Military Officer - August 2007 - (Page 34)

washingtonscene Will You Really Support the Toops? ■ Many Americans have “Support Our Troops” bumper stickers, but war-zone leaders say the troops’ real need is for free phone cards to help them keep in contact with their families. Please make a concrete difference for those on the front lines by visiting the Army/Air Force Exchange Service online at https://thor.aafes.com/scs/ default.aspx to donate one or more phone cards. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) emphasized the need for a “balanced perspective” on WRAMC, saying the new legislation in no way negatively reﬂects upon military medical professionals who work so hard to deliver quality care. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), who chairs the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said the legislation is important to provide a “truly seamless transition” for wounded warriors. Members of the committee offered 30 amendments, of which 29 were approved. Among many other changes, the bill would require: ■ development of a comprehensive DoD/ VA policy by January on the care, management, and transition needs of servicemembers with combat-related injuries; ■ enhanced care for medically retired servicemembers and certain caregiver family members for combat-injured personnel in military or VA hospitals; ■ a comprehensive DoD/VA plan for prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, and treatment of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress syndrome, to include cognitive screening before and after deployment; ■ a DoD/VA Interagency Program Ofﬁce to develop and implement a joint electronic medical record; ■ additional recruitment and enhanced hiring authority to address a shortfall of mental health and other health professionals; ■ revision of the military disability evaluation system, to include use of VA standards to make disability determinations, accounting for all medical conditions that render a member unﬁt for duty, review of the services’ recent disability separation determinations, and increased severance pay for certain disability separatees; ■ upgrades for facilities housing military patients; and ■ development of a handbook for wounded warriors containing a comprehensive description of disability/retirement compensation and other beneﬁts. AUGUST 2007 Putting Quality First New health chief de-emphasizes fee hikes. D r. S. Ward Casscells, the new assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, hosted his ﬁrst quarterly meeting with military association leaders June 14 and immediately made a positive impression. Casscells, who joined the Army Reserve at age 53 and served a recent tour in Iraq, reiterated views he expressed earlier in his Senate conﬁrmation hearing that his primary concern is putting beneﬁciaries ﬁrst. “I think we need to focus more on delivering top-quality care and less on copayments,” he told the group. “If we focus on putting quality care ﬁrst, cost savings will be realized as a by-product.” Regarding DoD health costs, he said, “We just can’t compare military health costs to private-sector costs. Military medicine isn’t driven by a proﬁt motive, and we don’t want our specialists to feel like they have to review X number of CAT scans an hour. We want them to take the time they need to do quality reviews.” In light of the recent Walter Reed attention, he said, “The message I want to send to our military doctors and nurses is that they should be patient advocates. They shouldn’t be afraid to make noise concerning conditions they think are inadequate.” Casscells said he’s very interested in partnering with the military associations on issues of common concern, such as promoting use of the mail-order pharmacy system. MOAA is very encouraged by Casscells’ beneﬁciary-ﬁrst focus and his obvious sense of sharing a common bond as a military ofﬁcer and TRICARE beneﬁciary himself. 34 MILITARY OFFICER https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx

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

Military Officer - August 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: No Longer in Reserve A Different Path Weird Science Charge? Pages of History Faces of MOAA Member Books Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2007

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