Military Officer - February 2008 - (Page 34) washingtonscene DFAS and the VA acknowledge they haven’t delivered on the promised payment schedule and have characterized their lack of communication with affected members about the delay as “unacceptable.” As this article was being written, DFAS was planning to send letters to all current retirees with applications under review, as well as to 46,000 more who had their records reviewed and were told they weren’t eligible for retroactive payment. legislation would block the court-directed expansion and use those savings to pay for other upgrades in the bill for U.S. veterans, as well as the Filipino benefits expansion. Craig blocked action on the bill because he opposes funding expanded benefits for Filipino veterans by barring the court-directed expanded benefits. Under Senate rules, any senator may place a hold on a bill to prevent a floor vote. The disagreements on the benefits and the funding source left wounded warriors caught in the middle. S. 1315 contains $633 million in benefit upgrades for Afghanistan and Iraq conflict veterans. But the bill also would provide $332 million for Filipino veterans. Some of its other provisions would: ■ create a new term life insurance program for disabled veterans ($326 million); ■ allow retroactive coverage (to Oct. 7, 2001) of traumatic injury insurance payments to severely disabled veterans ($47 million); ■ upgrade veterans’ mortgage life insurance ($51 million); ■ increase job training benefits ($31 million); ■ improve adaptive housing and automobile equipment benefits for severely wounded warriors ($22 million); ■ increase Supplemental Disabled Veterans Insurance ($26 million); and ■ authorize COLAs for surviving spouse dependent benefits ($9 million). Something is wrong when wounded warriors and other veterans are held hostage to such squabbles. MOAA recognizes and honors the service of Filipino veterans, but there are legitimate concerns about relative priority accorded to funding U.S. versus Filipino benefits. This impasse could be resolved by removing the Filipino benefits provisions from S. 1315 and taking them up separately. In particular, Senate leaders ought to be able to find a way to lift the hold on the TBI bill so the VA can upgrade assistance to wounded members suffering the “signature injury” of the current war. VA Legislation Held Hostage Senator’s “hold” prevents further action T wo bills to improve VA care for wounded warriors ended up getting shelved for 2007 because of holds placed on them by former Ranking Member Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC). S. 1233, an omnibus veterans’ health measure, would direct the VA to develop individualized plans for the treatment and rehabilitation of veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI), among many other provisions. S. 1315, the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act, would authorize additional wounded warrior benefits, including a new term life insurance program for disabled veterans. The sticking point was that the bill also would increase disability benefits for Filipino World War II veterans, including non-citizens living outside the U.S., funding the increase at least in part by barring recent court-directed expansion of VA compensation to certain additional categories of disabled American veterans. SVAC Chair Sen. Daniel Akaka (DHawaii) said Congress never intended the expansion directed by the court. His 34 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2008
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