Military Officer - April 2008 - (Page 38) washingtonscene COLA WATCH I The CPI (which de- termines annual COLAs for military retired pay and other federal annuities) for January 2008 jumped 0.5 percent more than the December 2007 value. That puts cumulative inflation at 1.5 percent since the beginning of the fiscal year. get thorough scrutiny and will be very surprised if Congress proves receptive to such a dramatic overhaul of this key compensation element. Widows Win One Judge will not dismiss SBP lawsuit. T he U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled in favor of three Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuitants who are suing the federal government (Sharp v. U.S.) to restore their full SBP annuities and avoid any deduction of the VA’s Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) annuity. At issue in the lawsuit is a change in 2004 law (PL 108-183) that restored DIC payments to veterans’ surviving spouses who remarry after their 57th birthday. Before the law change, survivors lost DIC regardless of the age they remarried. The plaintiffs in the case contend that if a survivor also is drawing an SBP annuity, the 2004 law should be interpreted as protecting those survivors from any reduction in SBP annuities by the amount they receive in DIC. At a Jan. 30 hearing, DoD lawyers countered the survivors are wrong and asked the judge to dismiss the case. They said a 2004 DoD legal review of the law change in question determined that it didn’t, in fact, repeal the SBP offset provision. So, DoD lawyers contend DoD must continue to deduct DIC payments from SBP annuities. On Feb. 11, Judge George W. Miller denied the Pentagon’s motion to dismiss the suit and decided to let the case proceed. As a practical matter, he went a big step further, systematically refuting every argument in the Pentagon’s motion and making it clear he leans toward agreeing with the survivors. But the battle is far from over. At press time, DoD was considering whether to appeal the judge’s denial of the dismissal request or proceed with the case. No matter the final outcome, it likely will be appealed by whichever side loses in this round. We should note this case addresses only the three survivors pursuing the suit. It’s not a class action case, and it’s not certain whether a favorable decision would affect any other survivors. MOAA commends and strongly supports these determined survivors for their tenacity in seeking equitable relief. We’ll be following this case closely and will keep you posted on any further updates. Preventative Care? Get Serious Drop charges for cost-saving treatments. M edical professionals and health system studies consistently report that a large share of the exploding growth in medical costs goes for treatment of chronic or advanced conditions — diabetes, respiratory diseases, heart attacks, cancer, etcetera. Invariably, the main prescription for action involves extra emphasis on preventative care and early detection. What does that mean? Strict adherence to medication and regular treatment regimens for people with chronic diseases dramatically reduces their longer-term health costs. Blood pressure and cholesterol medications dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack. Stopping smoking reduces the incidence of lung 38 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2008
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