From: FRA NewsBytes
[Newsbytes@fra.org]
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 2:17
AM
To: fra@fra367.org
Subject: FRA NewsBytes --
10-30-09
In this week's
NewsBytes:
FRA Elects National Officers
President Signs FY2010
NDAA
Medicare/TRICARE Reimbursement Bill Fails in Senate
Bill to Expand
Transferability of GI Bill Benefits for Some Retirees
House Passes Coast
Guard Authorization
FRA Elects National Officers
Delegates
to FRA's 82nd National Convention in Virginia Beach, Va., last week elected
Shipmate Gary Blackburn as National President and Shipmate Jim Scarbro as
National Vice President for the 2009-2010 Association year.
National
President Blackburn has been an FRA member for more than 40 years, holding a
variety of branch, regional and national offices. He was elected as National
Vice President for the 2008-2009 Association Year, and has served as West Coast
Regional Vice President (2001-2002), Regional President (2002-2003) and Regional
Secretary (2005-2008). He has also served as Branch 8's Vice President and
President and continues to chair the branch's Americanism Committee. Blackburn
is a Vietnamveteran who enlisted in the Navy in 1960 and joined the Fleet
Reserve in 1978 as a First Class Petty Officer. A resident of Vallejo, Calif.,
Blackburn is committed to expanding awareness of FRA's highly effective
legislative advocacy work focused on enhancing pay and benefits for FRA members
around the world.
National Vice President Scarbro is a member of FRA
Branch 40 (Chesapeake, Va.) and is a Life Member of the Association. During his
37 years as an FRA shipmate, he served as the East Coast Region's Vice President
(1999-2000) and President (2000-2001), and has held positions as Branch
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Editor. Scarbro is a strong
membership recruiter, earning recognition as the FRA's top recruiter and is a
five-time recipient of the Charles E. Lofgren Award. He enlisted in
the Navy in 1959 and transferred to the Fleet Reserve as a Senior Chief Petty
Officer in 1980, officially retiring in 1990. Scarbro is a resident of
Chesapeake, Va., and will work to strengthen the organization's membership base
in the coming year.
President Signs FY2010 NDAA
President
Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, H.R. 2647) into law
this week. FRA's top legislative priority is adequately funding
TRICARE and for the fourth consecutive year, military retirees under age 65 are
not burdened by drastically higher TRICARE fees increases. This issue was
repeatedly addressed in congressional testimony, in correspondence and
interaction with members and staff, and also addressed when FRA's National Board
of Directors and Regional Vice Presidents visited Capitol Hill last April. In
addition, more than 5,500 shipmates who used FRA's Action Center (www.fra.org) to send e-mails to their elected
officials on this and other provisions in the legislation.
The
legislation also eliminates proposals to reduce the FY2013 cost-of-living
adjustment (COLA) and provides an active duty pay increase larger than requested
by the Administration (3.4 versus 2.9 percent). Detailed specifics of the
measure were reported in the October 9, 2009, edition of NewsBytes, which is
accessible at
http://www.fra.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=9202
Medicare/TRICARE Reimbursement Bill Fails in Senate
"The
Medicare Physician Fairness Act" (S. 1776) was defeated last week in the Senate.
Sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), the legislation proposed to
reverse a 21-percent cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments for doctors that is
scheduled to take effective January 1, 2010, and protect against future cuts in
ensuing years. The bill is especially important to TRICARE
beneficiaries because TRICARE reimbursement rates are tied to those for Medicare
providers and, without congressional action to halt these cuts, doctors may
choose not to accept TRICARE patients. Some health care providers already choose
not to participate in the Medicare and TRICARE programs because of low
reimbursement rates, citing extra TRICARE administrative burdens and fewer
military patients as added challenges.
Despite the failed vote, Senate
leaders pledged to find a way to approve and fund at least a one-year fix before
the end of December to ensure the 21-percent cut in Medicare and TRICARE
payments for doctors will not take effect.
Bill to Expand
Transferability of GI Bill Benefits for Some Retirees
FRA strongly
supports "The Education Assistance to Realign New Eligibilities for Dependents
Act" (H.R. 3577) that expands the number of veterans who can transfer
educational benefits to their dependent family members. This legislation,
sponsored by Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (Texas), allows service personnel who retired
with 20 or more years of service between September 11, 2001, and July 31, 2009,
to transfer his or her educational benefits to dependents.
The Post-9/11
G.I. Bill already allows transfer of benefits for some who were serving as of
August 1, 2009, with as few as six years of service. This legislation aims to
correct an inequity that denies transferability to long-serving personnel who
served and made sacrifices during the War on Terror, and also acknowledges the
sacrifices made by their families. FRA has repeatedly addressed this inequity on
Capitol Hill and believes some consideration should be given to recent retirees
and their families, in conjunction with previously authorized transferability
provisions of the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). Shipmates are urged to use the FRA
Action Center (www.fra.org) to contact their
representative to ask them to co-sponsor this important legislation.
House Passes Coast Guard Authorization
The House recently
voted to approve a $10 billion Authorization bill for the U.S. Coast Guard that
would increase authorized end strength from 45,500 to 47,000 for FY2010 and
makes Coast Guard retirees eligible for the Armed Forces Retirement Home
(AFRH). Sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (Minn.), the legislation addresses other
personnel-related issues, including the retention of emergency leave for
personnel who would otherwise be required to forfeit it to support major
disaster operations and reimbursement for certain medical-related travel
expenses when a service member is stationed on an INCONUS island and his/her
family member is referred to a specialty care provider off-island. The bill also
mandates a study of military family housing available for USCG members and
changes the Vice Commandant position from a three-star position to a four-star
billet to better align the Coast Guard with the other armed
services.
Action on the bill now shifts to the Senate, where it has met
significant challenges in recent years. Senator Maria Cantwell (Wash.),
chairwoman of the Senate Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
Subcommittee, is sponsoring a bill (S. 1194) to authorize the U.S. Coast Guard
for FY2010 and FY2011 that is awaiting action on the Senate floor. The U.S.
Coast Guard was last authorized in 2006.
FRA believes more timely
authorizing legislation is critical for congressional budgeting and effective
oversight of the Coast Guard and its growing mission
requirements. Shipmates can use the FRA Action Center (www.fra.org) to ask their senators to support
reauthorization of the U.S. Coast
Guard.
____________________________________________________________________
To
share your views on these and other important topics, visit www.fra.org/discuss and click on "News."
FRA is the oldest and largest association representing the interests of
current and former Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel. If you are not
a member and are eligible, please join FRA at www.fra.org. The larger the membership base, the
louder your voice is heard on Capitol Hill!
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