AFSA Participates in Priorities Meeting w/ House Armed Services Committee Lead Staff; Vocalizes Support for TRICARE Select Enrollment Fee Elimination In anticipation of the unveiling of the Administration's "skinny budget" for fiscal year 2022, AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, along with other members of the Military Coalition's (TMC) Health Care Committee, participated in a meeting with leading staff members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss leading priorities of the TMC Health Care Committee leading into the budgetary process for FY2022. In short, the Coalition as a whole vocalized strong opposition to any additional TRICARE fees in this upcoming budget. As you may be familiar, as of January 1, retirees using TRICARE Select have been set to pay an enrollment fee equating to $150/year for an individual and $300/year for a family. Additionally, retirees have also been forced to pay a $30 copay for a primary care visit or urgent care visit at a network physician, or 25% of the cost for non-network care, as well as $45 or 25% at a network or non-network specialty care provider. Joining hand in hand with our nation's service members past and present and their families, over the past four years, Congress has worked with the AFSA and other MSO's/VSO's to reject alternative proposals that called for an even higher beneficiary cost share than that currently scheduled for January 1, 2020; including enrollment fees of up to $900 and a proposed TRICARE for Life enrollment fee that would have charged Medicare-eligible retirees an annual enrollment fee equal to 2% of their gross retired pay. In fact, very recently, Senate Veterans Affairs Chairman Jon Tester and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowsi introduced S.625, the TRICARE Select Restoration Act. This bi-partisan, AFSA supported legislation would reinstate full health care protections for veterans by eliminating TRICARE Select enrollment fees for veterans who retired prior to 2018. "No military retiree should ever be at risk of losing their health care coverage-especially during a global pandemic," said Tester. "Our bipartisan bill will ensure that retired veterans aren't burdened by costly enrollment fees that put themselves and their family's health care in jeopardy. This legislation is a critical step in supporting more folks during these tough times, and I'll keep fighting until every man and woman who has selflessly served our nation has access to affordable, high-quality care." Text of the TRICARE Select Restoration Act can be found HERE. Two weeks ago, after thorough review and analysis, AFSA's Executive Director, Keith Reed, formally sent a letter to Chairman Teter and Senator Murkowsi vocalizing support for this bill. To read the letter, please click here. The AFSA stands at the ready to support this legislation. In the coming weeks, our Team will be unveiling an advocacy campaign in support of pending legislation that would provide remedies to the challenges faced by beneficiaries whom this fee especially impacts. Moreover, a heavy emphasis was placed on AFSA and TMC opposition to any cuts or reductions to medical billets. If you are unfamiliar, the FY2020 and 2021 administration budget requests proposed reducing military medical end strength by nearly 18,000 billets, an 18% cut to uniformed medical personnel. To this point, there has been minimal visibility on planned cuts even though Sec.719 of the FY2020 NDAA required a report to Congress including detailed reviews, analysis, metrics, and mitigation impacts. Any such cuts, especially during the current pandemic, are strongly opposed by the AFSA - and this priority was strongly reflected in the conversation held with HASC staff. If you have any additional questions about this meeting or about the AFSA's health care priorities for the first session of the 117th Congress, please reach out to Matthew at mschwartzman@hqafsa.org.
AFSA to Attend Camp Lejeune Act Roundtable Later today, AFSA's Policy Advisor, Matthew Schwartzman, will be attending a roundtable with Representative Cartwright, Colonel Ray Celeste from Representative Monroe's office, and other MSO's/VSO's to discuss the Camp Lejeune Act, legislation introduced just last week. For those who are unfamiliar, between 1952 and 1987, thousands of Marines, family members, civilian workers, and other personnel lived and worked at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. As a part of their everyday life, they drank, cooked with, and bathed in government-provided tap water which came from wells that were contaminated with harmful chemicals far above safe levels. Tragically, this caused devastating health effects, some of which include major neurological issues; infertility and birth defects; various cancers such as leukemia, kidney and male breast cancer; and death. In short, this bill would provide for recovery by individuals who were stationed, lived, or worked at Camp Lejeune. As more details on this legislation come to light, our Team will keep you informed.
VA to Nominate Maryanne Donaghy for Assistant Secretary for Accountability and Whisleblower Protection Last week, the AFSA receive notice of the White House's plan to announce the nomination of Maryanne Donaghy as A/S for the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs. A biography of Ms. Donaghy provided to our Team by the VA is as follows: Ms. Donaghy is an attorney and Senior Advisor at the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, her alma mater. She started her career as a Certified Public Accountant, attended Temple University School of Law in the evening, and practiced law in Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Donaghy was a federal prosecutor for many years, and worked both in the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Delaware, where she focused on white collar fraud. Ms. Donaghy lectured extensively during her years as a federal prosecutor on financial fraud, money laundering and corporate wrongdoing. Since leaving the Department of Justice, Ms. Donaghy has counseled numerous organizations, including non-profits, large corporations and governmental agencies, on response to federal, state and congressional investigations, and on building effective compliance programs. Among other responsibilities, she has worked with a large University involving Title IX investigations, counseled a large pharmaceutical company under federal and state investigation involving marketing practices, and provided advice to a hospital system regarding research misconduct allegations. Working with the Inspector General of Philadelphia, Ms. Donaghy established a fully functional Inspector General's Office for the Philadelphia School District. As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Delaware, Ms. Donaghy has taught accounting, law and criminal justice courses. She has participated in numerous pro bono and community service activities through her career, including as a founding committee member of the Veterans' Committee for the Delaware State Bar Association. She is married and the mother of three sons, one of whom currently serves in the Navy and another who is a Marine Corps veteran.
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