need to pay more of the healthcare tab in the future.  “While we prohibited a fee increase this year, it is unclear that we will be able to continue to sustain prohibition on healthcare fees in the future,” Rep. Davis said.  “We will need to work together to find a fair and equitable solution that protects our beneficiaries and ensures the financial viability of the military healthcare system for the future.”

Be assured that AUSA will continue to monitor this closely and will respond accordingly.

Other news from the mark-up includes a 3.9 percent pay raise for military personnel, identical to what is in the Senate’s version of the bill.  The President had requested a 3.4 percent increase.

The legislation would also create a tuition assistance program for eligible military spouses and would authorize a pilot program to allow military personnel several years to pursue other life objectives (e.g. to have a baby) outside the military before returning to duty.

The Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces authorized $2.2 billion for upgrading the Abrams tank, Stryker vehicles and the Bradley fighting vehicle.  They also authorized an additional $800 million for Army National Guard and Army Reserve equipment, but subtracted $200 million from the Administration’s $3.3 billion request for the Future Combat Systems (FCS). 

The Subcommittee’s ranking Republican Rep. James Saxton, R-N.J., protested that repeated cuts in the FCS budget have made it harder for the Army to succeed in building it.  “Four consecutive years of cuts are bound to slice off some meat and possibly nick a bone,” said Rep. Saxton. 

Subcommittee Chairman Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, defended the cut.  “These adjustments are based on the need to shift funding to higher-priority Army readiness needs and the fact that the FCS program, in additional to a history of delays and cost overruns, continues to operate in violation of many major Department of Defense acquisition policies.”

The FCS program has been cut by nearly $1 billion over the last four years.

The Readiness Subcommitee authorized $143 billion, $950 million more than the President, for spare parts, fuel, food and other operating costs of the Armed Forces.  It also authorized $24 billion for military construction programs.

 

House Delays Action on War Spending Bill

The Democratic leadership’s plan to move the fiscal 2008 emergency supplemental spending bill directly to the floor, thus bypassing the usual mark-up and conference process, has met several obstacles including objections from House and Senate appropriators.  Now you can add the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats to the mix. 

House action on the supplemental was delayed last week after the Blue Dogs objected to the inclusion of a major expansion of AUSA-supported education benefits for veterans.  While they are not against the expansion of benefits, they are unhappy that the cost of the enhanced benefits would not be offset by increased revenues or cuts in other spending.  This rule is known as pay-as-you-go or PAYGO.

The leadership cannot ignore the group because the Democratic advantage in the House is not large enough to overcome 47 potential Blue Dog defections. 

Added to the delay are the Republicans who have been using procedural moves to slow floor action in protest because the leadership sidestepped normal procedures. 

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., predicted that the complaints of the Blue Dog Democrats would be addressed and that the bill eventually would receive unanimous support from Democrats.

Democrats Release Fact Sheet on Supplemental

The leadership revived the unfinished fiscal 2008 Military Construction-VA appropriations bill (which was folded into the omnibus) and will use it as a shell for the supplemental bill which will prevent any procedural roadblocks.  It will then be taken up as three separate amendments.  A fact sheet released by the Democrats outlines the three amendments.

Amendment #1:  $162.5 billion for the Department of Defense, funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the summer of 2009.   Department of Defense Funding:  $96.6 billion, $3.4 billion below the President’s request for fiscal 2008 and $65.9 billion, $79 million below the President’s request, for fiscal 2009. Totaling $162.5 billion, this accounts for almost 90% of the discretionary spending in the bill.

Amendment #2:  Iraq Policy Restrictions.  These restrictions include:

• Out in 18 months.  Requires that troops begin redeployment from Iraq within 30 days with a goal of completing withdrawal of combat troops by December 2009.
• Treaties with Iraq.  Requires that any agreement between the United States and the Iraqi Government committing U.S. forces be specifically authorized by Congress.
• Iraqis Pay for Iraq Reconstruction.  Requires that U.S. reconstruction aid for Iraq be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Iraqi Government.
• Fair Fuel Costs.  Requires the President to reach an agreement with Iraq to subsidize fuel costs for U.S. Armed Forces operating in Iraq so that our military pays what Iraqis pay.
• Meeting Pentagon Guidelines.  Requires that troops meet the Pentagon’s definition of “combat ready” before they can be deployed to Iraq; prohibits troops from being deployed in Iraq longer than recommended under Pentagon guidelines; and requires that troops follow military guidelines for time spent at home between deployments.
• Clean Up Contracting in Iraq.  Expands current law to make all contractors working in war zones subject to prosecution for offenses that would otherwise be in violation of U.S. law; extends the statute of limitations for fraud cases during wartime; and amends the federal criminal code to prohibit profiteering and fraud involving contractors overseas.
• No Permanent Bases in Iraq.  Prohibits the establishment of permanent bases in Iraq.
• Prohibits Torture.  Prohibits interrogation techniques not authorized in the Army Field Manual.

• Expanded GI Benefits for Veterans Education.  Expands the education benefits veterans receive under the GI bill to restore the promise of a full, four-year college education, and make the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan part of an American economic recovery.
• Extended Unemployment Compensation.  Extends unemployment benefits for workers who have exhausted their benefits by up to 13 weeks in every state as well as an additional 13 weeks in states with high unemployment. 
• Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008.  Places a moratorium on seven Medicaid regulations that would cut services to seniors, families, and those with disabilities as well as cut payments to safety net providers
• International Affairs.  $5.923 billion, $500 million above the President’s request, for the State Department, USAID and International Food Assistance (PL480).
• Food Aid & Disaster Assistance.  $1.865 billion, $745 million above the President’s request, for international food and disaster assistance.  This includes $500 million above the President’s request for PL480 Food Assistance and $245 million above the President’s request for development assistance and disaster assistance programs meant to alleviate world hunger.
• Refugee Assistance.  $675 million, $454 million above the President’s request, to address the refugee crisis in Iraq and elsewhere.
• Military Construction.  $4.6 billion for military construction, $2.2 billion over the President’s request, including $939 million for BRAC, over $210 million for the military child care centers, and $956 million for military hospitals.
• Louisiana Levees.  $5.8 billion for much needed efforts to strengthen New Orleans levees in fiscal 2009, as requested by the President.
• Bureau of Prisons.  $178 million to meet rising incarceration costs and growing inmate population.  These funds were requested by the Administration, but would have been paid for by cutting funding for state and local law enforcement programs.
• Census.  $210 million to address decennial census cost overruns.  The Administration requested these funds but would have paid for them by cutting a variety items ranging from important scientific research to economic development programs.
• Cleaning up Contracting (H.R. 3928 & H.R. 5712).  Increases accountability and transparency in federal contracting by requiring companies that receive more than 80 percent of their revenue from the federal government to disclose the names and salaries of their top officers, and requires federal contractors to report violations of federal criminal law and over-payments on contracts over $5 million.

Medicare rules require an annual review and updating of physician fee schedules with the process weighing a number of medical cost factors.  In order to achieve budget neutrality and stay within annual targeted SGR, physician fee schedules will either decrease if Medicare spending exceeds the targeted growth figure or increase if Medicare expenses are less than the targeted growth.  In an era of rapidly rising medical costs, the annual review would have resulted in a decrease in the physician fee schedules during the last few years had Congress not taken action in its past sessions to postpone the reductions.

Finding doctors who accept TRICARE is an enormous problem for the military community - particularly for Guard and Reserve families, retirees, and survivors who live in areas with a small military population.  Payment cuts will make the situation even worse. 

Please add your voice to ours.  Visit the AUSA website, www.ausa.org., click on Contact Congress, enter your zip code and then click on the AUSA-proposed letter titled, Stop Medicare/TRICARE Payment Cuts.   Your voice does make a difference.