Military Officer - September 2007 - (Page 40)

washingtonscene Late Action on Medicare ■ On Aug. 1, the House of Representatives approved legislation (H.R. 3162) that, among other things, would eliminate the planned 10-percent Medicare/TRICARE payment cuts for 2008 and 2009 and substitute small increases. Senate legislation did not include these provisions, so a final resolution is yet to come. Medicare pays doctors approximately the same amount it did in 2001. Medicare and TRICARE already are among the lowest-paying insurance plans in the country. As physician reimbursement rates lag behind actual practice costs, more physicians are less likely to take on new Medicare and TRICARE beneﬁciaries. According to a recent American Medical Association (AMA) survey, more than 60 percent of doctors say they will be forced to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat when the cut goes into effect. The situation could be even worse for TRICARE beneﬁciaries. They make up a much smaller percentage of the average provider’s patient base, and TRICARE has some unique administrative hassles that Medicare doesn’t. This will make providers less willing to see TRICARE patients in the face of even lower payments. For the past few years, MOAA has worked successfully with the AMA to avoid the proposed cuts and will continue that partnership this year. As this column went to press, inﬂuential legislators already had tipped their hands that they don’t intend to let the 9.9percent cut take effect. But the cost of a ﬁx poses a signiﬁcant budget challenge. At press time, no speciﬁc bills had been introduced to stop the cut, but MOAA expects that’s soon to change. Commission Omission Panel supports most of MOAA’s recommendations. T 40 MILITARY OFFICER he Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission met in late July in Washington, D.C., to tentatively decide on two highly debated topics: survivor beneﬁts and concurrent receipt. The commission expressed strong support for widows and widowers by endorsing an end to deduction of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation from Survivor Beneﬁt Plan (SBP) annuities — a position MOAA has pushed for years. Yet when the discussion turned to concurrent receipt, the commission was deadlocked over extending concurrent receipt to disabled servicemembers who had their careers cut short before reaching 20 years of service. The commission validated years of MOAA and The Military Coalition’s efforts by recommending an end to the deduction of VA disability compensation from military retired pay, at least for servicemembers with more than 20 years of service. Speciﬁcally, the commission proposed expanding eligibility for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) to retirees with 10-percent to 40-percent disability ratings and implementing full, immediate payment by putting an end to the ongoing 10-year phase-in period. But MOAA was disappointed that the commission was deadlocked — by a 6-to-6 vote — on extending concurrent receipt rules to servicemembers forced into medical — chapter 61 — retirement before attaining 20 years of service. Commissioners Maj. Gen. William Matz, USA-Ret., and Butch Joeckel, USMC-Ret., voiced strong support for inclusion of chapter 61 retirees, telling other commissioners that failure to support this ﬁx will give the impression that the commission has disregarded the cause of wounded servicemembers at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Md.; Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; and other military hospitals who face premature medical retirement. Both urged the commission to reconsider the exclusion of chapter 61 retirees who were denied any choice about serving a full career. MOAA couldn’t agree more. One would have hoped the dissenting commissioners would have paid more SEPTEMBER 2007

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

Military Officer - September 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Plan for Your Future At Home in a High-Rise Lone Star Living Common Ground Insert: Community Source Cover Story: Waging War on Disease More Than Beaches MOAA Scholarship Donors Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - September 2007

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