May 26, 2022 Share this on: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
  Breaking News  
   
 

Sweeping Changes To VA's Medical Facilities Across America On Hold Due To Missing Nominee

 

 

 

The Veterans Affairs Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission has only eight months left to finalize its report on the fate of hundreds of department hospital and clinic closures across the country, recommendations that could reshape veterans care in America for decades to come.

To read more, please click here.


 

Cuts To Cost-of-Living Allowances 'Make It Hard Just To Exist', Military Families In Germany Say 

 

 

When the Pentagon announced significant cuts to cost-of-living allowances this summer for service members and their families stationed in Germany, many stared at stacks of bills and were utterly confused.

To read more, please click here.


 

VA Offers $20 Million In Prizes For New Ideas To Reduce Suicides Among Veterans 

 

 

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs is launching a contest that will dole out $20 million in prizes to entrants with the best ideas for reducing the thousands of veteran suicides that occur in the U.S. each year.

To read more, please click here.


 
  AFSA on the Hill  
   
 

AFSA Releases FY22 NDAA Executive Summary, Grassroots Guide

By: M&G Team

For those who are unfamiliar, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is an omnibus package that provides the authorization of appropriations for an abundance of programs, departments, and policies pertinent to national defense, security, and quality of life.

This bill can be up to 1,000 pages long and contains many quality of life provisions that impact service members past and present and their families.

Since FY2020, the AFSA M&G Team has provided NDAA Summaries that can be viewed on the AFSA HQ website here or by clicking on the image below.

This year, for the FY22 NDAA, the AFSA is proud to present our first ever NDAA Executive Summary that has a video component - as well as a grassroots guide. 

By visiting hqafsa.org/ndaalegislation.html, you will have access to the 50+ page Executive Summary, 4-part video guide, and 7 targeted Call To Actions where we are urging you to contact your elected officials in support of AFSA-backed legislation for the FY23 NDAA.

In short, the FY22 NDAA contained 52 legislative gains, 15 provisions of neutrality, and 7 provisions of opposition. Just a few of the key legislative gains are as follows:

  • 2.7% pay-raise secured
  • Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) established
  • Medical billet cuts suspended
  • Category of bereavement leave created
  • Reserve incentive pay parity achieved
  • Postpartum care under TRICARE enhanced
  • Suicide Prevention Independent Review commissioned
  • Military spouse employment fellowship program launched
  • Mental health appointment scheduling pilot initiated
  • Sexual harassment placed on continuum of harm
  • Impact aid funding maintained
  • Family violence prevention and response activities improved
  • Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) feasibility study instigated
  • Afghanistan War Commission organized
  • EFMP enhanced

We encourage you to visit the AFSA HQ website today (hqafsa.org/ndaalegislation.html) to read the summary, watch the video guide, and engage in the Call to Actions our M&G Team has identified!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out at milgov3@hqafsa.org.


 
  Legislative Action Center  
   
 

Support the Care for the Veteran Caregiver Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92824/respond

Legislation Summary

  • Updates the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by requiring the VA to continue providing assistance to a family caregiver for at least six months after the death of a veteran participating in the program.
  • Requires the VA to establish a process by which veterans who are determined to have the most significant need for caregiver assistance are permanently eligible for such assistance.
  • Requires the VA to standardize the criteria used across all facilities in its required evaluations of the needs of the veterans and the skills of the family caregiver.
  • Standardizes criteria used in accepting and evaluating applications for participation in the program across all facilities.

Support the CHAMPVA Children's Care Protection Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92822/respond

Legislation Summary

This bill provides that a child shall be eligible for medical care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) until the child's 26th birthday, regardless of marital status.

Support the AUTO for Veterans Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92795/respond

Legislation Summary

The Advancing Uniform Transportation Opportunities for Veterans "AUTO" Act would reduce the financial burden incurred by virtue of military service by ensuring severely disabled veterans receive a grant from the VA's Automobile Assistance Grant program to purchase a specially equipped vehicle once every ten years - as opposed to only once.

Support the Aid and Attendance Support Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92792/respond

Legislation Summary

The Aid and Attendance Support Act temporarily increases eligible disabled veterans' and surviving spouses' Aid and Attendance (A&A) allowance by 25%.

Support the Ensuring Survivor Benefits during COVID-19 Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92790/respond

Legislation Summary

The Ensuring Survivor Benefits During COVID-19 Act requires the VA to solicit a medical opinion to determine if a service-connected disability was the principal or contributory cause of death in situations where a veteran's death certificate identifies COVID-19 as the principal or contributory cause of death, the certificate does not clearly identify any of the veteran's service-connected disabilities as the principal or contributory cause of death, and a claim for dependence and indemnity compensation is filed with respect to the veteran.

Support the TRICARE Select Restoration Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92820/respond

Legislation Summary

The TRICARE Select Restoration Act would eliminate TRICARE Select enrollment fees for veterans who retired prior to 2018.

Support the Healthcare for Our Troops Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92819/respond

Legislation Summary

  • Ensures Reservists and National Guard members have no-fee healthcare through TRICARE Reserve Select that covers medical and dental coverage.
  • Fixes the parity gap for Reserve Component retirees receiving early retirement pay due to deployment credits making them eligible for TRICARE upon receipt of retirement pay.
  • Provides an incentive for small businesses to hire Reserve and National Guard members by ensuring their healthcare costs are covered.
  • Ensures service members can access physicals needed to be ready for no-notice deployments (which have increased over the past year).
  • Eliminates the statutory language that excludes Federal Employees Health Benefits Program eligible service members from TRICARE Reserve Select eligibility.

Support the Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92818/respond

Legislation Summary 

The Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act would:

  • Split Impact Aid's $1.1 billion request evenly over five years, across three main categories for funding: Basic Support, Federal Property, and Children with Disabilities.
  • Increase Basic Support funding by $190 million annually, meeting Impact Aid's 2019 funding requests.
  • Increase Federal Property funding proportionally to Basic Support (BSP) by allocating an additional $11 million annually.
  • Increase funding for Children with Disabilities by $9 million annually, funding $2,000 per eligible student.
  • Advance national K-12 school systems to become more equitable and meet educational needs.
  • Support military families that are especially impacted by federally tax-exempt land.

Support the Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92815/respond

Legislation Summary 

  • Modifies the extension of dependent coverage under TRICARE by allowing a dependent at the age of 26 to be covered without an additional premium.  
  • Authorizes such coverage of dependents without a premium regardless of whether they are eligible to enroll in an employer-sponsored plan.

Support Expanding TRICARE Cranial Remolding Helmet Coverage!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92802/respond

AFSA urges our nation's elected officials to support legislation that would expand the scope of TRICARE's coverage of the DOC Band Post-Op device if your baby:

  1. Is three to 18 months old; and
  2. Is diagnosed with craniosynostosis or nonsynostotic positional plagiocephaly (to include torticollis)

Support the Jobs and Childcare for Military Families Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92799/respond

Legislation Summary 

  • Allow an employer a work opportunity tax credit for hiring the spouse or domestic partner of a member of the Armed Forces.
  • Specifically, an employer may receive a tax credit equal to 40% of a new employee's first-year wages if the employer hires a service member's spouse or domestic partner (as recognized under state law or by the Armed Forces). 
  • Create programs for service members to pay for childcare on a pretax basis.
  • Specifically, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (with respect to the Coast Guard) must implement flexible spending arrangements that permit members of the Armed Forces to use basic pay and compensation to pay on a pretax basis for dependent childcare.

Support the Retired Pay Restoration Act!

Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92798/respond

Legislation Summary

  • Allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability.
  • Extends full concurrent receipt eligibility to individuals who were retired or separated after at least 20 years of military service due to a service-connected disability.

Call To Action: Share How TRICARE's coverage of the Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) Band Post-Op device negatively impact your family's quality of life!

Share your Story Here: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/Surveys/7294/Respond

Context

For the past year, our Military and Government Relations Team has been working with AFSA military families on getting legislation introduced that would expand the scope of TRICAR's coverage of the DOC Band Post-Op device if a baby:

  1. Is three to 18 months old; and
  2. Is diagnosed with craniosynostosis or nonsynostotic positional plagiocephaly (to include torticollis)

Despite unsuccessful efforts (via FOIA request) to obtain important data for the purpose of quantifying the need of this issue in the aggregate, our Team is looking to hear from the field to share your story and help have your voice heard by members of Congress.

Issue Background

  • Helmet therapy is used to gently correct the shape of babies' skulls over time.
  • Newborn babies' skulls are soft plates with spaces between them. As the baby grows, these plates grow, gradually harden, and knit together.
  • Unfortunately, there are circumstances under which the soft plates may develop a flat spot or uneven appearance. This condition is called plagiocephaly. 
  • Today, almost one in two babies (47%) is affected by some form of plagiocephaly.
  • When the baby's skull joins together too early, or in an abnormal way, this is called craniosynostosis. There are several types of craniosynostosis, depending on when the baby's skull joins together. 
  • Today, it is estimated that 1 in every 2,500 babies has craniosynostosis.
  • Positional skull deformities and/or abnormalities - whether diagnosed as a form of plagiocephaly or craniosynostosis - can have short and long term health effects on a child.
  • However, despite this, TRICARE only covers the Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) Band Post-Op device, synonymously referred to as a "molding helmet," if your baby:
  1. Is three to 18 months old; and
  2. Has had craniosynostoris surgery;
  3. But still has a misshaped skull.
  • In other words, cranial molding helmet(s) are not covered for the treatment of nonsynostotic positional plagiocephaly or for the treatment of craniosynostosis before surgery; despite medical evidence that suggests the presence or absence of congenital or acquired plagiocephaly (to include torticollis) can, at the very least, increase the risk of gross motor development.
  • In fact, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics school-aged children with moderate to severe plagiocephaly scored lower than controls on cognitive and academic measures. 
  • As a result, military families - who face unique challenges given the sacrifices that come along with serving our country - have been put in the tragic position to either front the hefty cost of the helmet (approximately $2,000), seek alternative forms of treatment that may not be preferred, or forego treatment altogether.

 
  AFSA Membership Information  
   
 

AFSA International Convention Website LIVE; Registration Now Open!

AFSA is proud to announce that the official website for the 2022 International Convention is now LIVE! 

Website link: https://www.hqafsa.org/convention22.html

AFSA will be celebrating 75 years of air power by recognizing yesterday's sacrifice, today's service, and tomorrow's opportunity.

The 2022 International Convention & Family Reunion will convene in Las Vegas, Nevada at:

Convention Center Tropicana, Las Vegas, Nevada

3801 S Las Vegas Blvd, 

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Register to attend the AFSA Convention here now!

Early Registration: April 1 - May 31 at $250.00

Regular Registration: June 1 - July 31 at $275.00

Late Registration: August 1 - August 4 at $300.00

AFSA Int'l Convention ONLY (Arrive Saturday, August 7) This Registration Fee includes the following: Access to discounted hotel room rates, seminar/briefings, refreshments, Info Expo, Convention Theme Party, Welcoming Ceremony, and the AFSA International President's Dinner. However, if you are NOT an AFSA member, this registration fee does NOT grant you access to the AFSA's Member Appreciation Hospitality Room(s). This Convention Registration DOES NOT include hotel reservations. 



Greetings AFSA Division and Chapter Leadership,

We are pleased to share the AFSA Set-It-Forever/Auto Pay procedures and marketing materials to help share the process with our members, your membership and potential new recruits.

The Set-It-Forever/Auto Pay program creates an opportunity to JOIN AFSA or RENEW a membership by making a $36 once-a-year/every-year auto payment, or a $4-each-month/every- month auto payment. The $36 once-a-year option is set at $36, and the $4-a-month option includes a bank processing fee of $1 each month.

Review the two ways to enroll, the benefits to using the auto-pay option, and the marketing materials to help share the details of this program and ensure its success.

For more information, please click here.

For questions, please contact AFSAHQ Member & Field team at 800-638-0594 x 288.


Please Update Your Contact Information Today!

Dear Air Force Sergeants Association Member,

In order for the AFSA to effectively communicate with our members, it is essential to ensure we have your current and / or valid e-mail address. 
 
We are in the process of updating our records and need your help! Please take a moment to ensure that we have your most current mail and email address (no .mil's); and accurate membership listing information.

We've made it easy, as you can update your information in either one of three ways: 

  1. Call Member & Field Relations team directly at 800-638-0594 x 288 (Mon. - Fri. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST)
  2. Email to: msvcs@hqafsa.org
  3. Visit www.hqafsa.org and select the UPDATE button on the right

We thank you in advance for your support and prompt updates.


 
  And that's the way it is...  
   
 

In sum, only eight months remain for the Veterans Affairs Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission to complete its report on the destiny of hundreds of VA hospitals and clinics around the country, recommendations that could transform veterans' care in America for decades. However, they have yet to begin their task.

According to legislation passed by Congress in 2018, the panel, which is intended to be an independent arbitrator looking at where new VA medical centers should be established and where aging ones should be decommissioned, was supposed to begin meetings and site visits in February.

In other news, this summer, the Pentagon announced major reductions in cost-of-living allowances for service members and their families stationed in Germany. In response, spouses in Germany are saying the country is currently unaffordable to live in due to rising utility costs, reduced access to child care, and gas prices comparable to those in the United States. Our team is looking into this situation further to understand the severity of the financial solvency (or lack thereof) being experienced by military families.

And lastly, the Department of Veterans Affairs is holding a competition in which contestants with the greatest ideas for lowering the thousands of veteran suicides that occur in the United States each year will be awarded $20 million in awards. For more information, please review the news story located in the Breaking News section in this edition of the M&G-B.

And that's the way it is for Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Stay tuned for our next M&G-B, where we will continue to keep you in the loop on all things pertinent to the coronavirus, veterans, active-duty members, guards and reservists, and military family members. Stay happy, and stay healthy!