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TREA WASHINGTON UPDATE FOR MARCH 5, 2010

The big news out of Washington this week was the end of the one-man filibuster by Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning which had held up passage of emergency legislation to delay legally mandated cuts to the amount of money Medicare reimburses doctors for their services. If these cuts had gone into effect they would have had a major effect on Tricare – very negative effects.

However, we are only out of the woods temporarily. More on this, and other news, below.

1. Bill to Stop Cuts in Medicare Payments to Doctors Passes, But Is Only Temporary Fix

2. No $250 Payment to Make up for Lack of COLA

3. Keep Your Eye on the Deficit Reduction Commission

4. Akaka Continues Focus on the Invisible Wounds of War

5. Repaying Advance Payment of VA Education Benefits

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1. Bill to Stop Cuts in Medicare Payments to Doctors Passes, but is Only Temporary Fix-Last week we told you about the filibuster that had been launched by Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky to stop passage of a bill that would do a number of things, including stopping the cuts in Medicare Payments to Doctors that was scheduled, by law, to go into effect on March 1. Bunning held out until Tuesday of this week when Senate leadership reached an agreement with him and he agreed to let a vote proceed.

After the Senate voted by a large majority to pass the legislation, it was immediately sent to President Obama for his signature, and it became law on Tuesday evening. The House had previously passed the bill.

While TREA is pleased that the bill finally was passed into law, we regret that it only puts off the Medicare payment cuts for one month. They are now scheduled to go into effect on April 1, meaning Congress must deal with the issue once more in just a few short days.

The issue is very important for Tricare beneficiaries because Tricare reimbursement rates to doctors are tied to the Medicare rates and a cut in one means a cut in the other.

There is no doubt that had the draconian cuts gone into effect many doctors would either stop accepting new Medicare or Tricare patients, and some may even have stopped providing medical services to their current patients.

The Senate is also working on additional legislation that would put off the cuts until October 1. The reason for that is to use the additional time to come up with a permanent fix of the mandated cuts and thereby enable them to stop having to delay the cuts each year. If they are able to pass the bill that will delay the cuts until October 1 prior to April 1, they won’t have to pass another 30 day extension. So we will be monitoring both pieces of legislation and keep you updated. We do not have the bill

numbers yet but we will give them to you as soon as we get them.

It is critical that Congress get this fixed permanently as soon as possible and we must hold their feet to the fire.

2. No $250 Payment to Make up for Lack of COLA-When it was announced earlier this year that there would be no COLA, President Obama urged passage of legislation to give each person who received Social Security, military retirement, or disability pay from the government -- including VA disability – a one-time payment of $250 to help make

up for the loss of the COLA. However, by a vote of 47-50 this week the Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have authorized the payment. The reason for its defeat was the inability of a majority of Senators to agree how to pay for it. That means there will be no $250 payment this year. The COLA for next year will not be determined until

after September, but based on the formula in the law that governs the COLA, it is not likely there will be a COLA next year, either.

3. Keep Your Eye on the Deficit Reduction Commission-Government officials are starting to take the issue of the federal debt very seriously. That’s one of the reasons for all of the fights in the Senate this week. They can’t decide how to pay for the legislation they want to pass. Because of the seriousness of the issue President Obama has appointed a bi-partisan deficit reduction commission headed by former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal the purpose of the commission is to find ways to bring down the national debt, including proposing “ways to hold down the surging costs of government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.”

The report of the commission is due by December 1 of this year, although House Republican Leader John Boehner is asking for the report to be released prior to the fall elections.

TREA is very leery of this commission and what its proposals may be. Senator Simpson has proven to be rather suspect in the past when it comes to supporting veterans and military retirees. And we believe if they are looking seriously at Social Security and Medicare costs, you can be sure they will be looking at all costs involving military retirees and veterans, including Tricare, VA health care, and COLAs.

We will be watching the work of this commission very closely in the coming months and we will keep you advised of its work. The last time a commission like this was set up, TREA and other military and veterans organizations had to fight for 3 or 4 years to stop a number of its recommendations from being enacted into law.

4. Akaka Continues Focus on the Invisible Wounds of War-U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, held an oversight hearing on Wednesday on veteran suicide and mental health issues. Akaka, who has championed a number of veterans’ mental health and suicide-prevention bills which are now law, sought to hear from veterans and VA leadership on the implementation of

these measures.

“Just as we must provide our troops with the equipment and tools they need when they are sent to battle, we must do more to help veterans battle the enemy of mental illness,” said Akaka. “VA has made important improvements in recent years, but we must continue to work until what now seems impossible becomes a reality: that no veteran who returns from service is lost to suicide.”

Akaka is the author of the Veterans’ Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act (Public Law 110-387), a sweeping veterans’ mental health bill passed in 2008 to address the dual issues of substance abuse and PTSD among veterans. This legislation paid tribute to Justin Bailey, a veteran who died of a drug overdose while receiving treatment from VA for PTSD and substance abuse. Akaka also cosponsored the Joshua

Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, passed in 2007 to improve VA’s suicide prevention efforts and establish a counseling hotline that has led to over a thousand rescues.

The hearing witnesses drew from firsthand knowledge to discuss the challenges faced by veterans with invisible wounds, which sometimes produce tragic consequences. Mr. Daniel Hanson, an Iraq war veteran, discussed his difficult road from attempted suicide to recovery, to which he largely credited a year-plus residential recovery program outside of VA. A witness from VA’s suicide prevention hotline described the successful

rescue of a veteran who had attempted to take his own life.

5. Repaying Advance Payment of VA Education Benefits-VA’s Debt Management Center (DMC) recently sent out letters advising veterans of their options for repaying the Advance Payment of education benefits they received for this past Fall term. If you, or someone you know, are having trouble reaching DMC over the phone in regards to Advance Payment recoupment, you can also contact VA’s Education Call Center (ECC)

toll-free at 1-888-442-4551 or visit http://www.pay.va.gov for instructions on how to submit payments. You may also go to our “Ask a Question” page to submit a question online.