News from - The Retired Enlisted Association

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1) Senate Passes Final FY07 Appropriations Bill

2) Roll Out of Lautenberg/Hagel TRICARE Bill

3) New “Total Force GI Bill” Proposed

4) VA Announces New “State Benefits Seamless Transition Program”


1) Senate Passes Final FY07 Appropriations Bill-Without much fanfare, or even notice, on Wednesday the Senate passed a $468 billion spending bill that closes up last year’s budget. The bill puts together the remaining 9 spending bills from the ‘07 budget. President Bush has signaled that he will sign it, although it does not include the $3 billion he asked for to finance the BRAC program. Most federal agencies and departments are frozen at the 2006 budget levels, but the VA’s health care budget received a 13% increase. Even before this was passed the 2008 appropriation cycle has begun. More information on this will be available in the future.

2) Roll Out of Lautenberg/Hagel TRICARE Bill-This week Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) held a press conference to announce the roll out of their bill “Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act” This bill (which does not yet have a number would stop DoD from enacting its proposed increases in enrollment fees and co-payments for military retirees, their families and survivors under the age of 65 in TRICARE Prime and Standard. It would also stop the proposed increases in the TRICARE Pharmacy Plan for all TRICARE Beneficiaries, except active duty members. The bill differs in many ways from Representative Edwards’ HR 579 in the House bill. This bill would limit any co-pay, deductible and fee increases to no more than the percentage of the most recent retired pay increase. TREA’s Executive Director Deirdre Parke Holleman attended the Press conference. While the bill itself is not yet on Thomas, if you would like a copy, please e-mail me at dholleman@treadc.org and I will be happy to send it on to you.

3) New “Total Force GI Bill” Proposed-On Thursday a bi-partisan group of Senators and Congressmen unveiled companion bills to “make adequate and equitable benefits for the Guard and Reserve components of our Armed Forces. The bills are sponsored in the Senate by Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and original co-sponsor Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and in the House by Representative Vic Snyder (R-AR) and original co-sponsors Representatives John Boozman (R-AR), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA). The bills would consolidate the Active Duty and the Selected Reserve MGIB programs under one title of the Federal Code and under the single authority of the Veterans Affairs Committees in Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It would ensure that the Selected Reserve MGIB benefits would rise proportionality with Active Duty MGIB rate increases. It would grant a 10-year portability for Reserve Educational Assistance Programs. (At the present time all educational benefits that a Selected Reserve member earns on activated duty must be forfeited if they separate from service. And finally it would provide a month per month Active Duty rate for mobilized members. The Press Conference was attended by members of the Partnership of Veterans’ Education” including TREA. Again since this just happened, there are no bill numbers assigned yet. We will publish them as soon as possible.

4) VA announces new “State Benefits Seamless Transition Program”-After a four-month pilot program the VA has established a new program to help severely injured service members receive their state benefits. The new collaborative outreach program that will cover all 50 states, as well as U.S. territories. When Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the program he said: “This initiative is a promising extension of VA's own transition assistance for those leaving military service. It is also an opportunity to partner with the states to make long-term support possible for our most deserving veterans throughout the country.” The program will have VA personnel presently located at 10 DoD medical facilities contacting state veterans affairs offices in the states where the service member is going to be transferred. The state offices will then contact the member directly to inform them about the benefits the state provides.

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