MOAA LEGISLATIVE UPDATES |
11 July 2003
Issue 1: Rumsfeld Raises Veto Threat. The Secretary of Defense told Congress this week that he'll fight any effort to enact concurrent receipt or extend health coverage options to the Guard and Reserve. The Secretary of Defense sent another emphatic message this week that he opposes spending any more money on health care or disabled retirees. His July 8 "heartburn letter" to House and Senate Armed
Services Committee leaders said he would "join other senior advisors
to the President in recommending that he veto the FY2004 Defense
Authorization Bill if it includes Senate-passed provisions authorizing
concurrent receipt of military retirement pay and veterans' disability
compensation benefits, or expands TRICARE." It said he'd also
recommend a veto if the defense bill includes any change that would hamper
a new round of base closures in 2005. Issue 2: Discharge Petition Update The signature total for Rep. Jim Marshall's (D-GA) concurrent receipt discharge petition remains at 201, but that doesn't mean the issue is going away-quite the opposite. Legislators are being deluged by messages in support of the petition. Those co-sponsors of H.R. 303 who have not signed on are finding it harder and harder to explain their paradoxical behavior to their constituents. Many who haven't yet signed are putting pressure on the House leadership to work out a substantive concurrent receipt deal. Now is no time to let up. You can use MOAA's Web site to send a
prepared message to your representative, asking for his or her support: http://capwiz.com/moaa/home/.
Alternatively, you can use MOAA's toll-free Capitol Hill Hotline
(1-877-762-8762). On Tuesday, 8 July, the House passed the FY 2004 Defense Appropriations
bill by a wide margin. The Senate is expected to take up the measure next
week, after which a conference committee will have to resolve the
difference between the two versions. Issue 1: Senate Passes Defense Appropriations Bill No funding for Reserve health care, but hope for action next year. The CPI has turned in six positive months and three |
negative months so far this year, so it's very difficult to
predict the final cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) with any degree of
certainty. Our best guess at present: somewhere in the range of 2 percent. 25 July 2003 Issue 1: Concurrent Receipt Still Percolating. The fact that Congress has not yet acted on concurrent receipt does not mean nothing is happening. In fact, legislators are feeling the heat more than ever, and now is the time to redouble our efforts. We're getting indications that several Republicans have said that if
their leadership doesn't take positive action by September, they'll sign
the discharge petition. So, even if you get a negative or noncommittal
response, don't let up-keep reminding your legislators that you expect
substantive action this year, and elected officials need to back up their
words with action. Issue 2: VA to Fill Outside Prescriptions. The VA Secretary announced this week that certain veterans enrolled in VA care but stuck on long waiting lists will be allowed to have their private physician prescriptions filled by the VA beginning in September. For the first time in its 130-plus year history, the VA will begin to fill drug prescriptions for certain veterans on its waiting lists, beginning in September. Until now, veterans accepted for enrollment in the huge VA health care system could only fill drug prescriptions written by VA physicians. With the VA Secretary's announcement on Thursday, certain veterans will be able to get their outside or private physician prescriptions filled by a VA pharmacy. No VA appointment will be needed, but the VA emphasized that it urges these veterans to follow up with a scheduled appointment. To be eligible for the new benefit, veterans must meet all of the following conditions: * Have enrolled in VA health care by July 25, 2003; * Requested their first primary care appointment with VA by July 25, 2003; and * Must be waiting more than 30 days for their first appointment with a primary care physician as of Sept. 22, 2003. The first prescriptions will be filled under the new program on September 22. Eligible veterans will be unable to get prescriptions filled before that date. The period between announcement of the program (July 25) and filling the first prescriptions (Sept. 22) is necessary to allow VA to identify and contact eligible veterans and to put new systems and procedures in place to deliver this benefit. |
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