Weekly newsletter of the Fleet Reserve Association

March 23 2018           

In this issue:

Budget Bill Passes with OTH Provision

House Subcommittees Review VA Budget

DFAS Mailing Address Changes

Budget Bill Passes with OTH Provision

After kicking the budget can down the road four times in February, Congress agreed to a two-year funding deal that would give the Department of Defense (DoD) $700 billion for FY2018. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a two-year budget cycle and also has funding for FY2018. Lawmakers passed another continuing resolution to keep the remainder of government open at FY2017 levels until March 23, to give Congress time to sort out the details of an omnibus spending bill. The bill includes provisions that give the Pentagon more flexibility in spending the already approved appropriations. The House and Senate passed the bill (H.R.1625), and President Trump originally indicated he would sign it into law. This morning however, President Trump tweeted he is "considering" a veto of the giant $1.3 trillion spending bill, citing concerns over "Dreamers" and border wall funding.  

The spending bill also includes provisions of the FRA-supported "Honor Our Commitment" (H.R.1685-S. 699) sponsored by Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Tex.) and Sen. Christopher Murphy (Conn.).  This provision is part of VA Secretary Shulkin's initiative to provide aid to veterans previously locked out of the VA healthcare system. Under current law, veterans denied care and benefits due to their Other Than Honorable (OTH) status, lack a transparent process to appeal because the VA's "characterization of discharge review" process is conducted entirely in-house. Many veterans who are struggling with PTSD, TBI and other related conditions endure an appeal process that can take years and typically results in denial of services. These reforms would create a more user-friendly process and requires the DoD to coordinate efforts to ensure veterans with OTH discharges are not forgotten. 

House Subcommittees Review VA Budget

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Shulkin testified before the House Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Appropriations Subcommittee about the VA budget. During the hearing, Shulkin was asked about his priorities to expand access to care at VA medical facilities and his efforts to adopt the same electronic health care record used by the Department of Defense (DoD). In addition, three separate House Veterans' Affairs Committee Subcommittees (Health, Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Economic Opportunity) also reviewed aspects of the VA's FY2019 budget request. FRA welcomes the overall VA budget increase of $12.1 billion, which is more than a six percent increase over the FY2018 budget.  The VA budget is up 175 percent since 2006. Other provisions of the FY2019 budget request include:

• Increasing medical care $4.2 billion above FY2018 ($76.5 billion) for FY2019 and $2.6 billion above 2019 for FY2020;
• Hiring an additional 225 fiduciary employees to help protect veterans who are unable to manage their VA benefits;
• Adding $1.2 billion in FY2019 budget to implement single Electronic Health Record (EHR) to create a seamless transition from DoD to VA; and
• Providing $14.7 billion in discretionary funding for community care for veterans.  

The FY2019 proposed budget calls for rounding down VA monthly benefits to the nearest dollar to help pay for veterans attending flight school under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits have been earned with three or more years of arduous service by veterans who were in the military after September 11, 2001. Disabled veterans should not have their benefits cut to pay for this benefit. The Association supports the Independent Budget (IB) recommendations that were recently released and co-authored by Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).  IB has served as a guide for funding the VA for 31 years and this framework will help meet the challenges of serving American veterans. 

Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and disabled veterans should not have their hard-earned benefits cut. Members can use the FRA Action Center to ask their legislators to oppose this proposal. 

DFAS Mailing Address Changes

As first reported in May 5, 2017 NewsBytes, military retirees and annuitants corresponding with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) must use a new mailing address. The new addresses are:

Retired Pay correspondence:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service

U.S. Military Retired Pay

8899 E 56th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200

Annuitant Pay correspondence:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service

U.S. Military Annuitant Pay

8899 E 56th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46249-1300

Mail received at the old mailing addresses after May 1st will not be forwarded to the new address. The telephone and fax numbers have not changed.