FRA's 2010 Legislative Agenda
FRA will fight to
preserve and enhance benefits and quality-of-life programs for active,
Reserve, retired, and veterans of the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard and
their families and survivors. FRA’s legislative agenda for
2010 is listed below.
Expand Health Care Options
Oppose
Excessive TRICARE Enrollment Fee Increases - FRA believes that the Defense Department
has not sufficiently investigated other options to make TRICARE more
cost-efficient as alternatives to shifting costs
to TRICARE beneficiaries.
Support Adequate Funding for Defense Health
Program - Continue working with
Congress and DoD to ensure adequate funding for the Defense Health
Program in order to meet readiness needs, fully fund TRICARE, and
improve access for all beneficiaries regardless of age, status or
location.
Ensure Health Care Access for Reservists and Family
Members – Support equitable premiums for Reservists
participating in TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS) and enhance awareness of
this benefit.
DOD/VA Health Care Resource Sharing –
Support adequate funding for Department of Defense (DoD) and Department
of Veterans Affairs (DVA) health care resource sharing in delivering
seamless, cost effective, quality services to personnel wounded while
participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom,
other veterans, service members, Reservists, military retirees and their
families.
Expand Health Care Options for Retirees Under Age
65 - Expand health care
alternatives including TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Prime Remote and the
Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) as options for active
duty and military retirees under age 65 who do not have access to
military treatment facilities.
Expand Military Retiree Access to the VA Health Care
System - Support legislation
expanding access to VA Hospitals and Clinics and to adopt VA Medicare
Subvention. Also support opportunities to expand DOD/VA joint facilities
demonstration projects and ensure that military retirees are not forced
to pay for VA care or choose between DOD and VA for care.
Managed Health Care Plans - Continue to
monitor current programs to ensure the availability of best care for all
beneficiaries.
Pharmaceutical Drug Benefit –
Continue to monitor the pharmacy benefit and ensure that the pharmacy
program includes a broad uniform formulary. FRA will support
efforts to reduce prescription costs through "federal pricing" and other
pricing dicsount programs. FRA will work with DoD to encourage increased
utilization of mail-order prescriptions to reduce co-pays for
beneficiaries and reduce costs to the program to forestall increasing
fees, and co-payments.
Allow Military Retirees to Pay for Healthcare with Pretax
Dollars – Allow military
retirees to pay health insurance premiums on a pretax basis and to allow
for a tax deduction for TRICARE supplemental insurance
premiums.
Protect Personnel Programs
Active Duty Pay - Secure additional
annual active duty pay increases that are at least .05% above the
Employment Cost Index (ECI) along with targeted increases for mid-career
and senior enlisted personnel to help close the pay gap between active
duty and private sector pay.
Support Defense Budget of At Least 5 Percent of
GDP – Advocate for a Defense (DoD)
Budget that is at least five (5) precent of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) to ensure adequate funding for both people and weapons
programs.
Support Bonus Payment for Stop-Loss and Extended
Deployments – Support legislative
efforts to provide active duty service members and Reservists additional
pay for Stop-Loss and extended deployments to adequately compensate for
extraordinary demands of extended military service beyond contractual
obligations.
Education Enhancements - Improve education
benefits for active duty personnel and family members, Reservists, and
veterans, plus survivors of disabled or deceased veterans who died of a
service-connected disability, were killed on active duty or while on
drill status. Continue to advocate for an open enrollment period for
active duty personnel who did not enroll in the Veterans Education
Assistance Program (VEAP) or Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). Encourage DoD to
retain schools on military installations to ensure continuation of
quality education for our military personnel.
Dislocation Allowance - Work to authorize the
payment of a dislocation allowance to members of the Armed Forces with
at least 20 years of service, as part of their final compensation
package upon retirement.
Commissaries / MWR - Oppose privatization
and ensure adequate funding for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to
preserve the value of the current benefit for all patrons, protect the
exchange benefit and ensure adequate funding for MWR programs.
Active Duty and Reserve Component Personnel End
Strengths – Track manpower
levels to ensure there are an adequate number of personnel available to
meet the demands of OIF, OEF and other operational
requirements.
BAH – Enhance enlisted housing
standards by allowing E-7s and above to reside in separated homes. Track
the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to ensure it remains at the level
of payments authorized commensurate with actual housing costs, as
required by law. Ensure the housing privatization program remains
favorable to military residents.
Reform of PCS Process - Track the the
Families First HHG program and other improvements to the PCS process.
Ensure adequate funding of the Transition and Relocation Assistance
Programs, and authorization of increased PCS household goods weight
limits for senior enlisted personnel.
Predatory
Lending Protections – Ensure that active duty
personnel and their dependents have adequate protections against
predatory lenders who target military personnel and their families.
Coast Guard Parity - Ensure parity with DoD of
pay and benefits for Coast Guard personnel with adequate funding within
the U.S. Coast Guard budget.
Support Full Funding for the Impact Aid
Program - Ensure that the
Department of Education has adequate funding to reimburse local school
districts for educating military children and that the DoD budget
includes sufficient funds to provide support for highly impacted school
districts and the continuation of the current DoD school system by
retaining the school facilities now in its inventory.
Reimbursement for Out-of-Pocket Expenses for
Reservists – Allow full tax-deductibility of
non-reimbursable expenses related to military training and weekend
drill.
Continue
to Monitor Support for Sea Services Recruiters –
And work to ensure that they have unrestricted access to secondary
schools, colleges and universities on the same basis as private sector
employers.
Voting Reform - Continue to monitor and
seek support for improved voter participation in Federal elections and
expedite the military mail processing of overseas ballots.
Veterans' Issues
Monitor Benefits and Programs Administered by the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs – Advocate for benefit
enhancements for Sea Service veterans at the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
Improve Funding of the Department of Veterans
Affairs – Support
any initiatives to help ensure timely and full funding for the VA, with
special attention for VA health care to ensure access and care for all
beneficiaries.
Eliminate Restrictions on Agent Orange Disability
Claims – Seek to reverse the
VA’s policy that prevents “blue water” military
retirees and veterans from claiming disability benefits for diseases
associated with exposure to Agent Orange.
Oppose VA Health Care Fees for Veterans
– Oppose establishing a tiered enrollment
fee structure for veterans in Priority Groups 7 and 8 within the VA
Health Care System.
Improve VA Claim Processing
– Work to eliminate backlog of claims at the
Department of Veterans Affairs and supports reform of the antiquated
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) paper claims system.
Education Enhancements - Improve education
benefits for veterans, and survivors of disabled or deceased veterans
who died of a service-connected disability or were killed on active duty
or while on drill status.
Full Veterans Status for Reserve Retirees – Seek
full veteran status for Reservists with 20 years or more of service, but
do not otherwise qualify for veteran status with associated benefits
under current law.
Safeguard Retiree Benefits
Concurrent Receipt of Military Retired Pay and Veterans’
Disability Compensation - Support legislation
authorizing the immediate payment of concurrent receipt of full military
retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation for all disabled
retirees.
Reduce Age for Paid-Up SBP to 67
– Work to change the minimum age for paid-up SBP
from 70 to 67, which will allow those who joined the military at age 17,
18 or 19 and served 20 years to only be required to pay SBP premiums for
30 years.
Recoupment Relief for Separated Service
Members – Ensure that former service
members voluntarily and involuntarily separated due to budget cuts in
the 1990s that either return to active duty or join the Guard or Reserve
are not required to pay back their separation pay.
Allow Retirees to Continue Contributing to
TSP – Provide retirees the
option of continuing to contribute to their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) as
they did when they were on active duty.
Reserve
Retirement Age – Support extension of authority for
reduction (90 days active duty = 3 months reduction) of retirement age
for all Reservists who have served since 9/11/01.
Retention of Final Month’s Retired Pay at Time of
Death – Support legislation authorizing the
retention of the full final month’s retired pay by the surviving
spouse (or other designated survivor) for the month in which the member
was alive for at least 24 hours.
Uniformed Services Retirement System
– Oppose initiatives to "civilianize" the
military retirement system in ways that reduce the value of the current
retirement system and undermine long-term retention.
Base Closures – Support
retention of military treatment and other facilities at BRAC sites that
are patronized by sizeable retiree and Reserve populations and closely
monitor the impact of closures and realignments.
USFSPA -
Encourage the introduction and enactment of legislation to eliminate
inequities in the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act
(USFSPA).
Military Retired or Retainer Pay COLA
Equity - Fight any efforts to reduce military retired
or retainer pay and ensure equitable cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)
for all military retirees.
Armed Forces Retirement
Home- Support adequate
funding for the operation of the Armed Forces Retirement Home’s
two facilities and continue to provide adequate care for its
residents.
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