NAUS Weekly Update for December 7, 2007

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National Association
for Uniformed Services®Weekly UpdateDecember 7, 2007

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"The preservation of freedom depends largely on our ability to see and appreciate what we've got and to understand how we got it!"

~Former Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery ~

WASHINGTON REPORT

NDAA Conference Report Completed
The final obstacles to the completion of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Report were overcome when the non-germane language on "hate-crimes" was dropped from the report. The conference then moved quickly and the report was issued late Thursday.

Overall the final bill contains many NAUS goals. Here are, however, a few disappointments. Let's take a quick review of some of the key provisions.

First off, House and Senate conferees reject the Pentagon's plan for steep increases in TRICARE fees and pharmacy copayments. They also authorize a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay increase. In addition they extend Combat Related Special Compensation to all combat-related disabled veterans and make immediate and full Concurrent Receipt of Disability Pay for all 100 percent disabled retirees rated Individual Unemployability by VA (retroactive to December 31, 2004). The Guard and Reserve retirement age is lowered by 90 days for every 3 months served on active duty. Also, Guard and Reserve personnel are able to use earned educational benefits for up to 10 years after separation. There is also an unusually large section on the consolidation of special pays and bonuses. We remain disappointed, however, that conferees were unable to find agreement on ending the SBP/DIC offset. The report calls for a Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance of $50 a month beginning Oct. 2008, increasing to $100 by Oct. 2012.

Obviously there is much more of the NDAA to be scrutinized and as we find more good news we will pass it on. NAUS anticipate that the bill will be brought to the House and Senate next week and pass overwhelmingly.

NAUS would like to thank everyone who contacted their elected officials. Together we really accomplished good things!

Medicare Physician's Reimbursement
In a House floor discussion, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Minority whip Roy Blunt addressed the doctor payment issue under Medicare. As readers know, without congressional action, there will be a 10 percent reduction in Medicare doctor's payments beginning in 3 weeks and 3 days.

Since TRICARE is directly connected to this payment, NAUS is deeply concerned that beneficiaries will be adversely affected as physicians limit their practice or drop patients as the payment is weakened and access becomes more restricted.

During the exchange, Rep. Hoyer told Rep. Blunt that he had "literally spent hours" on this problem. And said, "We hope to be able to get, frankly, in the near future, in the next few days, hopefully, we've worked very, very hard in trying to meet some of the concerns that some of your Members have had." He also said, "But I want to make it very, very clear to everybody that the Speaker, Senator Reid, and I have talked; and we are all very focused on the 14th being the day that we adjourn.

NAUS encourages our readers to tell their Representative and Senators to correct the reimbursement problem before Congress adjourns.

Pearl Harbor Anniversary
On Dec. 7, 1941, sixty-six years ago today, aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many ceremonies and remembrances will held today all over the country. NAUS encourages you to attend a ceremony and meet some of the Pearl Harbor survivors. They are extraordinary men.

Confirmation Hearing Held
The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs met on Wednesday to consider the nomination of Lt. General James B. Peake, USA (Ret), as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Committee members questioned Dr. Peake on a wide variety of subjects including his ability to operate without undue influence from other departments in the Executive Branch. Dr. Peake commented to the lawmakers that he thought the entire process of applying for and waiting for adjudication of disability claims needs to be simplified. He assured Senators that he would do the right thing for veterans and indicated he would fight for the needed funding for their care.

Opposition to the general's nomination was not apparent during the hearing and the committee is expected to endorse him for the position. A vote by the full Senate is likely to occur before Congress adjourns for the year.

HEALTH CARE NEWS

TRICARE Beneficiaries Saving Money
Nearly 20,000 TRICARE beneficiaries are saving money on their prescriptions after making the switch to mail order through the new Member Choice Center (MCC). After only two months of operation, beneficiaries saved approximately $600,000 on prescriptions by switching from retail to the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy's (TMOP).

In all, individual beneficiary' s savings through TMOP could range from $24 a year for each regular formulary generic drug to as much as $176 a year for each non-formulary brand-name drug. The savings increase with each additional prescription.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is saving money too, projecting a savings of approximately $6.9 million on the 39,500 prescriptions converted so far from retail to TMOP. DoD could save up to $24 million a year with just a 1 percent shift of prescriptions from retail to mail order.

Beneficiaries that do not have other health insurance and are currently using a retail pharmacy can go now go online to www.express- scripts.com/ TRICARE to complete the registration, without downloading or mailing forms, and request that their prescription be converted to mail order from retail.

A toll free number is also an option in the United States. A patient care advocate at the MCC at 1-877-363-1433 can initiate the process to obtain a new prescription from the beneficiary' s provider to be filled by the TMOP.

TMOP also notifies beneficiaries by letter when one of their medications is switching to the third tier, which has the most expensive co-pay. This gives beneficiaries time to ask their doctor to switch them to the formulary drug, at a lower co-pay, before they need a refill.

For more information about the new Member Choice Center and filling prescriptions through the TMOP program, visit the prescription area on the "My Benefit" link of www.tricare. mil.

TRICARE Coverage Guaranteed for Beneficiaries (TMA Press Release)
The TRICARE Management Activity wants to reassure beneficiaries that none of them is at risk of losing TRICARE coverage, regardless of the cost of care or any other conditions that might affect commercial insurance policies.

"I want to remind our beneficiaries that TRICARE is an entitlement earned by military service," said Army Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, deputy director, TRICARE Management Activity. "They shouldn't worry as their entitlement to care is statutory. No contractor can simply drop the health care coverage of our beneficiaries. "

Beneficiaries may have seen recent news reports that Health Net rewarded senior analysts in charge of cancellations for exceeding annual targets for revoking policies. Because Health Net Federal Services is one of TRICARE's managed care contractors, TRICARE beneficiaries might think they may also risk cancellation or revocation of their TRICARE coverage. TRICARE leaders say that is simply not true. The issue in the news report involves the civilian commercial health insurance portion of Health Net and is not related to the federal services part of the company.

Unlike some commercial insurance policies, TRICARE benefits are not limited by factors such as pre-existing conditions or failure to report health information. If a person is entitled to care under the law established by Congress, then they receive that care. "In addition to the best available medical care, we want TRICARE to offer one other benefit," General Granger said. "Peace of mind."

Medicare to cut Number of Part D Covered Drugs in 2008
A report from USA Today states that Medicare beneficiaries are likely to see a smaller number of drugs covered under their Part D insurance plans next year, as insurers have revised offerings, and the government has culled hundreds of products from a list of approved drugs.

The largest 10 insurers project that the number of drugs covered under their plans will shrink, on average, 26 percent over the coming year. The decreases are due in large measure to "changes made by Medicare, which shrank the list of drugs it will pay for, culling those that have been pulled by the FDA, are no longer being made, had duplicative billing codes, or were drugs deemed 'less than effective' by the FDA."

HHS Secretary Says All Doctors Should Have to Adopt Electronic Records
Early this week the Associated Press reported that the Bush administration had signaled that physicians should have to adopt electronic record-keeping if they want to avoid a pay cut from Medicare next year. Physicians currently face a 10 percent pay cut in Medicare payments at the beginning of 2008. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to soon make their proposal for offsetting the cut, which some estimates put at $8 billion for a one-year fix.

Although members of Congress "have been divided on how to pay for more widespread adoption of electronic record-keeping, " Health and Human Services Secretary Leavitt said Monday, "Any new bill should require physicians to implement health information technology that meets department standards in order to be eligible for higher payments from Medicare."

ACTIVE DUTY NEWS

Free Admission at SeaWorld San Diego
The "Here's to the Heroes" program offers U.S. servicemembers free admission to the SeaWorld San Diego. Servicemembers and up to three immediate family members can watch the shows and enjoy the rides by showing their Department of Defense identification card at the gate. Servicemembers can expedite the process by filing out the form at the SeaWorld website.


C-Rats to Support Our Troops
Operation Interdependence (OI) Adopt-A-Box is a great gift idea this holiday season. For a donation of $30, OI will ship a box of 50 Civilian Rations (called C-rats) in your name or the name of a loved one to U.S. troops serving on the frontlines. C-rats are individual quart-sized baggies that contain a personal note from a caring civilian at home and everyday items the troops miss such as snacks, games and toiletries. The most important part of the C-rat is the letter from a person who has never met that Soldier, Sailor, Marine or Airman, but takes the time to write his or her expressions of care and concern. The box you adopt will include a special note recognizing your sponsorship. T o adopt an OI box, go to the OI website at www.oidelivers. org and click on the Adopt-A-Box icon or email info@oidelivers. org.


Nationwide Toys for Tots Campaign
The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots campaign is in full swing nationwide, and donations of new, unwrapped toys for needy children are being accepted at collection points across the country. For more information, including drop locations, visit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation website. Local campaigns are conducted annually and last until December 22. Toy distribution normally takes place on December 23 and 24. This year please make sure that the toys you donate are not those on the recalled list especially for lead paint.

VETERANS NEWS

Vets, Military Receive Faster Education Benefits
The VA announced this week that it has dramatically improved its ability to process applications for GI Bill education benefits from veterans and servicemembers. NAUS testified on the difficulties in the education benefit program earlier this year and is pleased to see it addressed.

Over the period of improvement, the average processing time decreased from 40 days in 2006 to 32 days in 2007. Claims from veterans reenrolling for school terms or additional training programs were processed in an average of 13 days, down from 20 days in 2006.

As an example of the strategies used, VA created a temporary call center in late 2006 to respond to customer service calls, freeing additional employees to process education claims. The center's success led VA to develop plans for a permanent call center, scheduled to open in early 2008 at VA's Regional Processing Office in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

VA has also developed programs that promote self-service among GI Bill users. Services that once demanded the attention of VA employees -- from enrolling in direct deposit to updating contact information -- can now be performed online. In October 2007 alone, veterans and servicemembers completed more than 10,000 self-service transactions.
VA has also expanded its self-servicing approach to school officials to submit enrollment information electronically. More than 100,000 of the more than 1.5 million education claims received in fiscal year 2007 were submitted electronically.

"VA is on the right track, as demonstrated by processing times last month of 26 days for initial applications and 10 days for reenrollments, " said Keith Wilson, Director of VA's Education Service. "There are a lot of folks who share in our success, none more central than the hardworking employees at our Regional Processing Offices."

In 2007, 524,000 veterans and beneficiaries received approximately $21 billion dollars of education assistance. Since 1944, more than 21.4 million veterans and their beneficiaries have received GI Bill benefits.

VA education benefits include Montgomery GI Bill for active duty personnel, Montgomery GI Bill for Selected Reserves, the Reservist Education Assistance Program and educational assistance for survivors and dependents.

For more information on VA education benefits, go to VA's education Web site at: www.GIbill.va. gov.
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Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen stand in harm's way around the globe to defend our nation and our cherished liberties. NAUS asks you to please pray for their continued strength and protection—and pray as well for their families, who daily stand in support of their spouses, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters.

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