From: FRA NewsBytes [Newsbytes@fra.org]

Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010 03:01

To: fra@fra367.org

Subject: FRA NewsBytes -- January 22, 2010

In this week's NewsBytes:
Stop Medicare/TRICARE Doctor Reimbursement Cuts!
FRA Announces 2010 VA Priorities
DFAS Announces Error on Some Retiree Account Statements
FRA Post-9/11 GI Bill Brief
VA Hires Additional Wounded Warrior Aid Coordinators


Stop Medicare/TRICARE Doctor Reimbursement Cuts!
As reported previously in Newsbytes, FRA is urging the Senate to pass "The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act" (H.R. 3961), a measure that will halt a 21-percent cut in Medicare and TRICARE reimbursement rates for doctors that is scheduled to take effect on February 28, 2010. Unless this rate cut is eliminated or delayed, many doctors are expected to stop seeing Medicare and TRICARE patients. Some health care providers already choose not to participate in the Medicare and TRICARE programs because of low reimbursement rates. Members are urged to use the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org to contact their U.S. Senators immediately to ask for their support.


FRA Announces 2010 VA Priorities
FRA's National Executive Director Joe Barnes participated in a special roundtable meeting hosted by the House Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee this week to discuss the most critical issues facing our nation's veterans, including an overriding FRA priority to ensure wounded troops, their families and survivors of those killed in action are cared for by a grateful nation. VA Committee Chairman Bob Filner (Calif.) led the meeting with representatives from 40 veterans-service and military organizations who discussed priority concerns within the veterans' community. FRA's top five VA priorities are:

·     Improving VA claims processing to reduce the backlog of unresolved claims for VA benefits;

·     Insuring maximum access to VA care for all veterans;

·     Removing restrictions on disability claims filed by Vietnam-era "Blue Water" vets for medical problems related to exposure to Agent Orange;

·     Improving Dependency Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits; and

·     Ensuring that Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits are distributed in a timely manner.

FRA will also address these concerns before a joint hearing of the House and Senate VA Committees on March 18, 2010.    


DFAS Announces Error on Some Retiree Account Statements
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) recently announced that nearly 18,000 military retirees (mostly in the Norfolk, Va., area) received incorrect information about their annual increase in Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP). DFAS says these retirees received letters with another retiree's information on the second page of the letter, and asks recipients to destroy the erroneous information.  DFAS will be reissuing corrected forms. Retirees that have any questions should contact DFAS at 1-800-321-1080.  


FRA Post-9/11 GI Bill Brief
FRA's Director of Legislative Programs (DLP) John Davis briefed the Coast Guard Recruiting Command on the Post-9/11 GI Bill this week in Arlington, Va.  (He presented a similar briefing at FRA's recent 82nd National Convention.) More than 45 members of the Coast Guard attended the session that compared the new benefit program to the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). He also explained the "nuts and bolts" of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, including eligibility requirements, a housing allowance, transferability to spouse and children and other aspects of the program.  


VA Hires Additional Wounded Warrior Aid Coordinators
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced they will be hiring five new Federal Recovery Coordinators (FRC), bringing the total to 20 FRCs helping coordinate care for our nation's most severely wounded, ill, or injured service members, veterans, and their families.

The FRC program was created as part of the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to assist severely injured service members, veterans and their families with access to care, services and benefits provided by the VA, Department of Defense (DoD), other federal agencies, states, and the private sector. Currently, the FRCs work with 419 of the most severely wounded, ill, or injured service members and veterans. The program is administered by the VA and operated jointly with DoD.

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