TREA WASHINGTON UPDATE FOR OCTOBER 16, 2009
Sometimes there is good news out of Washington, D.C. That happened this week! First, the VA health programs are going to receive advanced funding, something that TREA has supported and that should eliminate the problem of consistently late and inadequate funding. In addition, while there will be no COLA this year, the President and the Congressional leadership are calling for a $250 one-time payment to veterans and other seniors to make up for the missing COLA. That and more important news are below.
1. VA Extends “Agent Orange” Benefits to More Veterans
2. VA Medical Advanced Funding Passes Senate, Heads to President for Signature
3. It’s Now Official – No COLA Next Year
4. House Health Subcommittee Examines Inappropriate Billing Practices by VA
FROM TREA HQ: Earlier this week we were having some problems with the Online Application/Renewal Form on our website. This has been fixed and is now working properly. Thanks to all who informed us of the problem.
Pictures from the Convention are now available on our website. There is a link on the Home Page www.trea.org
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1. VA Extends “Agent Orange” Benefits to More Veterans-Relying on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam Veterans with three specific illnesses based on the latest evidence of an association with the herbicides referred to Agent Orange.
The illnesses affected by the recent decision are B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia; Parkinson’s disease; and ischemic heart disease.
Used in Vietnam to defoliate trees and remove concealment for the enemy, Agent Orange left a legacy of suffering and disability that continues to the present. Between January 1965 and April 1970, an estimated 2.6 million military personnel who served in Vietnam were potentially exposed to sprayed Agent Orange.
In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have a “presumed” illness don’t have to prove an association between their illnesses and their military service. This “presumption” simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits.
The Secretary’s decision brings to 15 the number of presumed illnesses recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“We must do better reviews of illnesses that may be connected to service, and we will,” Shinseki added. “Veterans who endure health problems deserve timely decisions based on solid evidence.”
Other illnesses previously recognized under VA’s “presumption” rule as being caused by exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War are:
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Acute and Subacute Transient Peripheral Neuropathy
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AL Amyloidosis
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Chloracne
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Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
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Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
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Hodgkin’s Disease
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Multiple Myeloma
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Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
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Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
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Prostate Cancer
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Respiratory Cancers, and
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Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma,
or Mesothelioma)
Additional information about Agent Orange and VA’s services and programs for Veterans exposed to the chemical are available at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange.
2. VA Medical Advanced Funding Passes Senate, Heads to President for Signature-The long-sought goal of providing continuous and reliable funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs medical care programs has almost become a reality this week. All that is needed now is President Obama’s signature.
This came about as the Senate passed a bill to authorize appropriations one year in advance of the start of each fiscal year for the medical services, medical support and compliance, and medical facilities of the Veterans Health Administration.
TREA has long supported full funding for VA health care and we believe this new legislation will get us to that goal. It has been necessary because Congress consistently failed to pass the VA funding budget on time. According to Congressional Quarterly, “Final appropriations for the VA have not been enacted before the start of the fiscal year in 19 of the past 22 years.” In addition, the funding was often inadequate, frequently requiring the need for supplemental funding bills to be passed.
President Obama has already indicated his support for this important change and we expect him to sign the legislation very soon.
3. It’s Now Official – No COLA Next Year-In case you missed it, the Social Security Administration made it official yesterday: there will be no COLA next year. Since the COLA for military retirees and veterans disability payments are based on the Social Security COLA, that means there will be no COLA for anyone. This is the first time there has been no COLA since automatic adjustments were instituted in 1975.
It should be noted that this is not the decision of the President or of any other single official. The COLA is set by law using a formula to determine, in essence, what the inflation rate has been and therefore what is needed to give beneficiaries the same level in terms of their purchasing power. This is the same formula that earlier this year gave beneficiaries a nearly 6 percent COLA. Over the past ten years the average COLA was 3.16 percent.
In anticipation of the official announcement from the Social Security Administration, President Obama on Thursday called for Congress to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for the lack of a COLA. The one-time payments would go to those receiving veterans benefits, disability benefits, railroad retirees and public employee retirees who don’t receive Social Security, and there would be only one payment per person.
According to the Associated Press, both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have indicated their support for the President’s proposal. House Minority Leader John Boehner said the funds to pay for the $250 payments should be taken from the unspent stimulus money that was authorized by Congress earlier this year.
The Associated Press further reported that opposition to the payments came from both sides of the political spectrum. “Social Security recipients shouldn’t get a raise next year because their purchasing power has already increased with falling consumer prices, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank.
“’Since the purpose of COLAs is to preserve beneficiaries’ purchasing power, the decline in overall prices means that beneficiaries do not need a COLA in January 2010,’ Kathy Ruffing, a senior policy analyst at the center, wrote in a report this week.
In addition, “Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H, called the $250 payments ‘inappropriate.’
“’The reason we set up this process was to have the Social Security reimbursement reflect the cost of living,’ Gregg said.
“Some advocates for seniors, however, argue that older Americans spend a disproportionate amount of their incomes on health care costs, which rise faster than consumer prices.
“The lack of a cost of living increase triggers several provisions in the law. Among them, the amount of wages subject to Social Security payroll taxes will remain unchanged. The first $106,800 of a worker’s earned income is currently subject to the tax.
“Also, Medicare Part B premiums for the vast majority of Social Security recipients will remain frozen at 2009 levels. However, premiums for the Medicare prescription drug program, known as Part D, will increase.”
4. House Health Subcommittee Examines Inappropriate Billing Practices by VA-On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs held an oversight hearing on Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) billing practices to identify why, in certain instances, it is inappropriately billing veterans for health care.
VA is authorized to collect reasonable charges from veterans’ health insurance companies to offset the cost of treatment for non service-connected conditions. However, the Subcommittee has been informed by veterans’ service organizations that VA is billing veterans and their insurers for care provided for conditions directly related to the service-connected disabilities.
Subcommittee Ranking Member Henry Brown, Jr. expressed concern that service-connected veterans are being saddled with inappropriate bills, and sought to find out what steps VA has taken to address the issue and ensure no further occurrences take place.
“It is the solemn mission of VA and the federal government to care for the men and women in uniform who sustain injuries and illnesses as a result of their service to our nation,” Brown said. “Therefore, I find it deeply troubling to hear about veterans being inappropriately billed for copayments for medical care and medications to treat service-connected conditions.”
“It is unacceptable for VA not to have and put in force policies and procedures to ensure that veterans are not frustrated and burdened by receiving inappropriate and multiple billing statements.”
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