This is TROA's legislative update for Friday, March 3, 2000.
This week's issues:
Coalition Testifies on Health Care
GI Bill Upgrade Sought
Class Act Group to Have Its Day in Court
Coalition Testifies on Health Care
On March 2, The Military Coalition (TMC) got to put its oar
in the water at a health care hearing before the Senate Armed
Services Committee's Subcommittee on Personnel.
TROA and the other 29 associations of TMC were ably
represented by Ms. Sue Schwartz, Associate Director for
Government Relations for the National Military Family
Association and CDR Mike Lord, USN (Ret), Executive Director
of the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public
Health Service. Lord also co-chairs TMC's Health Care
Committee.
The TMC testimony addressed the need for a range of
substantial and immediate improvements in DoD's TRICARE
programs and particularly the building frustration of
Medicare-eligibles who find themselves locked out of
uniformed services health coverage. The thrust of the
testimony was that the current proposal before the Committee
(S. 2087) inadequately addresses the coverage retirees need
and have earned, as articulated in Sen. McCain's (R-AZ) S.
2013 and Sen. Johnson's (D-SD) S. 2003.
"We urge the leadership of this Congress," said CDR Lord,
"before giving the American people "their money" through a
generous tax cut, to withhold the funds to pay the debt that
every American citizen legitimately owes -- the cost of
comprehensive health care for retired servicemembers. These
retired American patriots don't have time to wait out the
results of lengthy demonstration programs. They are dying at
a rate in excess of 100 per day. They need to have that debt
paid back now."
By scheduling the four representatives of the Coalition and
the National Military Veterans Alliance on the first panel of
witnesses, the Subcommittee ensured the associations'
concerns would be heard by the DoD and Service witnesses who
followed. These included the Under Secretary of Defense for
Personnel and Readiness, the Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Health Affairs, and the Service Vice Chiefs of Staff and
Surgeons General.
Armed Services Committee Chairman Senator Warner (R-VA)
emphasized that medical care is the Committee's top priority,
and stressed that S. 2087 was a "marker" bill that had been
introduced primarily to solicit comment. He indicated the
Committee would be willing to modify and expand S. 2087 to
better meet the concerns of older retirees if the Senate can
identify the necessary funding.
It was all too clear from DoD witness statements during the
hearing that DoD remains unwilling to go beyond the current
demonstration programs to address the health care needs of
older retirees. The only commitment the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs was willing to make was to
expand the FEHBP-65 test to two more sites this year.
Continued Administration foot-dragging on this top-priority
issue only reinforces what we have been saying for some time:
we must look to Congress, not DoD, to take the leadership
role in fulfilling the lifetime health care promise.
GI Bill Upgrade Sought
TROA's COL Bob Norton, USA (Ret), was among the speakers at a
Wednesday press conference in front of the Capitol in support
of a proposal that would significantly improve Montgomery GI
Bill (MGIB) benefits.
The proposal would peg the monthly stipend to the average
annual cost of a 4-year public college or university. At
present, the MGIB stipend is a static $536 per month for 36
months of education / training. The total benefit today
(about $19,000) covers only about two years of the cost for a
commuter student at a 4-year public college, according to the
College Board. Under the new formula, the stipend would
increase initially to $975 per month (for a total benefit of
about $36K) and would be adjusted automatically each year,
based on the College Board's index of college costs.
Rep. Jack Quinn (R-NY), Chairman of the Benefits Subcommittee
of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, emceed the event.
Quinn was joined by Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob
Stump (R-AZ), Ranking Minority Member Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL),
and several other key Committee proponents of this initiative.
Despite the broad show of support, most in Congress remain
skeptical whether the House and Senate Veterans Affairs
Committees will be able to find the funding for this
aggressive plan, and expect that whatever proposal is approved
will likely be considerably more modest.
For TROA and The Military Coalition, the top funding priority
must remain health care, but it is also clear that a
significant GI Bill upgrade is long overdue. Historically,
the MGIB has been one of the Services' top recruiting
incentives, and escaping the current recruiting and retention
doldrums will require restoring the education value of the GI
Bill, in addition to making good on government health care
promises.
Class Act Group to Have Its Day in Court
Col. George (Bud) Day, of the Florida Class Act Group, has a
scheduled appearance before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit in Washington, DC on March 7. This is an
appeal of the Class Act health care lawsuit against the
government.
Retirees in the Washington area are encouraged to attend the
hearing in a show of support. The Court's address is 717
Madison Place NW. Three cases are on the docket, scheduled
for a 10:00 AM start. This will be the third case heard, but
those attendees should plan to arrive early to get a seat.
The court house opens at 9:00 AM.
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