NewsBytes August 18, 2023
In this issue:
CBO Asks Congress to Enact New TRICARE Fees!
State AGs Ask Congress to Pass GUARD VA Act
Sailors Accused of Spying for China
CBO Asks Congress to Enact New TRICARE Fees!
David Mosher, Director of National Security Analysis for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee (SASC-P) on reducing the Department of Defense compensation costs. In his written testimony he urged Congress to enact a new TRICARE for Life (TFL) annual enrollment fee of $575 for individual coverage or $1,150 for family coverage. TFL beneficiaries would also be required to pay the first $850 and 50 percent of the next $7,650 in cost annually. Currently, TFL beneficiaries do not pay an annual enrollment fee. Further, the CBO recommends increasing retirees TRICARE Prime annual enrolment to $650 for individual coverage and $1,300 for family coverage. TRICARE Select beneficiaries would pay an annual enrollment fee of $485 for individual coverage and $970 for family coverage.
The FRA opposes TRICRE fee increases. In earlier testimony to SASC-P, the FRA noted that healthcare is one of the most important elements of the military compensation and a key to retention and recruitment. The association notes that most TFL beneficiaries are on fixed income and cannot absorb substantially higher health care costs. Retiree health care coverage is an essential compensation package a grateful nation provides to the small fraction of the population who agree to subordinate their personal and family lives to protecting our nation for so many years. Although no legislative proposal has been introduced, members are strongly urged to use the FRA Action Center to ask their legislators to oppose these CBO proposals.
State AGs Ask Congress to Pass GUARD VA Act
The National Association of Attorneys General dispatched a letter to Congressional leaders on behalf of a bipartisan group of 44 state attorneys general urging the passage of the “Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act” (H.R.1139, S.740). The letter to congressional leaders claims that the “GUARD VA Benefits Act” would remove the ability of unaccredited, unregulated, and often unscrupulous actors to target and prey upon those veterans with impunity. It holds them accountable not just to the law but also to the veterans and their families by giving them options for redress with civil litigation.
Unaccredited claims representatives are not subject to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) standards. Federal laws and regulations prohibit anyone from assisting a veteran in the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a VA benefit claim, or charging a fee for this assistance, without accreditation from VA's Office of General Counsel. However, VA and other federal agencies are limited in their ability to enforce existing law because explicit criminal penalties were stripped from statute nearly two decades ago. This has contributed to the proliferation of unaccredited claims representatives in recent years. This legislation will discourage companies from operating outside the bounds of federal law and will give VA and other agencies an additional tool to protect veteran claimants from predatory practices.
Members can weigh in on this issue through the FRA Action Center online.
To view Attorneys General letter, go online.
Sailors Accused of Spying for China
A federal indictment was recently filed against a San Diego-based U.S. Navy sailor charged with espionage for allegedly passing sensitive military secrets about U.S. warships and personnel to a Chinese intelligence officer. A second indictment was also filed in Los Angeles against another sailor accused of accepting bribes for spying for China. Both men are naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in China. Officials did not disclose a link between the two cases or say whether their alleged handler was the same intelligence officer.
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