Military Officer - February 2006 - (Page 31) washingtonscene SBP Fixes Nixed House and Senate leaders drop SBP upgrades, allow modest progress in Defense bill on reserve health care and concurrent receipt for unemployables. 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 C ongress finally finished the campaigns. MOAA plans to carry the fight on these issues again this year. FY 2006 Defense AuthorizaWe made some modest gains on other tion Act just before Christmas key issues but fell well short of what we’d but ended up leaving a lump of hoped for: coal for thousands of military widows and “greatest generation” retirees. ■ Concurrent receipt: Congress agreed House leaders refused to go along with ei- to accelerate the timetable (from Oct. 1, ther of the Survivor Benefit 2013, to Oct. 1, 2009) for Plan (SBP) fixes that Sen. eliminating the disability Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) had peroffset for disabled retirees It’s worth suaded the Senate to pass, “unemployable” remember- designatedbut rejected Sen. primarily for cost reasons by the VA, ing that (combined, the programs Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) Senmost of ate-passed plan to enact it would cost about $9 billion over Congress’ 10-year immediately. our major ■ Reserve health care: Con“scoring” period). victories gress agreed to make nearly So 50,000 widows of have reall drilling Guard and Remembers who died of serquired serve members eligible for vice-related causes will military TRICARE covercontinue to have VA surmultiyear vivor payments deducted campaigns. age, but the price will be from their SBP checks if steep for those who haven’t been mobilized since Sept. the member’s death was 11. Unmobilized members deemed service-connected. who don’t have access to health care And 250,000 greatest generation rethrough a civilian employer will have to tirees who already have paid more than pay almost twice the monthly premiums 30 years of SBP premiums will have to wait at least another year to win the same paid by those who have been mobilized paid-up SBP coverage that post-1978 retir— about $145 versus $81 for single and ees enjoy. $452 versus $253 for family coverage, It’s a bitter pill to swallow after this respectively. TRICARE premiums for year’s strenuous efforts on these widows’ unmobilized members with access to and retirees’ behalf. It’s cold comfort that employer-sponsored coverage will be set we came closer than ever before — but even higher, at $246 a month and $768 it’s worth remembering that most of our a month for single and family coverage. major victories have required multiyear MOAA thinks these high fees undercut the FEBRUARY 2006 BENEFITS UNDER ATTACK ■ DoD is proposing to hike retiree health care enrollment fees, deductibles, and certain other copayments by more than $1,200 a year, with annual increases in the future. Please sign, stamp, and mail the four tear-out letters at pages 34 and 50 to tell Armed Services committee leaders to oppose this unfair change. MILITARY OFFICER 31
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