Military Officer - June 2008 - (Page 43)

washingtonscene arguing that U.S. veterans and survivors who suffer signiﬁcant inequities should have greater priority than foreign nationals residing outside the country, however meritorious their actions in World War II. Among other provisions, S. 1315 would: I provide retroactive traumatic brain injury coverage under Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) for qualifying injuries incurred between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2005; I authorize SGLI coverage for servicemembers of the Individual Ready Reserve; and I allow troops called to active duty for no less than 90 days to cancel or suspend their cell phone contracts without incurring early termination or reactivation fees. Cmdr. René Campos, USN-Ret., deputy director for Government Relations, presented MOAA’s views at an April 3 hearing before the House and Senate VA committees. gress accountable. “We possess the ability to pay for these programs and deliver on our promises,” said Walz. “To do anything less is a slap in the face to veterans.” House Hears VA Goals DoD to Remove SSAN from ID cards I DoD announced in early April that it plans to remove Social Security Account numbers (SSANs) from military ID cards by the end of 2010. The cards will display only the last four digits of your SSAN. GI Bill, claims processing get support. C mdr. René Campos, USN-Ret., MOAA deputy director for Government Relations, testiﬁed on April 3 before the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs committees concerning a variety of VA beneﬁt upgrades. House Committee Chair Bob Filner (DCalif.) was impressed with the witnesses’ unanimity on health care funding, GI bill upgrades, disability claims processing, and care and support for veterans and their families. “Veterans should not have to beg for beneﬁts,” said Filner. MOAA was pleased that the committees showed interest in the needs of family members as well as the veterans themselves. Campos stressed the need for mental health care and assistance to families of wounded warriors. Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), a 24-year Army National Guard veteran, said he expects veterans’ organizations to hold Con- Retro Payment Progress 179,000 paid; 23,000 to go. I n October 2006, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) and the VA initiated the process of providing retroactive compensation for more than 133,000 disabled recipients of either combat-related special compensation (CRSC) or concurrent retired disability payment (CRDP) and VA compensation. Since then, the VA has identiﬁed more than 85,000 additional retirees as potentially eligible for retroactive payment. As of April 20, DFAS reported that nearly 179,000 accounts have been processed, with approximately 39,000 remaining. Of those, more than 16,000 are new cases. But about 23,000 of the most complicated cases from the originally identiﬁed group still are being worked on. JUNE 2008 PHOTO: SEAN SHANAHAN MILITARY OFFICER 43

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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