Military Officer - June 2008 - (Page 42)

washingtonscene COLA Watch I The March CPI in- creased 0.9 percent since February — and increased a cumulative 2.7 percent for the first half of the fiscal year. Where will the 2009 COLA end up? Based on recent experience, something above 4 percent seems likely. Some airlines, defense contractors, and state governments had sent letters to TRICARE-eligible employees offering special incentives to do that, including paying for TRICARE supplement policies. The new law bars such practices. However, the law doesn’t explicitly address employers who offer only cash payments that employees use to purchase coverage tailored to their needs. Nor does it address employers who offer a ﬂat cash payment to any employee who uses some other coverage, such as federal employee coverage, a spouse’s coverage, or TRICARE. Without clariﬁcation of the law, some employers simply stopped offering TRICARE supplemental policies, arbitrarily excluded military retirees from cafeteria plans, or refused to extend the same cash payments to TRICARE beneﬁciaries that are offered to other employees who use alternative coverage. The new draft regulation clariﬁes that cafeteria plans are not excluded and that cash payments to those who use other coverage are permissible for TRICARE-eligibles as long as equal payments are made to all who use alternative coverage (not just those using TRICARE). The regulation is expected to take effect by mid-summer. MOAA hopes this clariﬁcation will put to rest any reluctance by employers to treat TRICARE-eligibles equitably with respect to other employees. days or more served on active duty. But Congress agreed only to credit service performed after the date of the law change, Jan. 28, 2008. At MOAA’s annual award ceremony, Chambliss vowed a new push to authorize credit for active duty service since Sept. 11, 2001. True to his word, he introduced S. 2836 to do just that. His bill would reduce the reserve retirement age by three months for each 90 days served on active duty contingency orders after Sept. 11, 2001. More than 630,000 National Guard and Reserve men and women have served on active duty during that time, and more than 142,000 have served multiple tours. MOAA strongly agrees that wartime service must be accorded retirement age credit. Earlier, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-N.C.) introduced a similar measure, H.R. 4930. MOAA strongly recommends urging elected representatives to take the next step toward comprehensive reserve retirement reform by including S. 2836 and H.R. 4930 in the FY 2009 defense bill. Vet Bill Clears Senate Includes $220 million for Filipino scouts. Fix Reserve Retirement R New bill would let more retire early. T 42 MILITARY OFFICER JUNE 2008 he FY 2008 Defense Authorization Act contained a provision sponsored by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) that lowers the reserve retirement age by three months for each 90 ecent Senate passage of S. 1315, the Veterans’ Beneﬁts Enhancement Act of 2007, raised a contentious debate reaching back to World War II. At issue was a provision to authorize $220 million to increase VA beneﬁts for Filipino Scouts who reside in the Philippines and served alongside American troops in World War II. The change would treat their service as active U.S. service for VA beneﬁts purposes. Many military and veterans’ groups — including MOAA — objected,

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - June 2008

Military Officer - June 2008 Contents MOAA Online From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire MOAA Member Services Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor MOAA Scholarship Donors Cover Story: Mission to Modernize World War Web Playing to Win Fitness in Numbers Fighting Infection Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - June 2008

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