Record Pay Increase Likely Coming For Disabled Veterans And Military Retirees In 2023
Veterans receiving disability pay from the Department of Veterans Affairs and military retirees will likely get record monthly check increases for 2023 thanks to the pace of inflation, according to a new estimate.
Some Airmen Will Be Allowed To Swap Base Assignments Again
The Air Force is working to relaunch a program that would allow service members to swap base assignments with one another, five years after a similar initiative was shut down.
Nearly 14,000 Community Pharmacies Leaving Tricare Network Next Month
By:Karen Ruedisueli, Military Officers Association of America
Many military families who use independent or community pharmacies will soon have to find an alternative source for their prescription medication needs.
Approximately 15,000 community pharmacies will leave the Tricare retail pharmacy network on Oct. 24. Nearly 400,000 beneficiaries, or roughly 4% of the Tricare-eligible population, will be affected by the change.
In 2021, there were more than 56,000 pharmacy locations in the TRICARE retail pharmacy network, including national chains, grocery chains and independent pharmacies.
Impacted beneficiaries will receive a letter from Express Scripts with a list of alternative in-network pharmacies. Walgreens and CVS remain in-network, as do many grocery store pharmacies and smaller chains. Network pharmacies can also be found using this online search tool.
After Oct. 24, beneficiaries who continue to fill prescriptions at departing community pharmacies will pay the full retail price for the medication.
To transfer a prescription, beneficiaries can:
Take their prescription bottles to another participating pharmacy in the network. The pharmacist there will contact the previous pharmacy and transfer the prescription.
Call the new pharmacy and ask the pharmacist to obtain the prescription information from the old pharmacy.
Ask their doctor to send the prescription information to the new pharmacy.
Even with the departure of community pharmacies, Express Scripts reports the Tricare retail network will continue to meet or exceed Tricare's pharmacy access standard of at least one pharmacy within a 15-minute drive of 90% of beneficiaries.
VA Awards More Than $130M In New Grant Funding To Help Homeless Veterans And Their Family Members Find Stable Housing
By:Office Of Public Affairs, VA.Gov
On Sept. 13, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it awarded $137 million in grants through VA's Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program to help Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and their families.
These grant awards supplement the previous FY 2022 SSVF grants, increase the number of Veterans who are eligible for SSVF assistance, and allow the 150 non-profit organization grantees to expand on existing services for Veterans and their families. These grants are being awarded in addition to the FY 2023 SSVF Grants, which were announced Aug. 1.
"It's our job to remove the barriers that stand between homeless Veterans and the homes they need and deserve, including rising rental costs, cumbersome rental processes and more," said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. "These grant funds will empower our trusted VA partners to help homeless and at-risk Veterans through the entire housing process - from identifying a home to affording it to making it their own."
The SSVF grant awards can be used for:
Supporting Veterans with HUD-VASH vouchers and connecting them with landlords from whom to rent.
Providing incentives to encourage landlords to rent to Veterans. Grantees will be permitted to provide up to the equivalent of two months' rent to landlords as a fee for any lease of not less than one year when necessary to assist a Veteran in remaining in or obtaining permanent housing.
Providing additional funds for move-in expenses to improve Veterans' quality of life by giving them essential items and home furnishings to help turn their house into a home.
Expanding program eligibility by lifting the income limit for participants from 50% to 80% of the Area Median Income in designated communities. This is significant because Veterans who previously may not have been eligible for assistance due to income restrictions can now receive assistance with identifying and obtaining permanent housing from SSVF grantees' housing navigators.
In fiscal year 2021, SSVF served 114,175 participants, including 80,049 Veterans and 19,266 children.
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, by the end of the week, lawmakers are anticipated to agree on a 12-week budget extension to prevent a partial government shutdown that would start on October 1. The fiscal 2023 full-year spending plan is still unfinished, and substantive discussions about it are most likely to wait until after the election. However, the Senate's break is only expected to last one week before lawmakers return for a limited pre-election slate of work. The House is not expected to return to Washington, D.C. until mid-November. The annual defense authorization measure will be advanced at that time, the Senate leaders have previously stated.
The House has already approved the must-pass measure, which covers the Defense Department's pay authorizations and spending priorities, and it is anticipated to be completed before the end of December.
In addition, The cost-of-living pay adjustment, or COLA, for VA disability pay and military retirement is normally linked to the change in the Social Security rate, which is anticipated to be published in October. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan organization that advocates for seniors, has made an early projection based on data on national inflation that predicts rates will rise by 8.7%. Officials from that group estimated 9.6%, so this is a little less than that. The Department of Labor issued year-to-date data on which the estimates are based.
According to a TSCL press release, despite the minor projected decline, the increase would still be the greatest that veterans and seniors have enjoyed since 1981, when it rose by 11.2% to keep up with inflation at the time. Military retirees' monthly retirement payments would climb by an average of more than $219 if the projected 8.7% comes to be for 2023. Veterans receiving disability benefits from the VA would also experience a boost in their monthly disability payments, with an average increase of more than $136 per month.
And lastly, Five years after a comparable initiative was discontinued, the top enlisted leader of the Air Force, Chief Master Sergeant JoAnne Bass, teased the policy change to reopen the program that would permit service personnel to switch base assignments with one another. this week in National Harbor, Maryland, at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference of the Air and Space Force Association.
"These changes are the result of Airmen from our Enlisted Assignment Working Group taking a holistic look at this process, identifying areas that needed updates and working with Air Force Personnel Center to make it happen," Bass said in a press release. "I couldn't be more proud of the work done to get these changes into the hands of our Airmen."
According to a Wednesday Air Force press statement, the assignment swap program would allow volunteers "to replace members selected for deployment, or the exchange of assignments after selection." With the same Air Force Specialty Code, skill level, grade or predicted grade, and unique experience identifier, it would only apply to grades E-8 and lower. In a statement to Military.com, the Air Force Personnel Center said that more information is still being worked out and is not currently available.
And that's the way it is for Tuesday, September 27, 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!
