Military Officer - June 2007 - (Page 42)

washingtonscene Spring Thaws a Frozen CPI ■ The March consumer price index (CPI) finally edged inflation into positive territory for the first time in FY 2007, increasing 1.0 percent during February. Overall, inflation has increased only 0.8 percent for the first six months of FY 2007. This might mean a small COLA for 2008. MOAA and other military and higher education associations voiced support for the “total force” Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), outlined in H.R. 1102 and S. 644, introduced by Subcommittee Chair Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), respectively. MOAA’s Col. Bob Norton, USA-Ret., said reserve MGIB beneﬁts haven’t kept pace with new active duty service requirements for reservists. “Are Guard and Reserve servicemembers returning from the war [on terrorism] veterans, or not?” he asked. MOAA says they are and they deserve proportional post-service beneﬁts. Arkansas Adjutant General Maj. Gen. William Wofford, USA, also supported a “total force” MGIB and disagreed with claims that post-service beneﬁt use would hurt National Guard retention. March 27 — House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee (health care): The service surgeons general (SGs) and TRICARE contractors expressed their concerns about budget cuts and converting military billets to civilian positions. The SGs complained that DoD had imposed “efﬁciency wedges” — arbitrary health care budget cuts — totaling $590 million for FY 2008. They said those cuts have nothing to do with efﬁciency and would force the services to start cutting hospitals or medical centers. Snyder said he doesn’t support any reduction in health care services. The SGs also said plans to convert more military billets to civilian positions need to be reversed because the services can’t hire enough qualiﬁed civilians. They also said civilianization undermines morale and retention, because civilian professionals make more money and don’t have to work overtime. That causes additional workload for professionals who are also servicemembers and ends up costing the government more money by pushing patients to more expensive private doctors. JUNE 2007 March 28 — Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care: The contractors who administer TRICARE all expressed concern that low physician reimbursement rates reduce doctors’ interest in seeing TRICARE patients. But they said they’re still able to maintain a strong provider network at most locations. They all agreed on the need to revamp TRICARE Prime’s referral and authorization process and put more focus on wellness initiatives, disease management, and preventive services to reduce costs in the long term. March 28 — Senate Armed Services Committee (conﬁrmation hearing on assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs): MOAA was pleased with the reply of then-nominee for assistant secretary Dr. S. Ward Casscells when Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) questioned him about his views on very inexpensive health care being part of “the contract America makes with these families when they undertake their role in the military.” Casscells, an Army Reserve brigadier general, responded, “I share your concern, sir, that increasing [copayments] and deductibles, particularly at this time, runs the risk of making it harder for us to recruit and retain the very best, because people value enormously the health care given in the military. They are willing to sleep in tents, on cots — they don’t demand the Ritz, but they would like and deserve the very best medical care. And this is true for the families, and their budgets are lean. “And I know that the [copayments] and the deductibles have been ﬂat for 12 or 13 years,” he continued, “and there’s understandable interest in raising them, because the private sector is raising its deductibles to decrease utilization. But sir, there are other efﬁciencies which can be sought.” March 29 — House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs): Defense and service leaders said program enhancements are needed to sustain the all-volunteer force 42 MILITARY OFFICER

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

Military Officer - June 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Getting the Best Care Stand By Me Promise for PTSD Cover Story: Heavy Duty Unified Medical Command Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - June 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.