FY2010 Defense Authorization Act...Some Good News, Some Bad

As a graduate of the United States Military Academy, my husband received an email today spelling out the Military Officers Association of America's (MOAA) analysis of the newly released FY2010 Defense Authorization Act.

First the good news. Among other provisions, the legislation will:

•  Authorize a 3.4% pay raise for active duty, Guard and Reserve members (vs. the budgeted 2.9%)

• Bar the Pentagon from implementing any TRICARE inpatient care copay increases for FY2010

• Authorize an extra 30,000 troops for the Army (15,000 above the budget request), and an additional 30,000 in FY2011 and FY2012, provided the Pentagon budgets for the increase

• Authorize premium-based TRICARE coverage for "gray area" reserve retirees who haven't yet attained age 60

• Authorize special compensation on behalf of caregivers of severely wounded warriors while on active duty (tracks with VA "aid and attendance" payments for vets who need caregivers)

• Require retention of wounded Guard/Reserve members on active duty through completion of disability determination process, unless they request earlier release

• Require a medical examination before administrative separation of members affected by traumatic brain injury or PTSD

• Mandate a long list of initiatives to protect absentee voting rights for military members and families

• Extend family medical leave rights to employees who are family members of deploying active duty members

• Expand the window of active-duty TRICARE eligibility for activating Guard/Reserve members/families

• Require a variety of measures to expand beneficiary access to mental health providers

• Authorize $49 million to assist school districts with significant populations of military children

• Authorize active-duty-level dental coverage for children of members who die on active duty

• Establish formal requirements for needs assessment and delivery of assistance to military families with children with special needs

• Authorize a pilot program to create federal internships for military spouses

• Express the sense of Congress that DoD should authorize Flexible Spending Accounts to let currently serving military members set aside pre-tax dollars to cover out-of-pocket medical and dependent care expenses

• Require a DoD plan to improve access of beneficiaries to health care providers

• Establish a new DoD Task Force to assess progress on care, management and transition of recovering wounded, ill and injured service members

Unfortunately, the new legislation also produced some significant disappointments in that it:

• Dropped the House plan to phase out the disability offset to retired pay for medically retired (chapter 61) members. This is a particularly devastating setback because, for the first time, the President's budget had included this measure, and House leaders had found funding for the first year. Some in the Senate objected to the specific funding sources identified by the House, and leaders could not find other offsets to comply with Senate budget-scoring rules

• Dropped the Senate initiative to repeal the deduction of VA survivor benefits from military SBP annuities, again for lack of funding offsets

• Reduced the Senate-approved Army manpower level by 15,000 for FY2010 (though it did provide extra increases in 2011-12). MOAA had urgently supported the extra increase for FY2010 to provide much needed relief for Army families affected by grievous over-deployment of a too-small force

• Dropped a Senate-approved provision to authorize retroactive Reserve retirement age credit for active duty service since Sept. 11, 2001 (current law credits only service since Jan. 28, 2008), again for lack of funding offsets

• Dropped a House-passed provision to authorize shipment of a second personal vehicle for members on PCS orders to Hawaii, Alaska, or US territories

• Authorizes daily proration of combat and hazard pays (under current law, any part of a month in a combat zone triggers pay for the month). MOAA believes this is an over-reaction to reports of abuse (e.g., scheduling two-day in-theater trips starting the last day of the month) that would have been better addressed by a requirement to spend more than 30 days in theater to receive more than one month's pay credit

• Dropped a Senate-passed provision that would have allowed military spouses to choose to establish the same domicile as their service member for voting and tax purposes

• Dropped a Senate-passed provision expressing the sense of Congress that military retirement and health benefits are the primary offset to the extraordinary demands and sacrifices inherent in a military career, that career members deserve a health benefit commensurate with their sacrifices, and that DoD needs to look at other ways to reduce health care spending than shifting more costs to beneficiaries."

Jim and I are covered by Medicare and Tricare for Life.  Both of these programs are government run.  We receive excellent care from the doctors of our choice and are grateful to have such great coverage.