Military Officer - November 2006 - (Page 32)

washingtonscene ate concurrent receipt to disabled retirees designated “unemployable” by the VA; ■ dropping a Senate-recommended provision to reduce the Reserve retirement age by three months for every 90 days mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001; and ■ dropping a plan to require additional incentive payments for doctors to take TRICARE patients in areas that have physician shortages. Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) Saving Troops From Sharks Legislators take a stand against unethical payday lenders. MOAA put out a special legislative alert asking members to call and e-mail their legislators in support of the Pentagon report. “There’s a clear-cut bottom line here,” it said. “Congress must decide between supporting the troops or supporting the payday lenders who are leeching off them and hurting military families and military readiness. There’s no half way.” MOAA is grateful to Talent, Nelson, Graves, and Dole for their tenacious work to protect servicemembers from these unscrupulous lenders. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) F Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) 32 MILITARY OFFICER Y 2007 Defense Authorization Bill conferees agreed to prevent so-called “payday lenders” from loaning military members money against future paychecks at 390-percent interest or more. The bipartisan initiative by Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Sen. Bill Nelson (DFla.), based on Rep. Sam Graves’ (R-Mo.) Predatory Lending Bill (H.R. 97), establishes a 36-percent interest-rate cap for servicemembers. Conferees rejected a compromise by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) that would have stripped out the rate cap and allowed loopholes that payday lenders could have driven a truck through. MOAA and others pulled out the stops to support the Talent-Nelson initiative and defeat the Davis substitute. Dr. David Chu, undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, told a Senate hearing of DoD’s special report on predatory lending, which stressed the need for the 36-percent federal rate cap. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), who pushed for a 36-percent cap last year only to see it stripped over a technicality, praised the Pentagon report. Disability Commission Hears Options Staff reports frame line-ofduty, beneﬁts issues. V eterans Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC) members heard brieﬁngs from contractors and staff at their September meeting in Washington, D.C. The Institute of Medicine provided briefs about medical evaluations of disabilities, standards for presumptive disability ratings (due to Agent Orange, Gulf War syndrome, etcetera), and compensation evaluations for PTSD. The Center for Naval Analysis outlined a framework for analysis of post-service earnings of disabled versus nondisabled veterans. The commission also received staff presentations on the background of concurrent receipt and options for action, including pros and cons of each. The presentations provoked a lively exchange of views, but commissioners showed no signs of leaning toward any one option. Line-of-duty options included: ■ endorsing the current “in the line of duty” deﬁnition that considers service- NOVEMBER 2006

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

From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: Financial Guidebook Got (the right) Insurance? A Penny Saved, a Degree Earned The “Y” MOAA Scholarship Recipients Pages of History Information Exchange Member Books MOAA Scholarship Donors MOAA Member Services Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - November 2006

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