Military Officer - May 2007 - (Page 34)

washingtonscene Do Your Part to Stop Fee Hikes ■ You can help protect ■ ensuring proper care, support, and a smooth transition from military to VA services for wounded warriors and their families; ■ ensuring the services have enough manpower to meet their mission requirements and ease terrible stresses on active duty, Guard, and Reserve families caused by high deployment rates; ■ rejecting disproportional, budget-driven health care fee increases and putting standards in law for military health care beneﬁts that recognize career military servicemembers’ prepayment of extraordinary, up-front premiums through decades of service and sacriﬁce; ■ correcting Survivor Beneﬁt Plan (SBP) inequities for “greatest generation” retirees and widows of servicemembers who die as a result of service; ■ making more progress in eliminating the disability offset to military retired pay; and ■ continuing progress in restoring full pay comparability for active duty, Guard, and Reserve servicemembers who are paying such a high price in the current conﬂict. Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), the subcommittee’s senior Republican, indicated the subcommittee’s strong sympathy with the concurrent receipt and SBP issues but said it was unlikely that the budget resolution crafted by congressional leaders would provide enough budget headroom to permit full ﬁxes. He asked whether TMC would be willing to consider interim steps to make additional progress. Strobridge responded that TMC had worked with the subcommittee in the past on such efforts and would be willing to do so again as an alternative to making no progress at all. He highlighted the particular inequity facing combat-wounded servicemembers forced into medical retirement before attaining 20 years of service and urged the subcommittee to at least “vest” retired pay for those servicemembers at 2.5 percent of pay multiplied by their years of service. M AY 2 0 0 7 against inordinate increases in TRICARE fees by visiting MOAA’s Web site, http://capwiz.com/ moaa/issues/bills. Scroll down to Health Care Issues and click on H.R. 579 and S. 604 to urge your legislators to cosponsor these key bills. MOAA Director of Government Relations Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF-Ret., testified March 1 at a hearing before the House Military Personnel Subcommittee. Strobridge also indicated the importance of providing assistance to widows suffering deduction of VA survivor beneﬁts from their SBP annuities and highlighted the traumas many suffer as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service demands they repay large amounts of previously paid SBP. Concurrent Receipt News Bills offered, hearings are held. C oncurrent receipt surfaced as the topic du jour in several venues throughout March. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) introduced his “Retired Pay Restoration Act” (H.R. 1436), which would eliminate the phase-in period for retirees deemed “unemployable” by the VA. It also would extend concurrent receipt to otherwise qualiﬁed disabled retirees with disabilities rated less than 50 percent. On March 21, MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., met with Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) to thank him PHOTO: SEAN SHANAHAN 34 MILITARY OFFICER http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - May 2007

Military Officer - May 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: Back Home Capt. David Porter, Pirate Hunter Where Valor Rests Emblems of Courage MOAA Member Services Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index Member Books MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - May 2007

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