Big Unemployment Rate Drop For Post-9/11 Vets, Lowest In More Than 3 Years
The unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans dropped in August to 1.9%, the lowest in more than three years in another sign that the jobs market remains strong despite inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
VA To Provide Abortions, Counseling For Cases Of Rape, Incest And Medical Complications From Pregnancy
The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to offer abortion services to veterans and dependents covered by VA health care in cases of rape, incest and danger to the life or health of the mother, officials announced Friday.
Fuel Leak Ruins NASA's 2nd Shot At Launching Moon Rocket
NASA's new moon rocket sprang another dangerous fuel leak Saturday, forcing launch controllers to call off their second attempt to send a crew capsule into lunar orbit with test dummies.
Air Force Leaders Pledge To Fix Hated myEval Software
By: Rachel S. Cohen I MilitaryTimes.com
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass speaks to airmen during the 2022 Air Force Sergeants Association Professional Education and Development Symposium in San Antonio Aug. 18.
The Department of the Air Force in January promised to launch a modern app as the centerpiece of an effort to transform how troops are judged on their work each year. Instead, airmen and Space Force guardians got poorly tested, confusing and erratic new software called myEval.
Nine months into the myEval rollout, senior leaders are delaying other updates to officer and enlisted evaluations. They vow to fix the program's shortcomings.
"I think everyone would say it's not as well-executed as it could be," Gen. David Allvin, the Air Force's vice chief of staff, said Thursday. "We own that."
Allvin and the Air Force's top enlisted official, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass, discussed the rank-and-file's hatred of myEval in a live Facebook chat Friday.
"When it achieves what it was intended to, it's going to be awesome," Allvin said.
The Air Force and Space Force wanted myEval to replace the former system, known as vPC, as a more automated, cloud-based database for performance evaluations.
It would offer features that have become standard in commercial software, like click-to-sign functionality. The system is also supposed to automatically pull in information from the centralized personnel data system and other programs like myFitness, which tracks airmen's fitness test scores.
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!
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!
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.
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:
Is three to 18 months old; and
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
Allowsthe receipt of both military retiredpay 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!
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:
Is three to 18 months old; and
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:
Is three to 18 months old; and
Has had craniosynostoris surgery;
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.
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 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:
Call Member & Field Relations team directly at 800-638-0594 x 288 (Mon. - Fri. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST)
Email to: msvcs@hqafsa.org
Visit www.hqafsa.org and select the UPDATE button on the right
We thank you in advance for your support and prompt updates.
In sum, The Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday that the jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans fell in August to 1.9%, the lowest in more than three years and another indication that the jobs market is still solid despite inflation.
According to the monthly BLS report on employment, the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the group that has experienced the most volatility since the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020, significantly decreased from 3.4% in July to 1.9% in August, the lowest level since the 1.7% recorded in April 2019. This group has experienced the greatest volatility since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
In addition, According to officials, the Department of Veterans Affairs will provide abortion services to veterans and families who are eligible for VA health care in cases of rape, incest, and threat to the mother's life or health.
The VA announced late on Thursday that it would end the prohibition on abortion counseling and make exceptions to its ban on abortions at VA medical facilities and through its Civilian Health and Medical Program, or CHAMPVA. The modification grants VA doctors the first-ever opportunity to carry out abortions on federal territory, even in areas where it is prohibited.
Denis McDonough, secretary of the VA, has insisted that the department has always been legally able to offer counseling and abortions. He claims that this is because the services are not "statutorily prohibited" and are merely not covered by the department's medical insurance. According to VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the new regulation would include the services in the list of benefits to ensure that veterans would be able to get abortions in the situations specified.
And lastly, Launch controllers were forced to abandon their second attempt to launch a crew capsule into lunar orbit with test dummies on Saturday after NASA's new moon rocket suffered another hazardous fuel leak. Leaks of hydrogen from the 322-foot rocket, the most powerful NASA has ever built, ruined the first attempt earlier in the week as well.
When NASA might try again was not immediately known. A two-week launch blackout period begins on Tuesday. The rocket may need to be pulled off the launch pad and back into its hangar for extensive fuel leak repairs, which might delay the mission until October. Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team attempted to stem the leak on Saturday using the same method they used to stop and start the flow of super-cold liquid hydrogen in an effort to close the gap around a supply line seal. In fact, they tried that twice and also ran helium through the line. However, the leak continued.
After a failed attempt that lasted three to four hours, Blackwell-Thompson eventually stopped the countdown.
And that's the way it is for Tuesday, September 6, 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!
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