TESTIMONY OF

FREDERICK P. ATHANS, SMSgt, USAF (RET)

NATIONAL PRESIDENT

OF

THE RETIRED ENLISTED ASSOCIATION

BEFORE THE

SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

AND

HOUSE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

ON

FEBRUARY 25, 1999

Biography of Frederick P. Athans, SMSgt, USAF (Ret)

National President

The Retired Enlisted Association

National President Frederick P. Athans enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on June 1, 1951 immediately after graduating from Milford High School in Stratford, Connecticut. After completion of basic military training and aircraft maintenance school, President Athans was assigned to Korea. Following a one year tour during the Korean conflict, he returned to the United States, being assigned to Otis Air Force Base to work in the Air Defense Command (ADC). Again being assigned overseas, President Athans was assigned to Sidi Slmaine, Morrocco and RAF Bentwaters, England. He returned to the United States in 1961 and took part in the military build-up surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1966, President Athans was assigned to Vietnam. After returning in 1967, he was assigned to the Squadron Inspection and Evaluation Teams of the 1^st Air Force Headquarters at Stewart AFB, New York. President Athans then left ADC and was transferred to the Department of State’s Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG), in aircraft procurement and maintenance, in Taipei, Taiwan. President Athans again returned to Vietnam in 1972 as an advisor to Nationalist Chinese Air Force units. President Athans returned to the United States and retired from the United States Air Force in 1974 at the rank of Senior Master Sergeant.

In 1978, President Athans became a Civil Service employee, first specializing in transit aircraft maintenance, then transferring to the Commissary Service. President Athans retired from Civil Service in 1997.

He has served numerous positions within The Retired Enlisted Association including Chapter President of Chapter 29 of Rapid City, South Dakota, National Director, National First Vice President and was elected National President in September, 1998.

President Athans’ military and professional training include graduating from the NCO Academy, the Senior NCO Academy, Air Force Management School, Military Assistance and Advisory Special Training as well as attending the University of Maryland studying Business Management and Cornell University for Contract Management.

President Athans’ 12 military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star with "V" device, Vietnam Service medal as well as being awarded Outstanding Assistance Medal for Chinese Air Force, Taiwan.

President Athans and his wife, Barbara, reside in Rapid City, South Dakota.

DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL GRANTS OR CONTRACTS

The Retired Enlisted Association does not currently receive, has not received during the current fiscal year or either of the two previous years any federal money for grants or contracts. All of the Association’s activities and services are accomplished completely free of any federal funding.

Chairman Specter, Chairman Stump, Ranking Member Rockefeller, Ranking Member Evans, distinguished members of the House and Senate, it is an honor to come before you today and represent the members of The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA). This is the first time TREA has had the opportunity to testify at this hearing and it is our hope that our presence here today represents a desire of the Congress to work with all of the veteran and military service organizations in an attempt to improve the lives of our nation’s veterans and their families.

1998 was an exciting year for veterans. We saw improvements made to Veterans Preference legislation as well as re-implementation of Dependency Indemnification Compensation, commonly referred to as DIC, to widows of veterans whose subsequent remarriage has ended. We were also pleased with the expansion of the VA enrollment policy to include all veterans and are hopeful that this program will be fully funded in future years. However, for as important as these programs are, 1998 did not solve all of the problems facing veterans today.

Several pieces of legislation were left unaddressed at the close of the 105^th Congress and it is our hope that they will be dealt with as soon as possible. Perhaps first and foremost is legislation allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to bill Medicare when the VA treats Medicare patients. Commonly referred to as Medicare Subvention, this particular program can accomplish two goals: one, the VA would benefit by billing Medicare for care it may have to treat veterans for regardless of whether or not the VA would be compensated. Two, it greatly improves veterans’ access to health care. Presently, many older veterans are severely limited in their health care options. In particular, military retirees over the age of 65 are forced out of the TRICARE system. These retirees were the ones who were promised free life-time health care if they served twenty or more years in the military. We were not told that legislation passed in 1956 and 1966 effectively eliminated that benefit. In fact, recruits up until 1993 were being told of the promise of free medical care in return for a military career. Allowing those veterans to receive their health care at the VA will greatly expand the number of facilities a military retiree could turn to for care, thereby greatly improving the health care benefit offered to those who have served this nation. TREA realizes that the Medicare Subvention program also falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, however, we would certainly appreciate the support of all the members of the Veterans Affairs Committees in this process.

TREA is very pleased with the current VA policy of enrolling all veterans for health care. This is a positive step towards showing all veterans that their nation is thankful for their service. We urge that full funding be granted to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs will be able to continue to enroll veterans in future years. We do not want veterans who have enrolled in the VA to be told in one or two years time that the health care they are being guaranteed today has come to an end. We are concerned, however, that disabled veterans are not receiving their guaranteed health care. TREA has been working on a particular case where one of our members, who is rated at 70% disabled, was told there was no space available to treat his service-connected disability. This veteran, in fact, is a priority 1 veteran, those rated 50% or higher. He should not have been told there is no space available due to the large number of new enrollees into the VA system. Just as it is important that all eligible veterans have access to the VA, it is more important that veterans with service connected disabilities can receive treatment and are not told there is no space available. Promising veterans care is wonderful, but not at the expense of the current patient priority system.

Health care and disability compensation for veterans of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm are another area of concern for TREA. The concept of service connected disability is relatively simple. If you leave the military with an illness you did not have when you entered, you are no longer a "whole person" as defined by the VA and are, therefore, entitled to a disability rating and proportionate compensation. Many veterans of the Persian Gulf returned with symptoms of no particular illnesses or injury. In response, Congress passed legislation allowing the VA to compensate these veterans with undiagnosed illnesses. Currently, the VA has extended the eligibility period to

December 31, 2001 for compensation for undiagnosed illnesses in Gulf War veterans. We are certainly pleased that the VA has done this. We are also pleased that the GAO reported in 1998 that the VA has taken a number of steps to improve its processing of Persian Gulf claims (General Accounting Office, Veterans’ Benefits, Improvements Made to Persian Gulf Claims Processing). However, the work is not finished. Let us not repeat the mistakes that were made over the issue of Agent Orange twenty years ago, where many died while studies were trying to determine the cause of their illness. We may never know what happened to our men and women who served in the Gulf. But we do know that they are sick and in need of our help. I would like to thank the many members of Congress, from both sides of the aisle, who have introduced legislation calling for increased research, expansion of the list of illnesses which are service connected and other issues relating to Persian Gulf illness. I sincerely hope these veterans will not be forgotten as time goes by and memories of our nation’s efforts in 1990 - 1991 become part of history.

One lesson that has been learned through our experiences with Gulf War Illness, is the ability to track down veterans after they separate from the military. As we approach the end of the 20^th Century this nation still does not have an accurate database of all its veterans. The VA does not necessarily have a copy of the discharge papers (DD-214) for veterans who separated before 1974. That means there are, potentially, millions of veterans from World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam who are not recorded in the VA’s database. Further, once a veteran moves after they separate, their address is no longer accurate. The 21^st Century is upon us. It is time we use the technology we have developed in order to track our veterans throughout their lives. By doing so, the VA will better understand their needs and have the ability to inform veterans of their entitlements in a timely and efficient manner.

Another issue of great concern to military retired veterans is the fact that they must offset their retirement pay dollar for dollar to the amount of VA disability they receive. This issue, commonly called Concurrent Receipt, places military retirees in a class of their own when it comes to receiving VA disability. Unfortunately, this is a class that is punished for twenty or more years of military service, not rewarded for it. No other veteran, whether a federal employee or private sector employee, has their retirement offset if they receive VA disability. According to the Department of Defense, there are presently over 400,000 retired enlisted members of the uniformed services who are forced to offset their retirement. Often, these disabled veterans are unable to work due to conditions which are connected to the military service. The reward that these veterans receive is a deduction in their retirement. It is imperative that something be done to assist these veterans live better lives. The support of the members of this committee would be greatly appreciated in our efforts to gain these retirees some sort of relief.

Following along with the issue of Concurrent Receipt is the existing backlog in the processing of claims for a VA disability. The current wait is, in a word, shameful. It is an understood fact among veterans that if you do not have a Veterans Service Officer working for you, your claim will sit on the bottom of a pile, sometimes for years. Veterans with service connected disabilities should not be discouraged from applying for their earned entitlement to disability compensation because they know that the system will be working against them. TREA was pleased to hear the Department of Veterans Affairs plains to hire more claims processors in fiscal year 2000. However, we remain skeptical that these additions will have enough of an impact to truly correct this problem. The most recent figures on claims processing show that the existing backlog makes the stated goal of 74 days for a rating-related action unlikely. Further, the increasing complexity, both medically and legally, will continue to have a significant impact on timeliness. The Board of Veterans Appeals currently renders a decision within 120 days of receiving an appeal. However, the total elapsed processing time for an appeal in the first quarter of FY 99 was 968 days, and this is an improvement from FY 98! A time-frame of nearly two and one-half years is not satisfactory. TREA is pleased the VA is working to correct this delay but the fact remains that it still exists. Outside the Department of Veterans Affairs Headquarters is a quote from President Lincoln which reads, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and his widow and his orphan." In reality, many who have borne the battle do not receive what they earned for fighting in that battle. The process of filing a claim needs to be reviewed to ensure that veterans who deserve compensation receive it in a timely and efficient manner.

It is also important to remember that the payment received from the Department of Veterans Affairs is not retired pay, but compensation for a disability sustained in service to our country. Unfortunately, there are those who would like to strip this service-connected compensation from retirees. TREA is concerned with the frequent garnishment of VA disability compensation in cases of divorce. Marriages ending in divorce have become a common occurrence in our society, including the military community. In order to protect the spouses of members of the Armed Forces, Congress, in 1982, passed the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act, Public Law 97-252; 10 USC 1408. Unfortunately, this legislation which Congress assumed would help many has only damaged the lives of retirees, particularly those receiving disability. The USFSPA gives judges issuing the divorce decree the right to award up to 50% of a retirees pay to a former spouse as part of the settlement. However, judges have failed to recognize the fact that VA disability compensation is not retirement pay. Disability compensation should not be garnished to pay court-ordered obligations. Now, military retirees who are disabled, the more severely disabled the worse situation, are forced to surrender up to all of their already reduced retirement pay and a portion of their disability pension. This in spite of the fact that the USFSPA is supposed to protect disability pay from being garnished and that the United States Supreme Court reinforced this fact in its ruling in Mansel vs. Mansel in May, 1989. We recognize the fact that the issue of the Former Spouse Protection Act falls under the jurisdiction of your colleagues on the Armed Services Committee. However, it is imperative of this Committee to pass legislation which will strengthen the protections of VA disability compensation because it is obvious that they are being ignored today.

It is our hope that the 106^th Congress will address another important issue which was not acted upon during the 105^th Congress. Chairman Stump’s Arlington Burial Eligibility Act is a piece of legislation important to all veterans, not only military retirees. I would like to thank the members of the House of Representatives for their overwhelming support of this legislation during the last Congress. The controversies of 1998 concerning our nation’s most hallowed resting place are sad, and must never be allowed to happen again. The politicization of Arlington National Cemetery must never happen again. House Resolution 70 will guarantee that Arlington will remain what it was intended to be, a final resting place for military heroes. I would also like to urge Congressional support for the continued expansion of the VA Cemetery system. Some may look upon the creation of National Cemeteries as an unnecessary expense. However, as veterans, we share a common bond with others who served with us in unfriendly places far away from home. As the reality of our own mortality, and that of the generation of Americans who fought and won World War II becomes more prevalent, the need for expansion of cemeteries becomes more pressing. The General Accounting Office (GAO) reports that the years 2005 - 2010 will see the peak in veterans interments in national cemeteries. The total burials will be 40% higher than in 1995, this despite the fact that half of all national cemeteries will not be able to accommodate casket interments at new grave sites (General Accounting Office Report, National Cemetery System, Opportunities to Expand Cemeteries’ Capacities). Now is the time to act to ensure that those veterans who wish to rest alongside their comrades in arms should not have to worry about whether or not there will be space in the cemetery for them. The Department of Veterans Affairs has requested funding for a new national cemetery and full activation of three others. We hope that this request is fully funded.

TREA is also looking forward to 1999 because of the ground-breaking recommendations included in the Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance report to Congress. This report, the first review of veterans programs in over 40 years has addressed issues of tremendous concern to the military retiree community. While some recommendations are clear improvements on existing programs, other recommendations would seem to defeat the purpose of improving a veterans transition back to civilian life.

One particular area of concern for those of us who spent twenty or more years in the military is the recommendation concerning the limiting of the VA Home Loan guarantee to one use. Certainly, individuals who make the military a career may choose, at some point in time, to buy a home that meets their needs. Perhaps this may come with the arrival of a child or at a location where base housing may not be available. These servicemembers should not be forced into having to determine whether or not to buy a home while still on active duty or wait until retirement. The VA Home Loan program has been a successful program for decades. I do not doubt that a program created following World War II can use some readjustment, but to limit the program to one use will force career servicemembers into difficult decisions that their predecessors did not have to make. Instead of being a transition benefit, this could cause a difficulty veterans should not have to deal with when separating from the Armed Forces.

The Commission has also recommended significant changes to the GI Bill. The Montgomery GI Bill is certainly one of the best recruiting tools the armed forces have today. Further, the impact it has had on society has been profound as more and more Americans have had the opportunity to earn college degrees. However, the education system in this country has changed greatly over the years. College tuition increases have nearly always doubled inflation over the past few years. That has made the pursuing of a college degree much more difficult for separating servicemembers as the value of the GI Bill has, therefore, steadily decreased. Further, education itself has changed. No longer is a four year degree the only form of higher education. Often, separating servicemembers may take a course over six months which costs thousands of dollars. The Commission’s recommendation concerning the increase in the amount payable for tuition and fees along with the speeding up of payment for the GI Bill recognizes the fact that education has changed over the years.

The Retired Enlisted Association does have some concern over the transferring of benefits to a dependent of a veteran. Often, enlisted servicemembers do not have college degrees and while they are in the military do not have the time to pursue a degree. Servicemembers should not have to make the choice between themselves or their spouse or child. Finally, a veteran’s earned benefit is for the veteran.

Perhaps the greatest impact on retired members of all the Commission’s recommendations are those concerning the merging of VA and DoD health care activities. Certainly, any amount of money that can be saved on procurement of supplies or pharmaceuticals and reprogrammed into the providing of care is a step in the right direction. We would encourage the VA and DoD to work together in order to provide better care to our nation’s veterans. Further, allowing VA facilities to act as Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) for TRICARE purposes would, we believe, achieve the Commission’s stated goals of improving access and quality of care.

We were also pleased with the Commission’s stated support for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) demonstration for Medicare-eligible military retirees and the Medicare Subvention demonstration. TREA has supported both of these programs with the belief that they will improve a retirees access to quality health care.

In its fiscal year 2000 budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs requested funding for 89 new outpatient clinics as part of its $18.1 billion request for medical programs. This is a positive step in trying to expand the availability of quality care to veterans across the country. The General Accounting Office reported in December 1995 that 11% of veterans live within 5 miles of a VA hospital and 17% of veterans live within 5 miles of an outpatient clinic. Further studies show that for every 1,000 veterans who live within 5 miles of a hospital, 34 use that facility for acute or surgical care, while for every 1,000 veterans within 5 miles of an outpatient clinic, 131 use that facility (VA Health Care, How Distance From VA Facilities Affects Veterans’ Use of VA Services). We have a wonderful opportunity to use modern science to expand the number of veterans who can easily, and therefore be more likely, to receive care from the VA. The implementation of these clinics is a positive development in achieving the VA’s mission. I would urge this committee to fully fund the VA’s request for outpatient clinics this year and in future years.

However, TREA is concerned with the fact that the VA is including in its

$18.1 billion medical care budget $749 million in medical collections. This despite of a GAO report that states insurers often deny or reduce payments for a variety of reasons ranging from medically inappropriate care to the fact that HMOs often restrict payment for nonemergency care. Further, the GAO reports that recoveries dropped in FY 96 and continued to drop in FY 97. One of the reasons for this drop is identified as a declining and aging veterans population. Certainly, the current enrollment policy and the desire of the VA to treat as many veterans as possible can help curtail this decline. However, as long as insurance companies provide the VA with a stumbling block, it is too soon to plan on this funding being a significant part of the budget (General Accounting Office, VA Medical Care, Increasing Recoveries From Private Health Insurers Will Prove Difficult).

Honorable members of the House of Representatives and Senate, as veterans, we all hold ourselves in high esteem. We believe that this nation is what it is today because of our actions, and the actions of veterans that came before us. As veterans, we are pleased that our nation has created a system of programs to help us readjust to civilian life and recover from injuries sustained while in service to this nation. We urge that these programs be guaranteed the necessary funding to make them effective. Veterans often need assistance finding jobs or earning disability compensation. However, if the system is not serving those it was designed to help, then the system is broken. The GAO reports that only 8% of veterans participating in the vocational rehabilitation program are rehabilitated. This in comparison to 37% rehabilitated by the Department of Education in their state vocational rehabilitation program. Further 41% dropped out of the VA’s rehabilitation program while 32% dropped out of the Department of Education’s (General Accounting Office, Vocational Rehabilitation, VA Continues to Place Few Disabled Veterans in Jobs). Why does this discrepancy exist? If veterans are dropping out, or not displaying confidence in programs, then the programs are broken. If veterans with disabilities are being told their is "no space" for them at the hospital, the system is broken.

Members of the Committee, you are in a unique position. You can both authorize and oversee the operation of these programs. I come before you today to ask two things: one, authorize these vitally important programs fully and, two, oversee those very programs to ensure that they are serving the people they are supposed to, veterans.

Distinguished Committee members, it is an honor to come before you today and represent the members of The Retired Enlisted Association. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have at this time.