January 2010

Senate Veteran Affairs Committee Approves VA Nominee

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously approved the nomination of Dr. Robert A. Petzel to be Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs.  This action was completed by the Committee within 30 days of receipt. 

NCOA applauds the swift action to confirm this nominee.

Dr. Petzel is no stranger to Veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  His background includes service within the Veterans health Administration as VA’s Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, service as VA Network #23 Director based in Minneapolis, MN and as Chief of Staff of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. 

DOD Tricare Program: TRICARE beneficiaries can now receive select vaccines with no out-of-pocket expense at retail pharmacies.

For the first time ever, beneficiaries can visit TRICARE retail network pharmacies to receive seasonal flu, H1N1 flu and pneumonia vaccines at no cost. This expanded coverage is available to all TRICARE beneficiaries eligible to use the TRICARE retail pharmacy benefit.

News Release at: http://www.tricare.mil/pressroom/news.aspx?fid=581

FINALLY, A new program will offer “gray area” Reservists the opportunity to purchase Tricare Health Care Coverage.  While qualified members of the Selected Reserve may purchase premium coverage under Tricare Reserve Select, retired National Guard and Reserve personnel did not have any Tricare health options until they reached aged 60.  That is now in the process of change under a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010.  The new provision will allow certain members of the Retired Reserve who are not yet age 60 and known in the system as “gray area” retirees to purchase Tricare Standard and Tricare Extra coverage.  The “Extra” means that beneficiaries will have lower out of pocket costs if they use a network provider.

This new health benefit is tentatively being called Tricare Retired Reserve.  The new statute requires premium rates to equal the full cost of coverage for premiums, copayment rates, and catastrophic cap requirements.

Expect rates to be published in the Federal Register after program implementation procedures, development, and testing is conducted.  The expectation provided by Rear ADM Christine Hunter, deputy director of the Tricare Management Agency, is that qualified retired reservists should be able to purchase coverage by late summer or early fall.

Dental Premiums Announced for Tricare Reserve Select (TRS) Participants:

DOD has established the following premium rates for 2010:           

TRS Member only premium - $49.62 a month (an increase of $2.11 over 2009)

TRS family premium - $197.65 per month (an increase of $17.48)

     NO COLA INCREASE FOR 2010 

CBO RECOMMENDS LAWMAKERS CONSIDER

BUDGET SAVING CHANGE TO COLA FORMULA 

There will be no federal COLA increases for 2010 for Social Security, military/federal civilian retired pay, Survivor Benefit Program recipient, and VA disability/compensation recipients. 

The projection now is that the year will end with a negative Consumer Price Index (CPI) at the end of September 2009.  The consequences of the negative CPI are:

No COLA Increase for FY2010

A negative FY COLA under current law does not require a corresponding decrease in existing benefits

Start the FY2011 COLA projection under the current law based on the former FY3/08 projection making the future year’s COLA doubtful

OR, CHANGE THE LAW TO A COLA FORMULA TO YIELD A  LOWER COLA:  

The Congressional Budget Office, August 2009 Budget Options, Volume 2, just released to lawmakers provides a budget recommendation that the Index CPI-W be changed to a chained CPI-U an alternate measure of inflation developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  A CBO Recommendation #600-3 entitled “Base Cost of Living Adjustments for Federal and Military Pensions and Veterans Benefits on an Alternative Measure of Inflation.”   That change would represent a government cost savings option based on the projection that CPI-U is likely to grow 0.3 percentage points more slowly over the next 10 years.  Under this option, annual COLAs would equal the chained CPI-U for Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuitants, military retirees, and veterans.  Comparable changes would be made for FERS annuitants and military retirees who chose the $30,000 bonus under the new system would also receive a reduced COLA under the chained CPI-U.

FROM THE CURRENT CBO REPORT:  “Those changes would decrease mandatory outlays by $3.2 Billion between 2010 and 2014 and by $22.6 Billion through 2019.  CBO projects that savings would not be realized until 2013 because under current law, no COLAs for such programs are expected to be paid from 2010 to 2012”

FROM THE CURRENT CBO REPORT: “On average, a CSRS annuitant would receive about $3,000 less over 10 years than under current law; a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuitant would receive about $2,200 less. The average military retiree would receive roughly $3,500 less over 10 years relative to current law, veterans' disability compensation would be about $1,800 less, and veterans’ pensions  would be about $1,740 less."

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VA’s Suicide Prevention Program Adds an Online Chat Service

The Suicide Prevention campaign of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expanded its outreach to all veterans by piloting an online, one-to-one “chat service” for Veterans who prefer reaching out for assistance using the Internet.  Called “Veterans Chat,” the new service enables veterans, their families, and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained VA counselor.  If a “chatter” is determined to be in a crisis, the counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the person to the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.

“This online feature is intended to reach out to all veterans who may or may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline,” said Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s Acting Under Secretary for Health. “It is meant to provide veterans with an anonymous way to access VA’s suicide prevention services.”

Veterans, family members, or friends can access Veterans Chat through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans/Default.aspx.   There is a veterans tab on the left-hand side of the website that will take them directly to veteran resource information.  On this page, they can see the Hotline number (1-800-273-TALK, Veterans Press 1), and click on the box for Veterans Chat  located on the right side of the page. Veterans retain anonymity by entering whatever names they choose once they enter the one-on-one chat.  They are then joined by a counselor who is trained to provide information and respond to the requests and concerns of the caller. If the counselor decides the caller is in a crisis, the counselor will encourage the veteran to call the Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline, where a trained suicide prevention counselor will determine whether crisis intervention techniques are required.

VA Awards and Grants

Alabama              Contract $11 Million – Develop the next phase of the Alabama National Cemetery, 15 miles south of Birmingham, which opened for burials in June 2009.  New phase to include 4,000 preplaced burial crypts and 2,700 columbaria niches.  Infrastructure construction will include an administration and public information building, two committal service shelters, a public assembly area, a maintenance complex, utilities, and an irrigation system.

Delaware             Award $1.8 Million to Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Sussex.  The project will include 400 standard burial plots, 1,140 preplaced crypts, 200 in-ground cremains, and 1,280 columbarium niches.

Missouri               Award $898,000 to design a gravesite expansion project at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.  The design project will develop approximately 13 acres and includes approximately 10,000 preplaced crypts and 4,500 columbarium niches for cremated remains.  The project also includes an access road, irrigation system, landscaping, fencing, site utilities, and site furnishings.

Virginia                Award $7.2 Million to establish a Virginia State Veterans Cemetery near Dublin, Virginia.  The project will provide a 24 acre site scheduled to open in late 2010 providing 5,000 burial spaces when developed.

Washington         Award $8.8 Million to establish a Washington State Veterans Cemetery on an 80 acre site in Medical Lake, Washington. The location will serve approximately 90,000 Washington veterans and their families.  The first phase of the project will develop approximately 15 to 20 acres.

Wisconsin            Grant $526,000 – Upgrade the Wisconsin State Veteran Home at King’s facility water system.

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