Military Officer - May 2006 - (Page 29)

washingtonscene Speaking at the press conference, MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., offered the two legislators his “profound thanks for your leadership and vision. You know what the Pentagon is forgetting — that the all-volunteer force is at risk. To those who think military people have such a great health care deal, I ask why there aren’t lines around the block at every recruiting station? It’s because few Americans are willing to pay the heavy premiums that career servicemembers pay, and pay up front: the decades of sacriﬁce that are the price of earning that health beneﬁt.” In the Senate, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) was preparing to introduce a similar bill at press time. His bill would prohibit health fees from increasing in any year by a percentage that exceeds the increase in military retired pay. In addition, it would bar any enrollment fee for TRICARE Standard and bar any further increase in retiree inpatient copayments under TRICARE Standard. MOAA strongly supports both bills. ON THE WEB ■ Visit MOAA’s Web site at http://capwiz.com/ moaa/issues/bills/ to urge your legislators to cosponsor H.R. 4949. People Issues Bat .500 Two hits, two strikeouts in budget resolution. T wo key Senate votes that came in mid-March forced more funding for VA health care and Survivor Beneﬁt Plan (SBP) ﬁxes into the Senate version of the FY 2007 Budget Resolution. Two other health care votes didn’t turn out as well. The budget resolution process didn’t start auspiciously as the Senate Budget Committee revealed its version of the FY 2007 Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 83). This is the spending plan that, in theory, sets budgetary limits on congressional action for the coming year. Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) and senior Democrat Carl Levin (D-Mich.) had asked the budget committee for additional “headroom” to ﬁx a variety of inequities, for example by improving SBP and reducing the reserve retirement age for Guard and Reserve members mobilized since Sept. 11. But the budget committee ignored their requests. Several determined senators pressed ﬂoor votes hoping to add key initiatives to the budget resolution, with mixed results. First, the good news: ■ SBP. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) pressed his amendment to restore funding to end the deduction of VA survivor beneﬁts from SBP and implement 30-year paid-up SBP coverage as of Oct. 1. Nelson reminded his Senate colleagues of their overwhelming vote for the measure last year. Asked if he would accept a voice vote, he responded, “I will as long as it passes.” He did, and it did. Way to go, Senator Nelson! ■ VA health fees. Sen. Conrad Burns (RMont.) won Senate approval (by a 100-0 vote) of his amendment to eliminate a proposed $250 enrollment fee and a pharmacy copayment increase for certain nondisabled veterans using the VA health system. That effectively kills the fee again this year, because the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee already nixed it. ■ TRICARE fees. Sen. John Kerry (DMass.) didn’t fare as well with an amendment to restore $735 million to the Defense health budget and eliminate any health fee increases for military retirees. The amendment proposed paying for the change by closing various tax loopholes. It went down on a near party-line vote of M AY 2 0 0 6 What’s a Budget Resolution? ■ It supposedly sets overall spending limits on Congress for the year. But the House and Senate sometimes fail to agree on a budget resolution (it looks doubtful this year) and usually end up spending more than the resolution allows when they do pass one. MILITARY OFFICER 29 http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills

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Military Officer - May 2006 Contents From the Editor President's Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Raising Iraq Dogfight Fun Caring For Our Own Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - May 2006

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