NAUS Weekly Update for July 27, 2007

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR UNIFORMED SERVICES

NAUS WEEKLY UPDATE FOR JULY 27, 2007

www.naus.org

"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year."

~ John Foster Dulles ~

WASHINGTON REPORT

Senate Passes Military Health Overhaul and Pay Raise

Last week we reported Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pulled the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) from the floor. This week Sen. Reid reached into the stalled measure, extracted portions containing "Wounded Warrior" legislation and proposed 3.5 percent pay raise for service members, and inserted the Senate text into the House bill H.R. 1538, the "Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007." The revised bill quickly passed by a voice vote and must now be considered in a joint House-Senate conference committee. The House version, which does not contain the pay raise provision, was unanimously approved in March.

NAUS sincerely applauds this action to provide better medical care and extra pay for the military, but regrets that they had to be pulled out of the NDAA, which still needs to be worked on. These are two very important issues but there are many others that deserve the same expedited consideration. We hope Congress will pass this legislation before going on their August recess, and that the Senate Majority Leader will reintroduce the NDAA to the Senate and complete work on it.

Dole/Shalala Commission Makes Recommendations

On Wednesday the nine-member President's Commission on Care For America's Returning Wounded Warriors, co-chaired by former Senator Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, offered six recommendations to "serve, support and simplify the care for our injured service members." They include an overhaul of the disability system; creation of recovery plans with recovery coordinators; a new joint e-Benefits website; guaranteeing care for PTSD from the VA for injured service members from Afghanistan and Iraq. The six areas are:

1.. Immediately Create Comprehensive Recovery Plans to Provide the Right Care and Support at the Right Time and in the Right Place.
2.. Completely Restructure the Disability Determination and Compensation Systems.
3.. Aggressively Prevent and Treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
4.. Significantly Strengthen Support for Families.
5.. Rapidly Transfer Patient Information Between DoD and VA.
6.. Strongly Support Walter Reed by Recruiting and Retaining First Rate Professionals Through 2011.


The report is too long to put here but we recommend you go to this website http://naus. org/news/ DoleShalalaCommi ssionReport7- 07.pdf.pdf and read the entire report.

The Commission presented their report to President Bush on Wednesday morning. After hearing from the Commission the President instructed VA Secretary Nicholson and Defense Secretary Gates to take the recommendations seriously and to implement the ones they have the power to enact. That way, the President said, "we can say with certainty that any soldier who has been hurt will get the best possible care an treatment that this government can give." With the report containing 35 specific action items and only 6 requiring attention by Congress, NAUS hopes that many of these will be quickly adopted. We will continue to monitor progress and let you know.

One action item we question states that a periodic review of the status of veterans be conducted every three years to determine if their condition has improved or worsened and whether or not their compensation level needs to be adjusted. If the VA is mandated to periodically check a veteran's status, it could only add to the current problems of long waiting times and lack of capacity.

NAUS remembers an initiative that VA attempted a short time ago to review the cases of all veterans with PTSD. It was started but quickly stopped as the process turned into a nightmare scenario with numerous PTSD veterans having anxiety attacks and many other issues. We believe that health care needs and checkups are best left to the veterans and the discretion of their primary care doctors.

NAUS Delivers Letter of Support on Merchant Mariners Bill

NAUS learned this week that H.R. 23 "The Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2007, has been added to the House Calendar for consideration. We delivered a letter of support to the bill sponsor House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) and thanked him for his role in working to get recognition for these forgotten veterans of WW II.

HEALTH CARE NEWS

Security of Personal Data Lapse Announced

Last week ended with the disturbing news of another possible personal data compromise affecting service members, this time involving a private DoD contractor, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). According to DoD officials, approximately 870,000 TRICARE beneficiaries are affected.

The incident occurred when patient information was stored on a computer server in a manner that did not meet security specifications for DoD or SAIC. The data, which was processed by SAIC under several military health care contracts, may have included beneficiary names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates, and limited health information. Forensic analysis of the server did not reveal any evidence that personal information was actually compromised, however that possibility cannot be ruled out. Additional assessments of the system will be conducted.

SAIC mailed letters to affected beneficiaries and has set up a call center to handle questions and concerns. The call center will be staffed with identity theft specialists who will answer concerns about the incident as well as provide callers with general information on credit, fraud and identity theft matters. It will be staffed weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to midnight ET and weekends from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until further notice. Beneficiaries receiving notification letters are also being offered a one-year a credit monitoring service free of charge.

Additional information on this incident is available on the TRICARE Website at www.Tricare. mil and SAIC's website at http://www.saic. com/.

Whereas SAIC's willingness to assume responsibility for the security lapse and quick reaction to quell the threat is commendable, the fact that another potential compromise has occurred is disconcerting. With all of the negative press generated over recent data loses, one would think those entrusted with personal information of all Americans, not just veterans or service members would have instituted fail-proof procedures to safeguard that information by now.

TRICARE Starts Newsletter for Beneficiaries (TMA Press Release)

TRICARE has unveiled HealthBeat, its new electronic beneficiary newsletter, in conjunction with the redesigned TRICARE Web site. Up-to-date benefit information combines sleek graphics to create an e-newsletter- making it easier for beneficiaries to find TRICARE news and information when they need it. This is TRICARE's first online beneficiary newsletter.

HealthBeat links beneficiaries directly to TRICARE's most important benefit information. Among its many features, beneficiaries will find the latest TRICARE benefit updates; links to pertinent news releases and articles about TRICARE and the military health system; and the Doctor Is In column.

HealthBeat will reside on the My Benefits portal of the redesigned TRICARE Web site. Beneficiaries do not have to be a subscriber to get HealthBeat, however, they may sign up on the HealthBeat Web page.

TRICARE will send a monthly e-mail to subscribers informing them that the latest e-newsletter has been uploaded to the My Benefits portal of the TRICARE Web site. The e-mail will include an overview of that issue's content with a link to the full e-newsletter on the Web site. Additionally, TRICARE will periodically send HealthBeat news flashes on benefit issues.

To view or subscribe to HealthBeat, beneficiaries may visit www.tricare. mil/HealthBeat/ . Beneficiaries may opt-out of receiving the e-newsletter at any time.

ACTIVE DUTY NEWS

Joint Chiefs Confirmation Hearing

Next Tuesday the Senate Armed Services Committee will meet to act on the nominations of Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations Michael Mullen to be reappointed to the grade of Admiral and to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Marine Corps General James Cartwright for reappointment to the grade of General and to be the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

DoD Boosts R&R Time

The Department of Defense has recently approved a policy change to the U.S. Central Command Rest and Recuperation Leave Program, which increases the time provided to military servicemembers for rest and recuperation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom from 15 to 18 chargeable days for those servicemembers deploying to the OEF and OIF area of operations for 15 months. The amended policy applies to military personnel only and is not retroactive. Servicemembers will not be charged for their travel days. Servicemembers serving one-year tours will continue to receive 15 days of chargeable R&R leave. For more information, read the article by our friends at Military.com.

Cap Lifted on Military Retired Pay

Retiring military personnel with 30 years or more of service will no longer have their retirement pay capped at 75 percent of base pay because of changes that were in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007. For example, a member who served 32 years will receive 80 percent of their retired base pay and a member who has served 42 years will receive 105 percent of their retired pay. More details about the new retirement pay schedule are available from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

VETERANS NEWS

VDBC Update

As we reported last week the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission voted on several issues that they would be including in their recommendations. Unfortunately one important issue, the expansion of CRSC to medically retired Chapter 61 veterans was not agreed to. Several of the Commissioners feel strongly about this issue and Commission Chairman Scott has agreed to revisit the issue during their next meeting in August.

The Commission will next meet August 8-10 at the Hotel Washington, 15th St & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, D.C. We encourage you to attend if you are in the area.

Michigan Scammers Use VA ID To Solicit Donations

Michigan residents of Saginaw, Tuscola, and Genesee Counties, are being warned about a door-to-door scam involving veterans. Solicitors have used Department of Veterans Affairs' identification documents to scam businesses and residents out of money. They're collecting the cash, claiming the donations will help veterans. Investigators believe they're using the money to buy drugs.

NAUS warns you to always know the identity of people you give any information to over the phone. If you have any doubts don't give up anything and report the call to your local authorities to investigate.

NAUS NEWS

NAUS Honors Former Hill Staffer

This week NAUS invited Mr. Phil Alperson, former staff member with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to our office to present him with a small token of our appreciation.

Many of you might remember that several years ago Phil, who was at that time working for former Rep. Ronnie Shows, was our "go-to" person on the "Keep Our Promises Act" which was the major driving factor that made TRICARE for Life happen.

The entire original "Keep Our Promises Act" did not make it into law and Phil felt strongly enough about it and persuaded his boss Rep. Van Hollen to re-introduce the legislation in the 108th, 109th and now the 110th Congress.

Phil now works for Montgomery County, Maryland as their BRAC Impact Coordinator and since he was still in the area NAUS President Matz thought that Phil definitely needed to be thanked for his many years of work for the military and veterans.

NAUS salutes Phil and wishes him well in his new job, still working for the military and veterans!

NAUS Guam Chapter Members Meeting

On Saturday, August 4th, NAUS Director of Administration, Gene Willis, and NAUS Deputy Legislative Director, Hal Grant, will join NAUS Guam Chapter President, Adolph Sgambelluri, at breakfast for the Tatsumi Team during their visit to Washington. Also at the breakfast will be: Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Member of Congress from Guam, and retired USMC Brig Gen. Vicente T. (Ben) Blaz, a native of Guam, a 29-year veteran who served in Korea and Vietnam, and was the first Guamanian to serve in Congress.

Gene and Hal will also meet with Mr. Ryugi Yamaguchi, NAUS Life Member from Guam and will present a NAUS Membership Card and Pin to a brand new member, Sgt Ray Kennedy, recently recruited by Chapter President Sgambelluri.

NAUS on the Road

NAUS Senior Legislative Assistant Morgan Brown will be in the great state of Alaska next week visiting with healthcare representatives and touring medical facilities there. TriWest Healthcare Alliance is hosting the trip, and we appreciate the opportunity to observe first-hand the level of care being provided to TRICARE beneficiaries residing there.

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.

GOD BLESS AMERICA