From: FRA NewsBytes
[Newsbytes@fra.org]
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 22:51
To:
fra@fra367.org
Subject: FRA NewsBytes -- 03-12-10
In this week's NewsBytes:
Senate Extender Bill
Addresses Medicare/TRICARE Rates
FRA Presents Top Concerns to Senate Armed
Services' Subcommittee
Spouses Tuition Assistance Program Restored
FRA
Supports Veteran Status for 20-Year Reservists
VA Revisits Gulf War Illness
Claims
Senate Extender Bill Addresses Medicare/TRICARE Rates
The Senate this week passed legislation (H.R 4213) with various tax
breaks and economic safety net extensions, which includes further delaying a
scheduled cut in reimbursement rates for doctors seeing Medicare and TRICARE
patients. The 21-percent cut was originally scheduled to take effect March 1st,
but Congress extended the deadline to April 1, 2010. This new
measure, if passed by the House and signed into law, will further extend the
delay until January 1, 2011. If these cuts take effect, many physicians may stop
accepting Medicare and TRICARE patients. This is top priority for FRA and
members are urged to use the FRA Action Center at www.fra.org to ask their U.S. Representative to
pass this important bill.
FRA Presents Top Concerns to Senate
Armed Services' Subcommittee
FRA's National Executive Director (NED) and
other Military Coalition (TMC) leaders testified this week before the Senate
Armed Service's Personnel Subcommittee to address their top legislative
priorities. The hearing was the first for the panel's new chairman Sen. Jim Webb
(Va.), who along with the subcommittee's ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham
(S.C.), heard testimony from DoD officials and a panel of five TMC organization
leaders.
FRA and the other Coalition witnesses addressed a broad range
of active, guard and Reserve, retiree, survivor and military family issues
detailed in the Coalition's extensive 42-page statement. These
included health care issues, end strengths, stress on the force, military pay,
PCS benefits, military recruiting, Reserve retirement, gray area retiree
benefits, wounded warrior programs, Post-9/11 education benefits, concurrent
receipt, the SBP/DIC offset, Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA) reform,
family readiness, MWR programs and commissaries. FRA's full statement is posted
at www.fra.org.
Spouses Tuition
Assistance Program Restored
On February 16th, the Defense Department
(DoD) unexpectedly announced a temporary halt to the Military Spouse Career
Advancement Accounts (CAA) program that offers up to $6,000 in financial
assistance to eligible spouses pursuing education and training in portable
career fields. Then, just as abruptly, DoD resumed the program this week. The My
Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) program will resume as of noon Saturday,
March 13th, restoring tuition benefits to 136,583 military spouses who had
applied for and been enrolled in the program. No new applications are being
accepted at this time. For more information, visit the MyCAA Website at https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa.
FRA
Supports Veteran Status for 20-Year Reservists
FRA supports legislation
(H.R. 3787, S. 1780) that will grant veteran status to Reservists who completed
20 years or more of service, but do not otherwise qualify for veteran status and
associated benefits.
Some Reserve personnel who complete 20 years of
service, but are never called to active duty service do not currently qualify
for full veteran status. At age 60, they are entitled to Reserve military
retired pay, government health care and other benefits of service, but are
ineligible for the full range of veterans' benefits. Members are urged to use
the FRA Action Center (www.fra.org) to contact
their elected officials on this important legislation.
VA Revisits
Gulf War Illness Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced a re-examination of disability claims of Gulf War veterans suffering
from ailments they blame on their service during the first Gulf War. VA
Secretary Eric Shinseki's call for a "fresh, bold look" at what's commonly
called "Gulf War illness" may lead to compensation for some of the 700,000
veterans who served during the Gulf War. Shinseki indicated he wants standards
put in place that don't leave veterans waiting decades for answers to what ails
them. The VA will be reviewing regulations and giving veterans the opportunity
to have a rejected claim reconsidered.
About 175,000 to 210,000 Gulf War
veterans experience a pattern of symptoms that include rashes, joint and muscle
pain, sleep issues and gastrointestinal problems, but the cause of the symptoms
remains unclear. Approximately 3,400 veterans have qualified for benefits under
a 1994 law that allows the VA to compensate Gulf War veterans with certain
chronic disabilities from illnesses the VA could not diagnosis.
The VA
plans to improve training for medical staff who work with Gulf War vets, to
ensure vets are not simply told their symptoms are imaginary, as has happened to
many in the nearly 20 years since the conflict ended. The announcement signifies
a possible shift in how VA ultimately cares for these vets and may also alter
how the department handles war-related illness suffered by future veterans.
________________________________________
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