NewsBytes October 11, 2019
In this issue:
Support House NDAA Provisions
COLA Increase for 2020
Pharmacy Increases Begin January 1
Ask Senators to Support House NDAA Provisions
With the House and Senate due back in session next week, it is important to let your legislators know that it is time to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA-H.R.2500/S.1790). The final bill should include issues important to FRA members. Both House and Senate bills have passed their chambers of origin and a conference committee has been appointed to resolve the differences between the two bills. The House bill (H.R.2500) has several FRA-supported provisions that are not in the Senate bill, that include:
•Repealing the SBP/DIC Offset known as the Widow’s Tax.
•Delaying proposed drastic cuts to military medical staff and require a study on the impact.
•Allowing military service members to sue the DoD for instances of medical malpractice unrelated to combat.
The conference committee bill will be submitted to the House and Senate for approval. If approved by both chambers, the bill will go to the president to be signed into law or be vetoed. FRA members are urged to use the Action Center and go to the first campaign listed on the site (Ask Senators to Support House NDAA). Ask your Senators to accept the three above referenced provisions in the final NDAA bill.
COLA Increase Announced for 2020
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently announced a 1.6 percent increase in the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the calendar year 2020. This directly affects military and federal civilian retirees, survivor benefit annuitants, disabled veterans and Social Security recipients. The new COLA rate is effective Dec. 1, 2019 and the adjustment will appear in the Dec. 30, 2019 payment.
By law, COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W). It is a broad measure of consumer prices that is generated by the BLS from the third quarter of the previous year to the third quarter of the current year. The CPI measures price changes for food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation and education. Since 2008, the annual COLA has been above two percent only once and has been zero three times. COLAs have been averaging 1.4 percent over the last decade. Last year’s COLA (2.8 percent) was the first big increase since 2012, when it was 3.6 percent. In 2018 the COLA increase was two percent and in 2017 it was 0.3 percent.
Scheduled Pharmacy Increases Begin January 1, 2020
Delayed TRICARE pharmacy increases opposed by the FRA and mandated by Congress as part of the FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will begin Jan. 1, 2020. On that date, a 90-day supply of generic drugs received through the program’s Express Scripts mail-order pharmacy will increase from $7 to $10. Co-pays on brand-name drugs received through the mail will go from $24 to $29. The price for non-formulary drugs rises from $53 to $60.
Generic drug prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies will see the cost rise from $11 to $13 for a 30-day supply, while the same supply of brand-name medications will increase from $28 to $33. Non-formulary drugs — those not on TRICARE’s list of fully covered medications — will go up from $53 to $60. Prescriptions filled on base will continue to be free.
The FRA will continue to support efforts to reduce prescription costs through “federal pricing” and other discount programs. FRA encourages increased utilization of home delivery prescriptions to limit co-pays for beneficiaries and reduce costs as alternatives to higher fees and co-payments.
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