Military Officer - August 2006 - (Page 28)

washingtonscene Where Key Issues Stand What’s on — and off — the table for 2007? Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) T hanks in part to quick action by thousands of members who e-mailed their senators in response to MOAA’s legislative alerts, we’re in a much-improved position going into the summer defense bill negotiations between House and Senate leaders. In one instance, more than 12,000 members responded within 16 hours to MOAA’s e-mail alert to persuade the Senate to adopt Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (DN.J.) amendment to bar the Pentagon from increasing retail pharmacy copayments in the coming year. With the various proposals in the House or Senate versions of the defense bill, it’s worth taking a step back to assess where we stand on key issues for the coming year. TRICARE fees. Based on House and Senate action to date, it should be safe to say: ■ There won’t be any increases in TRICARE Prime enrollment fees or the TRICARE Standard deductible for FY 2007, because both the House and Senate bills prohibit that. ■ TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy copayments should be reduced to zero for most formulary drugs, because that’s called for in both the House and Senate bills. Other increases may still be in play because of differences in provisions in the House and Senate defense bill, including: ■ Possible increase in retail drug copayments: The Senate would freeze at $3 generic/$9 brand-name; the House would raise to $6/$16. ■ TRICARE Standard enrollment fee: The Senate would require a $25 single/$40 family enrollment fee; the House would leave the current law in place, which doesn’t allow any enrollment fee for Standard. Concurrent receipt. The only issue still left on the table this year is the Senate provision recommending full payment, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005, for disabled retirees designated as “unemployable” by the VA. There’s nothing on this in the House bill. Paid-Up SBP. The Senate defense bill would implement 30-year paid-up Survivor Beneﬁt Plan as of Oct. 1, 2006 (rather than waiting until 2008 under current law). There’s nothing in the House bill on this. SBP/DIC offset. The Senate defense bill would end the deduction of the VA’s Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from SBP when the member’s death was caused by service. Again, there’s no provision in the House bill. Guard/Reserve TRICARE coverage. The House bill would provide all servicemembers and families of the Selected Reserve the same option for TRICARE coverage, get rid of the higher premium requirements for servicemembers who haven’t been mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001, and bar any further premium increase for 2007. The Senate bill would make only a minor tweak to the current three-level premium system, which MOAA thinks is too expensive for members who haven’t been mobilized. It would cap the 2007 premium increase at 2.2 percent — the same percentage as the Senate-recommended military pay raise. Guard/Reserve retirement age. The Senate plan would reduce the retirement age by three months for each 90 days mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001. There’s nothing in the House bill on this issue. Guard/Reserve GI bill. The Senate bill would authorize post-service use of educational beneﬁts earned on active duty, but the House version would not. MOAA and The Military Coalition will address these issues with House and Senate conferees who will be negotiating the ﬁnal defense bill. [CONTINUES ON PAGE 30] 28 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2006

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2006

Military Officer - August 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapter Activities Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Changing of the Guard Four-Star Rating Long Term Care Kryptogram Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2006

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