Defense Authorization Bill clears Congress. The 111th Congress officially ended on Dec 22. The very last piece of business they accomplished was the passage of the Fiscal Year 2011 Defense Authorization Bill. As this publication goes to press, The Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2011 is awaiting signature by President Obama.The bill:– Authorizes $138.5 billion for military personnel and includes funding for a 1.4 percent across-the-board pay raise for members of the uniformed services, allowances, bonuses, death benefits and permanent change of station moves.– Authorizes TRICARE coverage for certain dependents of eligible beneficiaries up to age 26.– Extends for one year the prohibition on increasing the premium and co-payment for TRICARE Prime, charges for inpatient care in civilian hospitals under TRICARE Standard, and cost sharing requirements for drugs provided through the TRICARE retail pharmacy.– Authorizes dependent survivors to be eligible to enroll in the TRICARE dental program even if they were not enrolled prior to the death of their sponsor.– Requires the secretary of defense to develop and implement education and training programs on the use of pharmaceuticals for patients in a wounded warrior unit, non-medical case managers, military leaders, and family members.– Establishes the rate of the monthly stipend under the DoD family caregiver compensation program as the amount of the caregiver stipend under the Department of Veterans Affairs program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers.– Prohibits the involuntary administrative separation of a service member who has been deemed fit for duty by a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) but who is subsequently determined to be unsuitable for deployment based on the same medical condition that was considered by the PEB.– Authorizes expedited background investigations for security clearances for wounded warriors and spouses seeking employment with DoD or DoD contractors.– Authorizes enrollment in DoD elementary and secondary schools for military dependents residing in temporary housing, regardless of whether the housing is on federal property, due to the unavailability of adequate permanent living quarters on installation, or while the service member is wounded, ill, or injured.– Requires the establishment of an advisory panel on community support for military families with special needs, authorizes the service secretaries to establish or support centers to provide services for military children with special needs, and requires the director of the Office of Community Support for Military Families with Special Needs to be a member of the senior executive service or a general or flag officer.– Authorizes reserve component members to carry over leave accumulated during periods of active service without regard to separation or release from active service, subject to otherwise applicable leave carry over limits.– Enhances DoD’s ability to acquire rapidly and field new capabilities in response to urgent needs on the battlefield by expanding DoD’s authority to waive statutory requirements when needed to save lives on the battlefield, and requires DoD to establish a comprehensive process for evaluating and addressing urgent operational needs identified on the battlefield.– Provides full funding ($3.4 billion) for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP) fund that funds the development, testing, production, and sustainment of the MRAP vehicles and new MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (known as the M-ATV).The defense appropriations and military construction/VA appropriations bills have always been considered must-pass legislation. That ended with the Second Session of the 111th Congress. Both bills were left in limbo along with all of the other fiscal 2011 appropriations measures.Programs under the two bills were funded, mostly at 2010 levels, through March 4 under a continuing resolution. This means Congress will be working on Fiscal Year 2011 bills at the same time they start working on Fiscal Year 2012 bills.Not a very good way to do business. Medicare/TRICARE cut averted. For all of 2010, AUSA fought to get Congress to pass a long-term fix to the scheduled cut to rates paid to physicians who treat seniors and the military. We scored a partial victory when Congress cleared a measure that will provide a one-year extension of Medicare/TRICARE physician rates. The legislation freezes current payment rates until Dec. 31, 2011, averting a 25 percent cut that was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. The bill would be fully paid for by a change in the health care reform law.  A provision in the law provides tax credits to help individuals and families afford insurance on state-run insurance exchanges when they take effect in 2014. If a tax credit recipient misstates income, or if it changes over the course of the year, he or she has to pay back part of the subsidy — up to $250 for an individual or $400 for families. The "doc fix" bill replaces that flat repayment with a sliding-scale structure, requiring smaller repayments at lower incomes and dramatically increasing the maximum amount for high earners.AUSA and its partners in The Military Coalition will work closely with the 112th Congress to develop a long-term solution to this perennial Medicare/TRICARE problem that affects seniors and the military population.