VA Issues New Warning That Default Could Have 'Catastrophic' Effects For Veterans
The Treasury Department pays $25 billion worth of bills for the Department of Veterans Affairs each month -- for veterans benefits, employee salaries, private health care, pharmacy costs and other programs like payments to small and veteran-owned companies that do business with the VA.
VA To Scale Back Remote Work Rule, Require More In-Office Time
With the national pandemic emergency officially over, Veterans Affairs leaders are moving to bring some workers back into federal offices in an effort to improve efficiency and camaraderie in the workforce.
VA Can't Account For $187 Million In Emergency COVID-19 Funding
The Department of Veterans Affairs can’t account for at least $187 million in supplementary COVID-19 funding spread across more than 10,000 transactions related to the pandemic, according to a House oversight committee.
Bill Guaranteeing Cost-Of-Living Increase For Veterans In 2024 Heads To President's Desk
By: Patricia Kime | Military.com
Legislation giving veterans a cost-of-living adjustment on benefits in 2024 -- likely to result in an increase in payments -- is headed to President Joe Biden's desk for signature following an agreement by the House.
The annual procedure made by Congress guarantees that veterans' pensions or disability payments will keep pace with increases to Social Security, Supplemental Security and federal disability income payments. The exact amount of next year's increase has not yet been determined. It's based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers and usually is announced at the start of the fiscal year, sometime in October.
However, a national advocacy group, the Senior Citizens League, is currently projecting it to be around 3.1%. Social Security recipients and veterans this year saw the largest boost to their COLAs in nearly four decades, an 8.7% rise based on the high inflation experienced in the U.S. in 2022. Some years, however, the increase is significantly smaller, and at times has been at zero -- in 2009, 2010 and 2015, according to the Social Security Administration.
The House approved the legislation without objection on Tuesday after the Senate passed it by unanimous consent on March 30. Sponsors of the bill, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2023, said Wednesday that the legislation is needed to give disabled veterans and their survivors "peace of mind" regarding their finances.
"Our veterans put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms, and they deserve certainty when it comes to providing for their families," Montana Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement.
"We have a responsibility to take care of our veterans and their families, many of whom rely on the VA for financial support," said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the committee's ranking member. "Ensuring their benefits keep pace with rising costs and inflation will help provide disabled veterans and certain surviving spouses and children with some peace of mind and provide them with the stability they deserve."
The White House has not announced when Biden plans to perform the pro forma task of signing the bill.
Review Of The Fiscal Year 2024 Budget and 2025 Advance Appropriations Requests For The Department Of Veterans Affairs
By: Press Room | VA.Gov
Message From Denis R. McDonough:
Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Moran, and distinguished Members of the Committee—thank you. VA will be strengthened by this Committee’s work. I attach great importance to our relationship, and I pledge to each of you my candor and transparency.
Let me begin with the story of a Gulf War and Marine Corps Vet. I’ll call him Gary. Gary deployed to the Persian Gulf three times. Still, after he was honorably discharged nearly 30 years ago, Gary assumed he wasn’t eligible for VA care—not until recently, when Gary heard from some fellow Vets at his local VFW post about their positive experiences with VA.
So Gary started his claims process right away. As part of his Compensation and Pension exam, Gary had a colonoscopy that showed he had previously undiagnosed colon cancer. The PACT Act covers that cancer, along with gastrointestinal cancers of any type. As a result, Gary’s claim is service-connected. He’s covered. Most importantly, he’s getting the VA care and treatment that he needs, earned, and deserves. Gary said, “This whole process probably saved my life.”
We’re hearing from many Vets who’ve shared similar stories since we’ve implemented the PACT Act. Today, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Vets like Gary than at any other time in our nation’s history. Vets had over 115 million clinical encounters in the past year, with nearly 40 million in-person VA appointments, over 31 million tele-health appointments, and 38 million community care appointments.
When it comes to benefits, we set a record last year with over 1.7 million claims completed. And we’re on track to break that record this year. Since the PACT Act was signed last August, Veterans and survivors have filed over 1.6 million claims—29.7% more than the same period last year. Moreover, Vets have filed more than 550,000 claims for toxic exposure-related benefits under the PACT Act. To date, over 3 million Vets have received toxic exposure screenings. And VA has awarded over $1 billion in earned benefits to Vets, their families, and survivors who filed PACT Act-related claims.
Veterans deserve our very best. And with the President’s proposed budget, we can continue serving them as well as they have served all of us.
This year’s budget request is $325.1 billion, the largest investment in U.S. history for Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. This year alone, that will mean:
But this budget is about more than numbers. It’s about mental health and preventing Veteran suicide, our top clinical priority, which gets $16.6 billion in this budget. It’s about ending Veteran homelessness, which gets $3.1 billion in this budget. It’s about supporting health care for women Veterans, who get over $1.2 billion in this budget. And it’s about restoring VA’s severely aging infrastructure. At nearly $10 billion of investment, this budget recognizes that the traditional approach to infrastructure funding has fallen far short of providing Veterans with modern environments of care.
No investment is more critical to our success than the investments in the people we hire and retain here at VA. So we’re increasing hiring, quickly onboarding staff, and incentivizing retention. Overall, we’ve onboarded nearly 33,000 new people at VHA this year, on our way to our goal of 52,000 new VHA employees. In fact, we hired more people at VHA in the first half of this fiscal year than in any previous year. We’ve hired 6,568 Registered Nurses, 1,216 Licensed Practical Nurses, and 1,768 Nursing Assistants—more hires in these three critical occupations than at any time in the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, VBA’s been holding regional hiring fairs to interview thousands of applicants. We extended same-day job offers to nearly 1,100 attendees, putting us on track to fill all 1,871 of the authorized PACT Act positions. Those successes mean more earned benefits to Vets and new records in delivering outcomes to Veterans. Last month we completed, for the first time ever, over 9,000 claims in a single day. We completed over 8,000 claims in a day 53 different times this year, a milestone we have reached only six times in the rest of VA’s history. And on April 14th, our VBA team completed its 1 millionth Compensation and Pension claim this fiscal year—a full month sooner than our record-breaking pace last year. That’s a testament to our incredible VA team, the best workforce in the federal government.
I’m talking about people like Phillip Lyman. Phillip grew up watching his own father, Bennie Lyman Jr., caring for Vets at the Tuskegee Campus of the Central Alabama VA. Inspired by his father’s service, Phillip chose to follow in his footsteps. Today, Phillip and Bennie have served Vets for a combined 80 years at the Tuskegee Campus. That’s the kind of deep devotion that characterizes VA’s people. Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
Below are the campaigns that are currently located on our Action Center. Please take no more than 5-10 minutes to scan through each of the campaigns and click on the custom links provided below.
The Military Spouse Hiring Act would encourage companies to employ military spouses, who frequently face disproportionate impediments in the job market, by extending the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include them.
Intends to help military spouses find better work opportunities.
Support the Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act!
Authorizes veterans with a service-connected disability of less than 50% to concurrently receive both retired pay and disability compensation.
Makes qualified disability retirees with less than 20 years of retirement-creditable service eligible for concurrent receipt, subject to specified reductions in retired pay.
Qualify approximately 42,000 military retirees with combat-related injuries to concurrently receive both military retired pay and Veterans Affairs (VA) compensation.
Provide total offset relief to veterans who suffered combat injuries or illnesses who were medically retired with less than twenty years of service.
Allowsthe 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.
Support the Military Family Nutrition Access Act of 2023!
The Military Family Nutrition Access Act was created to aid military families with active duty members who are facing food insecurity.
By eliminating Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) from the income calculations used to establish eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the bipartisan bill will combat food insecurity.
Military personnel risk their life to protect our nation; they shouldn't have to worry about providing for their families.
The Not Just a Number Act would oblige the VA to look into how veterans use their benefits in their yearly report on suicide prevention in order to assess the connection between VA benefits and suicide outcomes.
In its fight against veteran suicides, the VA evaluates which VA benefits have the best impact on preventing suicide and requires the Department to submit recommendations for an increase in such benefits.
If you have any questions, please reach out to AFSA's Military and Government Relations team at milgov3@hqafsa.org.
AFSA Professional Education, Personal Development Symposium Registration isLIVE!!!
THE SUMMIT23/AFSA International Convention Registration is LIVE!!! This year’s Summit/AFSA International Convention will convene Friday, August 4, through Wednesday, August 9,2023,(Departures: Thursday, August 10, 2023) in Dallas, Texas, at the Hilton Anatole Resort, 2201 North Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Texas. For more details, please click on the link below:
THEME:The Theme for THE SUMMIT 23/AFSA International Convention is“Back to Basics and Beyond.”
NOTE:Main arrival and registration is on Friday, August 4, 2023.
THEME PARTY/ICE BREAKER:THE SUMMIT23/AFSA International Convention Theme Party/Ice Breaker is on Friday, August 4, 2023.The Theme for the Theme Party/Ice Breaker is “Super Heroes & Sheroes.” The Dress Code for the Theme Party/Ice Breaker is:
Dust off your Cape!
WELCOMING CEREMONY: The Welcoming Ceremony is on Saturday, August 5, 2023. The Dress Code for the Welcoming Ceremony is:
Business Casual, Military Personnel on Funded TDY orders: OCPs.
AFSA PRESIDENT’S DINNER & AWARDS CEREMONY. The AFSA President’s Dinner and Awards Ceremony is on Sunday, August 6, 2023. The Dress Code for the President’s Dinner and Awards Ceremony is:
AFSA Members: Gentlemen: Tuxedo or Dark Suit, Ladies: Dress evening wear (long or short);
Military Personnel on Funded TDY Orders: Mess Dress or Semi-Formal Uniform;
Top Performer Club members (Formerly TwinFLIER, SKYHIGHER and/or HighFLIER Club members): Wear the AFSA blue blazer. If they are active-duty military members, they may wear the AFSA blue blazer, but are highly encouraged to wear their service dress uniform.
AIR & SPACE HONORS BANQUET AND CMSAF AWARDS CEREMONY. The Air & Space Honors Banquet and CMSAF Awards Ceremony is on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The Dress Code for the Air & Space Honors Banquet and CMSAF Awards Ceremony is:
Gentlemen: Tuxedo or Dark Suit,
Ladies: Dress evening wear (long or short);
Military Personnel on Funded TDY Orders: Mess Dress or Semi-Formal Uniform
THE SUMMIT23/AFSA International Convention
REGISTRATION FEE: The registration fees are as follows:
AFSA International Convention
Complete Early Registration (1 April - 31 May)$275.00
Use Promo Code: AFSAEarly to save. Expires April 30, 2023
Complete Registration (1 June - 31 July)$300.00
Complete Late Registration (1 August - 4 August) $325.00
AFSA International Convention Plus PEDs and Air & Space Honor’s Banquet
Complete Early Registration (1 April - 31 May)$325.00
Use Promo Code: AFSAEarly to save. Expires April 30, 2023
Complete Registration (1 June - 31 July)$350.00
Complete Late Registration (1 August - 4 August) $375.00
On Monday, August 7-9, there will be a full day of Professional Development. All Professional Development Forums are open to all military members on Active Duty and DoD civilian personal at no cost.
BEAUTIFUL EVENT LOCATION- Book your rooms now!The Summit 23/AFSA International Conventionis held at the Hilton Anatole, 2201 North Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Dallas, Texas where you'll find an entertainment complex designed to relax and delight you and your family. We've partnered with the Hilton Anatole to offer special AFSA/SUMMIT ROOM RATES at $154+ tax a night.
NOTE: Please identify that you are with the Air Force Sergeants Association group.
(This special rate includes the outdoor Jade Water Pool Complex with slides and a lazy river, the Verandah Fitness Club & V-Spa, dining options, and much more.)
NOTE:The last date to make hotel reservations at the AFSA contracted room rate is July 14, 2023.
Have You Read The Latest AFSA Magazine?
This edition features Port Mortuary and America’s Missing Heroes, Living with Bipolar Disorder in the Military, Fly-By Wire Defense and AFSA’s American Award Recipient – Don Ward. Read, download, print and share: https://www.hqafsa.org/fallmagazine.html
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 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, according to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, citing his boss, President Joe Biden, a default on the debt on June 1 might jeopardize all those payments and be "catastrophic." McDonough stated that any of the department's programs or payments might be "halted or severely delayed," acknowledging that such a default would be unprecedented and that the immediate, short-term, and long-term effects are unclear.
In the event of a default, around $12 billion in veterans benefits that are scheduled to be distributed to 7.1 million veterans or their families on June 1 will likely be postponed, according to analysts.
However, other payments can also be impacted, according to McDonough. They are as follows: $2.6 billion to healthcare providers who treat 900,000 veterans as part of the community care program; $1.8 billion to medical and non-health contractors; $835 million for pharmacy expenses for 57,000 payments; $3 billion for other costs, including payments to small and veteran-owned businesses; and $4.8 billion in wages for 451,000 VA employees.
In addition, tens of thousands of VA employees could have their new work patterns disrupted by the plan, many of whom have become accustomed to remote work hours that do away with inconveniences like long commutes and dress standards at the office.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough informed department personnel on Wednesday that the new rules would be implemented this autumn for workers in the Washington, D.C. area. Every employee will have to spend at least 50% of their time at work. In the upcoming weeks, strategies for dividing up in-office and remote work for various locations will be devised.
And lastly,Congress and the VA are in conflict over how the department used an additional almost $37 billion in funding for the COVID-19 epidemic. Leaders of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on both sides of the aisle have criticized the administration for failing to account for every penny.
During a hearing that was derailed by GOP squabbling over the department's rhetoric regarding debt ceiling legislation, Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., and ranking member Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., praised the department for its overall pandemic response but criticized the VA for its inability to account for the money.
And that's the way it is for Thursday, May 25, 2023.
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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