Military Officer - November 2008 - (Page 31)

washingtonscene Bill Rush End-of-year ﬁnancial, budget, war, and election concerns force a congressional shortcut on the FY 2009 Defense Authorization Act and drop some “people issues” off the table. L E G I S L AT I V E N E W S T H AT A F F E C T S Y O U A fter abruptly cutting off debate and abandoning more than 350 amendments in the Senate, congressional leaders compressed two months’ worth of negotiations into a few days and rammed the ﬁnal FY 2009 Defense Authorization Act (S. 3001) through in late September. The good news is retiree TRICARE fees will be frozen another year, beneﬁciary costs should drop for certain preventive health care, servicemembers will get a pay raise plus-up in January 2009, and drilling reservists should see a drop in their TRICARE premiums for 2009. The bad news is Congress’ desire for rapid action on the defense bill killed the chance for any further progress on concurrent receipt or reserve retirement age credit for FY 2009 and allowed only a very modest compensation improvement for certain military widows. We’ll be back pushing for broader ﬁxes next year. Here’s a summary of selected provisions included in the ﬁnal defense bill. Active Duty Issues ■ military pay raise: 3.9-percent pay raise payment to servicemember spouses with dependents, if both are assigned remotely. ■ paternity leave: 10 days authorized for new military fathers — plus normal leave. ■ warrant ofﬁcer mandatory retirement: changed to 30 years as a warrant ofﬁcer for Army warrant ofﬁcers (versus 30 years total service). ■ sabbatical program: authorizes 20 ofﬁcers and 20 enlisted servicemembers per service per year to take up to three years off from active duty to pursue personal or professional goals (participants to be paid two days’ basic pay per month and to keep TRICARE eligibility but to receive no retirement credit for sabbatical time and to owe two months’ active duty upon return for every month of sabbatical). Health Care Issues ■ TRICARE fees: bars increases in pharma- COLA WATCH ■ On Sept. 16, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the monthly CPI for August. Amid decreasing energy prices, the CPI fell 0.5 percentage points. If the August trend continues for another month and if inflation drops another half percentage point in September, the 2009 COLA would be around 5.9 percent. effective Jan. 1, 2009. ■ force levels: Army: +7,000; Marine Corps: +5,000; Navy: -2,800; Air Force: -12,500. ■ temporary lodging expense allowance: raises maximum daily amount per family from $180 to $290 for military moves within the continental U.S. ■ family separation allowance: authorizes cy copayments or retiree fees for FY 2009. ■ preventive care: waives TRICARE copayments/deductibles for beneﬁciaries under age 65 for colorectal, prostate, breast, and cervical screening; annual physicals; and vaccinations (those over age 65 will have to be reimbursed for copayments, rather than waived, because of a budget technicality). Also establishes a free smoking-cessation program for all under age 65 (refund copayments for those over age 65), and builds pilot programs to incentivize healthy lifestyles. ■ special needs care: raises the TRICARE payment cap for active duty children with special needs from $2,500 a month to NOVEMBER 2008 MILITARY OFFICER 31

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - November 2008

Military Officer - November 2008 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Financial Guidebook Out of the Red 7 Year-End Tax Strategies Cover Story: Memory Survives Something to Say MOAA Scholarship Recipients Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - November 2008

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