TREA WASHINGTON UPDATE FOR DECEMBER 4, 2009
Congress returned to Washington to find that none of the problems have changed. (With the possible exception that at the next State Dinner guests may have to give DNA samples before entering the White House - just a joke.) Again, everything in Washington is health care; health care; health care. And now: Afghanistan and the troop increase. After two days of hearings it seems clear that Congress will appropriate funds to pay for the new strategy, but it is not yet clear what pot they are going to take the money from.
PLEASE REMEMBER: Monday is December 7th and Pearl Harbor Day. Please stop during the day and remember. (Also please see an invitation to a commemoration in Washington on Monday.)
1) “Medicare Doctors Fix” and What it Means for TRICARE Recipients
2) December 7th, 1941 : “A Day That Will Live in Infamy”
3) Department of Veterans’ Affairs Announces New Survey
4) Lawmakers Introduce Cold War Service Medals Act
5) Planned Calendar for the House of Representatives
6) Census Bureau Looking for Part-Time Census Takers
7) Last Doughboy Seeks WWI Memorial on Mall
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1) “Medicare Doctors Fix” and What it Means for TRICARE Recipients - As TREA carefully watches the health care debate our concern is about any proposals that would affect military retirees and their families or survivors. While Medicare cuts have been a long-time concern (since TRICARE for Life is second payer after Medicare) the most immediate concern is the “doctors fix” for Medicare.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill (HR3961) that would both stop the scheduled 21% physician cut and would restructure the Medicare doctor payment structure in the future. The present formula was passed in 1997 and called for yearly cuts, but Congress overrode the law each year and blocked the cuts in payments. Adding together those yearly cuts that were supposed to have occurred has led to the present 21% total potential cut that we are facing.
The new formula would base physician payments on five years of spending and would then call for two separate updates: one for evaluation, management and preventive services; and another for other services.
There are two reasons why this new formula is critical to TRICARE beneficiaries. The first is that TRICARE for Life beneficiaries’ first payer is Medicare and the second wrap around payer is TRICARE. If doctors find the Medicare payment too low they may stop taking any Medicare patients. Since doctors are also required to accept TRICARE patients if they accept Medicare patients they could also drop all TRICARE patients if they wished. Even more likely is that doctors could keep the Medicare/TRICARE patients they have but refuse to accept any new ones. This would make it much harder to find the doctor you want.
Secondly, TRICARE payment rates are based on Medicare rates (though often dramatically lower in negotiated networks) and this too could make it much harder to find new doctors.
The Senate has yet to act but they must do something soon. (In past years Congress has delayed the cuts early in the new year.) This is something we all need to continue to watch.
2) December 7th: “A Day That Will Live in Infamy” - Next Monday there will be the first Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration at the National World War II Memorial in Washington DC. The commemoration will start at 7:45 a.m. (the exact time of the attack was 7:53 a.m.) At least 2 survivors are expected to be there. Below please find the announcement with the location etc. Hopefully, some of you who live in the Washington, D.C., area may be able to attend.
The National Park Service and Friends of the National World War II Memorial will conduct a special commemorative event at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:53 AM in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. The ceremony will pay special recognition to all World War II veterans of and especially those who were stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
It will be Washington’s first official Pearl Harbor Day event for 2009, beginning with the posting of colors by the Military District of Washington’s Armed Forces Color Guard, a special program consisting of musical selection by the United States Army Brass Quintet and wreath layings at the Gold Stars on the Memorial’s Freedom Wall.
This commemoration is produced by The National Park Service and the Friends of the National World War II Memorial. This ceremony is open to the public and there is no admission charge.
For more information pertaining to this event, please call (202) 737-0404 or visit the web site at www.wwiimemorialfriends.org
EVENT: Pearl Harbor Day at the World War II Memorial
PLACE: World War II Memorial, 17th Street, Washington, D.C.
TIME: Ceremony commences at 7:53AM ends at 9:00AM
DATE: Monday, December 7, 2009
3) Department of Veterans’ Affairs Announces New Survey - Yesterday the VA announced that they are launching a nationwide survey to see if veterans, active duty members, activated members of the Guard and Reserves, family members and survivors know about VA benefits and programs. This is the 6th similar survey. The VA is sending out 130,000 letters to screen for approximately 10,000 households to fill out the full survey. Below please see the full announcement.
Dec. 3, 2009
VA To Survey Veteran Households
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a national survey of Veterans, active duty service members, activated National Guard and reserve members, and family members and survivors to learn if they are aware of VA services.
“By hearing directly from Veterans and their family members, we gain valuable information to help us serve them better. We hope those who receive the survey will respond to it,” Secretary Shinseki said.
In addition to assessing awareness levels, the National Survey of Veterans will collect important health care, benefits, employment, and demographic information that VA will use to inform policy decisions and improve benefits. Recognizing a broader client base than just Veterans, this is the first time VA has included others, such as Veteran family members, in its survey population.
VA is mailing out survey “screeners” to more than 130,000 households to identify potential survey participants. The screener asks if anyone in the household is a member of one of the identified survey groups – Veterans, family members and survivors, active duty, Guard or Reserve members. Eligible survey participants then may be requested to participate in a full-length survey.
Participants will be able to select a preferred survey method: through U.S. mail, telephone or a password-protected Internet address. VA expects approximately 10,000 Veterans to complete the full-length survey.
This is the sixth VA National Survey of Veterans since 1978. The information collected will help VA in its efforts to design and conduct outreach to Veterans. In addition, it will provide a clearer picture of the Veteran population’s characteristics to help evaluate existing programs and policies and measure their impact.
The data collection is expected to be finished by the end of February and the final report released by December 2010.
4) Lawmakers Introduce Cold War Service Medals Act - In a column in the Washington Times yesterday, author John Fales noted that "Sens. Jim Webb, Virginia Democrat, Olympia J. Snowe, Maine Republican, Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas Democrat, and Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, recently introduced the Cold War Service Medals Act of 2009, bipartisan legislation to authorize the secretaries of the military departments to award Cold War Service Medals to American veterans."
We will keep you updated on this legislation as it works its way through Congress.
5) Planned Calendar for the House of Representatives - Congress is still saying that they expect to adjourn for the Holidays on December 18; however, there is great skepticism among Congressional observers that they will leave that soon. What is clear is when the House expects to return. On Wednesday Majority Leader of the House Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) released the legislative calendar for next year. The House will convene on January 12th 2010 and adjourn on October 8. (This gives members of the House 3 full weeks to campaign before the November 2, 2010 election.)
6) Census Bureau Looking for Part-Time Census Takers - The U.S. census bureau is now looking to hire census takers for the 2010 Census. Veterans Preference applied to these jobs. They say that most of their hiring will be next spring. If you are interested go to their Job site at: http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs/> to learn about 2010 Census jobs and download application materials, including a practice test.
7) Last Doughboy Seeks WWI Memorial on Mall
By Andrea Stone December 3, 2009 - www.sphere.com
WASHINGTON (Dec. 3) -- Frank Buckles, the only surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, was wheeled into a Capitol Hill hearing room Thursday to urge senators to sanction a memorial to his long-gone comrades on the National Mall.
When the politicians were done posing for pictures and testifying to his patriotism, the room went quiet as they waited for the 108-year-old former doughboy to speak.
"What am I supposed to say?" Buckles softly murmured.
Tell them why the District of Columbia World War I Memorial should be rededicated as a national memorial, his daughter, Susannah Buckles Flanagan, whispered into his hearing aid.
"Oh, it is an excellent idea," Buckles declared.
Sen. Mark Udall, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee that oversees national parks, beamed. "I'm tempted to adjourn this meeting right now," the Colorado Democrat said.
He did not, as there were others waiting their turn to testify against rededicating the neglected, tumbledown memorial that honors 499 District residents who died in the "Great War." But by then, the scrum of cameras was gone.
Buckles, who lives on a farm in Charles Town, W.Va., with his daughter and her husband, has become the still-living symbol of World War I. There may be grander World War I memorials elsewhere. And some D.C. residents may not appreciate having their "little memorial" -- as Flanagan calls it -- taken over. But few can resist "the last man standing," as his home-state senator, Jay Rockefeller, calls Buckles.
Before Buckles stopped giving interviews, the media flocked to his farm to be regaled with war stories. Buckles, who joined the Army when he was just 16, has been honored at the White House and the Pentagon. He was granted special permission by President George W. Bush to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery not far from his old commander, Gen. John Pershing.
About a mile from the D.C. memorial is one dedicated to Pershing, who was commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Although the memorial is on a well-trodden tourist path near the White House, Flanagan says it isn't on the more central National Mall and doesn't commemorate all 4.7 million Americans who served.
There is something special about being on the Mall. When the "war to end all wars" proved otherwise, memorials to Vietnam, Korea and, belatedly, World War II were built there. Still, "there was no historical representation" for World War I, Flanagan said. The modest D.C. memorial with its classic Doric columns was overshadowed and overlooked.
World War I deserves to be honored in the "memorial triangle" of the Mall, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
"I don't think there can be any better place," said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.
But local activists, including the National Coalition to Save Our Mall, oppose legislation supported by the World War I Memorial Foundation, of which Buckles is the honorary chairman. They note that legislation before Congress would not only refurbish the monument but would add an "appropriate sculptural or other commemorative element" to the existing structure -- a violation of a law that bans new construction on the Mall.
Paul Strauss, a "shadow" senator elected by District of Columbia residents, welcomes $7.3 million in stimulus funds set aside by the Obama administration to restore the original memorial but respectfully opposes the bill named for Buckles.
"That monument was dedicated and set forth specifically to honor the D.C. residents who died in that war without a vote," said Strauss, referring to the District's lack of representation in Congress. "To have it diluted or diminished or co-opted in any way -- there's certainly nothing wrong with building a World War I memorial for everybody -- but I don't think you should take away D.C.'s special monument for veterans who held a special status."
An official of the National Park Service testified that the federal government opposes designating the D.C. monument or any other as the official national World War I memorial until it conducts a study of all contenders.
Perhaps the strongest competitor for bragging rights is the 217-foot-tall Liberty Memorial and National World War I Museum in Kansas City. Less than 100 miles from the Missouri farm where Buckles grew up, the memorial was dedicated in 1926 by President Calvin Coolidge and designated by Congress as a national symbol of World War I in 2000.
Brian Alexander, the memorial's president, said the Kansas City tower, unlike the D.C. gazebo, was always "outward looking" -- military commanders from the five Allied nations and Gen. Pershing himself were at the groundbreaking. And Alexander noted that the family of Sgt. Alvin York, the most decorated American soldier of the war, supports the Kansas City memorial. The Medal of Honor winner's great-granddaughter was at Thursday's hearing.
Buckles was in the ambulance corps and never saw action in France. He said the D.C. memorial "should not interfere with the one in Kansas City," which he has visited and which his daughter calls "exquisite."
But when he visited the D.C. memorial for the first time last year with David DeJonge, who met Buckles while photographing the last World War I veterans and now is on the foundation board, he became convinced that his war should be honored on America's front yard like all the other conflicts of the 20th century.
And while Buckles isn't sure he'll make it to the dedication of whichever memorial is eventually designated as "national," he is looking forward.
"I'll be 109 the first of February," he said. "And I don't have any aches or pains."
Andrea Stone is a former USA Today correspondent. She has covered Washington, national and international news and has reported from 47 states, 28 countries, Capitol Hill and the Pentagon.
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