November 2009 Navy
by CAPT Ike Puzon, USN (Ret)
At this writing, AUSN recently learned that the Pentagon leadership has increased the inpatient fees for TRICARE Standard. We have written letters to the Department of Defense and leadership in Congress expressing our shock and disagreement with these TRICARE Standard copayment increases. Defense leaders explicitly indicated that there would be no increases in TRICARE fees sought for the fiscal year of 2010. The copayment fees were announced on 30 September.
Despite DoD leaders’ assurances earlier this year that they would not seek any TRICARE fee hikes for FY2010, the Pentagon announced the TRICARE Standard inpatient copay for retirees, family members, and survivors under age 65 would be raised $110 per day — from $535 to $645 — as of 1 Oct. The current $535 inpatient copay is already far higher than most civilian plans require.
Congress has not completed work on the FY 2010 Defense Authorization or Defense Appropriation Acts at this time. We are doing all we can, along with our coalition partners to hold Defense leaders to their word and bar the Pentagon from imposing this 21% fee hike.
We ask your help in urging the House and Senate conferees on the FY2010 Defense Authorization Act to include a provision prohibiting the Pentagon from raising retired military inpatient copays by $110 a day, or any other TRICARE program fees.
Pentagon – HAP Applications Processing
The Pentagon finally started processing applications for the expanded Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) – more than seven months after Congress authorized partial reimbursement to certain military homeowners for losses on sales of their primary residence.The Pentagon program provides benefits in the following priority order:
- Wounded service members relocating for treatment or medical retirement
- Survivors of those who have died while on deployment
- Military and DoD civilians affected by the 2005 BRAC round
- Qualifying military permanent change of station (PCS) moves
To qualify in conjunction with a PCS move, active duty members must have purchased their residence before 1 July 2006 and have received orders to relocate between 1 February 2006 and 31 December 2009, with a reporting date on or before 28 February 2010. Losses on private home sales will be reimbursed at 90% of prior fair market value (PFMV—normally the purchase price) for those making PCS moves, while wounded warriors and surviving spouses will be reimbursed at 95% of PFMV.
If the member cannot sell the home and the government has to take it over, the reimbursement rate for PCS moves will be 75% of the PFMV. Wounded warriors/ civilians and surviving spouses who cannot sell under reasonable terms and conditions will still receive 95% of the PFMV. Unfortunately, HAP benefits are taxable under current law, because of an inadvertent error in the February legislation. However, AUSN is strongly supporting House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel’s (D-NY) new Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 that would restore the benefit’s tax-exempt status.We strongly urge you to write your Congressional delegation to cosponsor this important bill.
Defense Authorization (S. 1390 & H.R. 2467) and Defense Appropriations (H.R. 3326)
At present, both the House and Senate have passed their versions of the Authorization Bill, and leaders of both chambers have nearly completed negotiations to resolve the thousands of differences between the Authorization Bills. We expect conference report to be announced soon. The House-passed defense bill would authorize expenditures totaling $680.5 billion, while the Senate version would authorize $679.8 billion. Both measures would authorize a 3.4 percent pay raise for the military. President Obama requested a 2.9 percent increase. The House bill, but not the Senate version, would restrict Obama’s ability to move detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by releasing them into the United States or transferring them to U.S. jails until the President submits a plan to Congress. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee fought to make the transfer provisions more stringent and are likely to raise the issue again in conference. By the time you receive this, we hope the Defense Authorization is completed since the new fiscal year began on 1 October!
The end of the fiscal year puts more pressure on the appropriators, so they often act on a more accelerated schedule, even though they start later. The House passed its version of the Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3326) earlier, and the full Senate is considering their version. Given that it includes much-needed war funding, it’s a better bet that House/Senate negotiations on the Appropriations Bill may get finished within a reasonable time even though they missed the beginning of the new fiscal year – 1 October. With several continuous issues at hand, it is almost impossible to forecast when the Senate will complete their version.
The difference between authorization and appropriation is important to understand. The Defense Authorization Bill (which is the responsibility of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees) includes the law changes needed to authorize troop levels, weapons procurement, new programs, and changes in pay and benefits. The Defense Appropriations Bill (under the purview of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees) provides the funding to pay for the programs specified in the Authorization Bill. Congressional rules normally do not allow putting authorizing provisions in an appropriations bill, to make sure the legislators with the purse strings don’t usurp the Armed Services Committees’ authority.
We ask you often to write your Congressional delegation to influence these bills. At the grassroots level, your constituent inputs have large influence on these bills.
Capitol Hill Reception and Navy Birthday Celebration
On 22 October 2009, AUSN will achieve a first. We will combine a Capitol Hill Reception, presenting awards to welldeserving legislators and staff members, with a first-time celebration on Capitol Hill of the Navy’s birthday as the Association of the United States Navy. At this writing, it appears we will have more than a spectacular turnout of staff members, Pentagon officials, AUSN members, and Friends of the Navy.
Our goal for these types of events is to spotlight those legislators that have been active in supporting the mission of the Navy and the goals of our Association. Additionally, we look forward to socializing and building relationships in support of the Navy’s mission. Join us for these events – when you can. www.ausn.org
A Few Congressional Bills to Watch
H.R. 206 – Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) – To improve readiness of the State defense forces and to increase military coordination for homeland security between the States and the Department of Defense.
H.R. 296 – Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) – Revise the process by which a member of the Armed Forces is retired for disability and become eligible for retirement pay.
H.R. 593 – Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) – Expand the authorized concurrent receipt of disability severance pay from the Department of Defense and compensation for the same disability under any law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs to cover all veterans who have a combat-related disability.
H.R. 707 – Rep. Kathy Costor (D-FL) – Provide monthly vouchers to members of the Armed Forces, serving in overseas operations, hospitalized due to a disease or injury incurred as a result of service in such operations, so that a member may transfer the permit to another person to allow the person to mail, without charge, correspondence and small parcels to the member of the Armed Forces.
H.R. 816 – Rep Chet Edwards (D-TX) – Extends moratorium on all TRICARE fees and prescription copay increases.
H.R. 1182 – Rep. Jon Carter (R-TX) – Amend the Service Member Civil Relief Act to guarantee the equity of spouses and military personnel with regard to matters of residency.
H.R. 1016 – Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) – Provide advance appropriations authority for certain medical care accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
S. 1415 – Sen.Charles Schumer (D-NY) – Amend the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act to ensure that absent uniformed service votes and overseas voters are aware of their voting rights and have a genuine opportunity to register to vote and have their absentee ballots cast and counted. This bill was added as an amendment to the Senate version of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. S. 1390.
Use our CAPWIZ program to show your support and take action for these issues: www.ausn.org. If you fail to let Congressional members know what you think, they will make the decision for you.