Military Officer - January 2006 - (Page 29)

washingtonscene Late Action The Senate passes the Defense Authorization Act, setting up tough end-of-year negotiations with the House over SBP, concurrent receipt, and reserve health care. L E G I S L AT I V E N E W S T H AT A F F E C T S Y O U O n Nov. 15, the Senate ﬁnally passed its version of the FY 2006 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 1042) by a vote of 98 to 0. The House had passed its version of the bill (H.R. 1815) more than ﬁve months earlier. House and Senate Armed Services committee leaders scheduled a conference committee for December to hammer out compromises on hundreds of provisions that differ between the two bills. Some of the most signiﬁcant provisions to be resolved included: ■ SBP. A Senate-approved initiative by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) would accelerate the 2008 implementation date for 30-year paid-up Survivor Beneﬁt Plan (SBP) coverage and end the deduction of VA survivor beneﬁts from SBP annuities when the member’s death is caused by military service. Both provisions would take effect Oct. 1, 2005. The House bill was silent on SBP. ■ Concurrent receipt. A Senate provision by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would provide full, immediate concurrent receipt for disabled retirees rated “unemployable” by the VA, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005. The House bill would make this effective Oct. 1, 2009 (versus the Oct. 1, 2013, implementation date in current law). ■ Guard-Reserve health care. A Senate initiative (Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.) would authorize permanent, premiumbased TRICARE coverage for nearly all drilling Guard and Reserve members (and their families) who agree to continue in Selected Reserve status. A similar initiative was approved by the House Armed Services Committee in May but was removed from the House bill on a budget technicality. ■ Commissaries. The House bill would place a ﬁve-year moratorium on any further studies concerning privatization of commissary functions. ■ Army manpower. The Senate bill proposes to increase the size of the Army by 20,000. The House bill proposes a 10,000 increase. ■ Military death benefits. The Senate bill would increase the maximum military life insurance coverage to $400,000 and raise the death gratuity for all active duty deaths to $100,000, including all deaths since Oct. 7, 2001, the ofﬁcial start of the war on terrorism. The House bill provides the same insurance increase for future deaths but provides retroactive death gratuity and insurance increases only for combat-related deaths. House-Senate negotiations on the defense bill normally take two or three months, but the Senate’s late start forced a compressed schedule to ﬁnish the bill before the end of the year. At press time, House and Senate leaders hoped to ﬁnish action the week of Dec. 12, and MOAA had generated special electronic and telephone alerts, asking members to contact their legislators in support of the Senate SBP, concurrent receipt, and health care provisions. JANUARY 2006 MOAA Members Answer Call ■ In November, MOAA alerts generated 75,000 e-mails urging legislators to adopt key SBP, concurrent receipt, and health care provisions. But we need more grassroots clout. See page 31 to join MOAA e-mail activists. MILITARY OFFICER 29

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Contents Features Departments From the Editor Chairman's Page Board of Directors Nominations Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Member Books Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: On the Edge Storm Stories Our Brilliant, Bloody Future eXtreme Seniors Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - January 2006

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