From: FRA NewsBytes [Newsbytes@fra.org]
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 03:25
To: fra@fra367.org
Subject: FRA NewsBytes -- 02-19-10
In this week's NewsBytes:
Fix for Medicare/TRICARE Reimbursement Rates Needed NOW
New Law Gives Military Spouses Tax Flexibility
DoD Negotiates Deal on PTSD Lawsuit
Veterans' Health Administration Gets New Boss
FRA Survey of Legislative Priorities Ends Soon


Fix for Medicare/TRICARE Reimbursement Rates Needed NOW
When members of Congress return from their President's Day recess on February 23, they will have only six days to halt the drastic cuts (21 percent) to Medicare and TRICARE reimbursement rates before they take effect on March 1st. The House has passed legislation (H.R. 3961) that would prohibit cuts to provider reimbursements for five years, but budget constraints appear to have stalled the measure in the Senate. If these cuts take affect, many providers may stop accepting Medicare and TRICARE patients.

Congress has repeatedly waited until the last minute to postpone these cuts to participating doctors' payments, however FRA is concerned that legislation may not be implemented in time to avoid the reductions.  Members are urged to use the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org to contact their senators and U.S. representative to let them know that failure to act before the end of the month could result in physician access problems for many military retirees.


New Law Gives Military Spouses Tax Flexibility
Organizing household paperwork, finances and taxes for military families is easier this year due to passage of a new residency law for military spouses.  Military families who must relocate due to military orders now have more flexibility when it comes to state taxes.  

Active duty members often retain their permanent residency throughout their military service, but their spouses could not. Now, however, military spouses can also request the same permanent residency status as their active duty spouse with their income taxed only by their state of permanent residence. State taxes would be due to the state of permanent residence, provided the service member does not seek additional employment.

Prior to enactment of this FRA-supported legislation, spouses would have to make address changes to property titles, re-register vehicles and obtain new driver's licenses when they arrived at the new duty location. Many times, this would lead to service members and their spouses filing state income tax returns for different states.

To qualify for relief under this new law, spouses must meet three requirements:

The service member must be present at the duty station in compliance with military orders;

The spouse is stationed with the service member; and

The spouse is living in the same state as the service member.


DoD Negotiates Deal on PTSD Lawsuit
The Pentagon and a group of military veterans separated from service after suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have reached an agreement that will provide disability retired pay and family TRICARE coverage, at least temporarily, for the plaintiffs.

The agreement, reached in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, stems from a class action lawsuit (Sabo v. United States) brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP). Representing seven veterans, the NVLSP claimed that the veterans' Military Service Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) violated their legal rights by assigning a disability rating for PTSD below the minimum 50 percent required by the Veterans' Administration Schedule of Rating Disabilities (VASRD).

According to the NVLSP, the federal court has allowed the lawsuit to be a class action suit on behalf of all individuals who served on active duty after December 17, 2002, and prior to October 14, 2008, who were found to be unfit for continued service due to PTSD and assigned a disability rating of less than 50 percent. There are over 4,300 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans diagnosed with PTSD who could potentially be eligible for increased benefits. NVLSP is in the process of mailing "opt-in" forms to these veterans, who have until July 24, 2010, to elect participation in this class-action suit. Veterans who feel they may be eligible and have not received a notice can find more information at www.ptsdlawsuit.com.


Veterans' Health Administration Gets New Boss
Dr. Robert A. Petzel was sworn in this week as the Under Secretary for Health for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this position, he will lead the nation's largest integrated health care system.

Petzel had been Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health since May 2009.  Previously, he directed one of VA's 21 geographic health care networks covering eight medical centers and 42 community based outpatient clinics. Board certified in internal medicine, Petzel has also served as chief of staff for the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.  

More than eight million veterans are enrolled in VA's health care system, which is growing due to expanded access for approximately 256,000 Priority Group 8 veterans seeking VA health care services - and FRA legislative priority.  This year, VA expects to treat nearly six million patients during 78 million outpatient visits and 906,000 inpatient admissions. The Veterans Health Administration is the 262,000-employee component of VA and is comprised of 153 hospitals nationwide, more than 800 geographically separate outpatient clinics or mobile clinics, and 232 readjustment counseling Vet Centers.


FRA Survey of Legislative Priorities Ends Soon
Shipmates have until February 26th to participate in an online survey to gauge which military benefits and quality-of-life programs are most important to enlisted personnel. The survey, found at www.fra.org/survey, is open to current and former Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel and the results will be shared with members of Congress and other key decision-makers.

Past surveys have indicated strong support for higher-than-ECI active duty pay hikes and overwhelming opposition to proposed increases in TRICARE fees for retirees. FRA has successfully advocated for larger pay increases and fought TRICARE fee increases with the support of shipmates who contact their elected officials through the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org.

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