Conference Addresses Military Health Care
AUSA’s Director of Family Programs, Sylvia Kidd, and Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs, Julie Rudowski, recently attended the Department of Defense Military Health System Conference in Washington, DC. The Conference, which gathers more than 3,000 health care professionals, military organization representatives and government officials, is designed to assess MHS goals and objectives and to examine how technology can improve care to military members, veterans, retirees and their families. A major goal of this year’s conference is to continue improving care for wounded warriors. Other issues covered in this year’s conference include:
- Better integration of purchased care and direct care at the point of healthcare delivery,
- Ways to improve wellness, preventive care, and disease management programs, and to measure the effectiveness of those programs,
- Continued attention on medical readiness of the reserve component and close attention to the implementation and effectiveness of TRICARE Reserve Select,
- Restructuring of the cost-sharing structure for retirees and their families to include changes to enrollment fees, deductibles, co-payments, indexing and other cost-related issues.
All plenary sessions are available via streaming video on the MHS website, http://www.health.mil.
2008 Defense Authorization Bill Now Law
The revised 2008 Defense Authorization Bill was signed into law by the President on Monday, 28 January. The bill contains a number of provisions dealing with service pay and benefits, including a 3.5% basic pay raise, retroactive to January 1st. The bill also includes a 120-day sanctuary period to protect bonuses and special pay after the services lost authority to make new payments after December 31st because of the veto of the original bill. Congress also added a measure to lower the retirement threshold for Reserve and National Guard personnel. Reserve Component retirement currently begins at age 60 but would be reduced by three months for every 90 days a Guard or Reserve member is activated. There is some dissatisfaction with this provision because it will not be applied retroactively to troops mobilized after 9/11. The full text of the bill is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.4986:
New Law Gives Disabled Veterans More Home Grants
A change in federal law allows certain seriously injured veterans and Servicemembers to receive multiple grants for constructing or modifying their homes, the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced. Before the change, eligible veterans and Servicemembers could receive special adaptive housing grants of $10,000 or $50,000 from VA only once. Now they may use the benefit up to three times, so long as the total grants stay within specified limits outlined in the law. For more information about the adaptive housing grants available to veterans please visit the VA’s website: http://www.homeloans.va.gov/sah.htm or contact a local VA regional office at 1-800-827-1000.
[Source: http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/01/07/6891-new-law-gives-disabled-veterans-more-home-grants/]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced that more than a million veterans are in line to share $349 million in annual insurance dividends during 2008. The VA operates one of the nation’s largest life insurance programs, providing more than $1 trillion in coverage to 7.1 million Servicemembers, veterans, and family members.
The dividend payments will be sent to an estimated 1.1 million holders of VA insurance policies on the anniversary date of their policies. Veterans who have questions about their policies may contact the VA insurance toll-free number at 1-800-669-8477 or send an email to VAinsurance@va.gov. They may also visit VA on the Internet at http://www.insurance.va.gov.
[Source: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1437]
Valentines for Veterans Programs Launches its 2008 Campaign
The week of February 14 each year is your opportunity to say thank you to more than 98,000 veterans of the U.S. armed services who are cared for every day in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, outpatient clinics, domiciliaries, and nursing homes. The VA invites individuals, veterans groups, military personnel, civic organizations, businesses, schools, local media, celebrities and sports stars to participate in a variety of activities at the VA medical centers. The activities and events include special ward visits and valentine distributions; photo opportunities; school essay contests; special recreation activities and veteran recognition programs. To participate in the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans week please contact your nearest VA Medical Center and ask for Voluntary Service. Facilities can be located through the VA website: http://www1.va.gov/volunteer/nshv.cfm
TRICARE for Life "Explanation of Benefits" Goes Digital
TRICARE for Life (TFL) beneficiaries will soon be able to print copies of their Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from the convenience of their own homes. Starting in January 2008, the only paper EOB’s that TFL beneficiaries living in the United States and U.S. territories will receive are monthly summaries. The exception to this is if a claim includes services that are rejected, and those services have appeal rights; or if the EOB is mailed with a payment to the beneficiary. TRICARE overseas beneficiaries will continue to get their EOBs as usual. In February, beneficiaries will have the option to receive an electronic notification every time a claim processes. Beneficiaries can then log on to the secure web site at http://www.TRICARE4U.com, to view and print their EOB.
[Source: http://www.tricare.mil/News/News.aspx?fid=359]
TRICARE Now Covers "Lap-Band" Surgery
TRICARE beneficiaries whose weight poses a serious health risk now have a new surgical alternative available. For those who medically qualify, TRICARE now covers laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, also commonly called Lap-Band surgery. Although the TRICARE policy change has only recently been made, coverage is retroactive to February 1st, 2007. In addition, TRICARE will cover the surgery if a patient has had an intestinal bypass or other surgery for obesity and, because of complications, requires a second surgery. Details of the coverage are available in the TRICARE Policy Manual, which beneficiaries can view online at http://manuals.tricare.osd.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=TMAManuals.DisplayManualSeriesInfo&ManualSeries=POLICY&TP02=67#TP02. A search for "morbid obesity" goes directly to the correct section.
[Source: http://www.tricare.mil/pressroom/news.aspx?fid=360]
TRICARE Retiree Dental Program Offers Consumer Toolkit
The TRDP is starting off 2008 with a dynamic new enhancement to the Consumer Toolkit® for enrollees. The Toolkit, which can be found under the "Current Enrollees" section at http://www.tdrp.org enables TRDP enrollees to manage their program enrollment by allowing them to view their eligibility, benefits, claims and maximum information; print ID cards and claim forms; and much more. The TDRP website has also added an online tutorial, which now lets enrollees learn about the TRDP at their own pace.
Veterans' Disability Benefits Topic at Senate Hearing
A hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs focused mainly on the recommendations of the congressionally-mandated Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission.
The Commission, charged with studying laws related to veterans and survivor compensation and assistance and the VA’s implementation of those laws, released its report late last year. The report contained over 100 recommendations covering a wide range of topics including healthcare, claims processing, disability payments and treatment for veterans’ with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
LTG James Terry Scott, USA, Ret., the Commission chairman testified that the commission favors a sliding scale of benefit increases for quality of life that would top off at a 25 percent increase for completely disabled veterans, a recommendation applauded by AUSA.
However, it was noted by the Committee’s ranking member Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., that changes to the disability system have not come quickly in the past and that similar recommendations were made by a commission headed by Gen. Omar Bradley in 1956!
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii said that changes to the current system will not be dealt with quickly. Congress “must undertake a thoughtful and deliberate review and analysis of the many matters at issue and then work to develop legislation, said Akaka.
In a statement released after the hearing, Sen. Burr said, “We cannot continue to ignore the need for modernization. We need to create a system for today’s veterans and not leave them with a system that was outdated before they were even born. I hope we can all work together to find the best way to modernize this system for all veterans.”
He added. “It is a failure of the highest magnitude if we don’t provide these heroes, who have sacrificed so much for their country, with the benefits and services they need and deserve to return to full, active, and productive lives.”
AUSA strongly agrees.
To see the Commission’s complete report, visit their website at www.vetscommisson.org
Space A Travel Changes Announced
Spouses and dependent children of any service member who has been deployed for more than 120 consecutive days are now allowed to travel Space-A. The change allows eligible family members to travel anywhere in the continental United States (CONUS) or overseas, and receive seating priority ahead of retirees and their families. They can sign up for Space-A travel no earlier than 10 days before their military family members deploy, begin traveling on the day of such a deployment, and must complete their travel by the last day of that deployment. Space-A travelers must show a deployment verification letter signed by their military family member's commander, and retain possession of that letter for the duration of their travel. The Defense Department announced the change Dec. 6.
VA Looking To Create Support Committees at Its New Cemeteries
The VA’s National Cemetery Administration is hoping to create “Cemetery Support Committees” at the new National Cemeteries. (They hope they can get them up and running before the first burial at each site) The Committees would help plan the dedication cemetery as well as the annual Veterans Day and Memorial events. They also recruit volunteers to work at the Cemeteries and honor details. If you are near one of the Cemeteries and would be interested in serving, please call the Director’s offices listed below or call me, Deirdre Parke Holleman, at 703-684-1981 or 800-554-8732 and I can try to get additional information.
- South Florida VA National Cemetery, Lake Worth: Director -Kurt Rotar -Dedication scheduled: March 9, 2008, Phone number: (561) 649-6489
- Sarasota VA National Cemetery: Director -Mrs. Sandra Beckley, Phone number: (877) 861-9840
- Birmingham Area National Cemetery: Director -Ms.Quincy Whitehead, Phone number: (205) 665-9039, Temporary office: 731 Middle Street, Montevallo, AL (effective Jan 22)
- Jacksonville, FL Area National Cemetery: Director -Ms. Arleen Vicenty
- Ft Jackson/Columbia Area National Cemetery: Director -Gene Linxwiler
- Bakersfield Area National Cemetery: Director -Wesley Jones
- Philadelphia Area National Cemetery: Director -TBD