Military Officer - October 2007 - (Page 33)

washingtonscene needs. MOAA strongly believes that choice should be preserved wherever possible. administrative red tape that keeps disabled servicemembers and families from understanding their options and beneﬁts. Proposing a new combat-unique disability process that only applies to a relatively small percentage of disabled servicemembers would make the system more complicated to navigate and create major new inequities. As we try to expedite action on the valuable recommendations of these important commissions, it’s essential to make sure we listen to what they’re actually saying. Combat-Related Complication New disability plan is unworkable. Is the 2008 COLA Going Flat? ■ The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.1 percent in July, dropping cumulative inflation to 2.3 percent for the first 10 months of FY 2007. The last July CPI drops were in 2001 and 2004. In both years, inflation rose only modestly in August and September. If that holds true, expect a 2008 COLA in the range of 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent. O ur sources tell us the Bush administration has directed DoD to move out quickly and develop a legislative proposal to change the military disability retirement system — but only for people who are disabled by combat-related wounds, citing recommendations by the Dole-Shalala Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. MOAA agrees rapid action is needed, but this idea would violate the spirit of the commission’s recommendations. Dole-Shalala commission members and staff have told us they never intended to propose a unique retirement system for combat-disabled servicemembers (see column at right). They limited their study to combat-disabled servicemembers because that’s the only group their charter covered. But they’ll tell anyone who asks that they think the same retirement and compensation rules should apply to all service-connected disabled servicemembers, not just those wounded in combat. That view is echoed strongly by the Veterans’ Disability Beneﬁts Commission, a separate group that’s been studying the military and VA disability systems for two years and is due to report to Congress this fall (see article, page 29). It recognizes that, if military service caused a disability, the impact on the servicemember is the same, whether it was caused by a bullet, a building ﬁre, or a military vehicle accident. One purpose of the Dole-Shalala commission was to ﬁnd ways to cut through the Wounded Warrior Report Released MOAA supports most recommendations. P resident George W. Bush’s Wounded Warrior Commission, chaired by former Sen. Bob Dole and the former Health and Human Services secretary to President Clinton, Donna Shalala, released its ﬁndings and recommendations in late July. The commission was established to ﬁnd ways to improve care and services for wounded troops following reports of problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington, D.C. The commission made six major recommendations: ■ create a patient-centered recovery plan for every seriously injured servicemember; ■ establish a single disability rating system, with DoD and the services determining ﬁtness for continued service and the VA assigning disability ratings for those determined unﬁt for duty; ■ aggressively prevent and treat PTSD and traumatic brain injury; ■ signiﬁcantly strengthen support for families of the wounded; ■ rapidly transfer patient information OCTOBER 2007 MILITARY OFFICER 33

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

Military Officer - October 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: A Hero's Welcome? Partners in Patriotism Tales from Beyond the Battlefield Financial Results of MOAA Pages of History Information Exchange Faces of MOAA Member Books MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - October 2007

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