RAO BULLETIN
15 February 2009
THIS BULLETIN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES
== ECS 2009 [01] ----------------- (Approved by Conferees)
== Mobilized Reserve 10 FEB 09 --------------- (1943 Decrease)
== VA COLA 2010 --------------------- (Legislation Introduced)
== VA Health Care Funding [18] ----- (Legislation Introduced)
== VA Emergency Care [03] --------------- (Vet Gap Coverage)
== Vet Cemetery Alaska ------------------------------ (Fairbanks)
== Computer Keyboards ------------------------------- (Cleaning)
== Estate Planning [01] ------------- (Tax-deferred Investments)
== Tricare Hospital Payment System -------- (Change Delayed)
== Tricare Panama Rates --------- (New Provider Fee Schedule)
== Cancer Statistics ---------------------- (1999–2005)
== Filipino Vet Inequities [13] ---- (ECS Committee Decision)
== FAA Data Breach ----------------------------- (45,000 at Risk)
== Tricare Survivor Benefit [02] ---------- (Lifetime Coverage)
== VA Home Loan [15] ---------------- (Avoiding Foreclosure)
== LA Veterans Honor Medal ----------------------- (Eligibility)
== Dependency & Indemnity Compensation ------- (Overview)
== CSRS Survivor Annuity --------------------------- (Loophole)
== Fisher House Expansion [04] ------------- (New LA Facility)
== Independent Budget ----------------- (VA $4.5B Hike Urged)
== Vet Cremains [02] ------------------------------ (New NJ Law)
== WWII Vet's Shocking Death --------- (Frozen Body Found)
== IRS Collection Policy [03] -------- (Obama Orders Review)
== SBP DIC Offset [12] ---------------------- (New Bill H.R.775)
== GI Bill [37] ------------------ (Yellow Ribbon Program)
== Postal Service ------------------------ (May Postage Increase)
== Mississippi Vet Cemetery ---------------- (Completion 2011)
== Tax Tips 2008 -------------------------------- (Overview)
== Tax Tips 2008 [01] ---------------------- (Homeowners’)
== Tax Tips 2008 [02] -------------------------- (Investors’)
== VA Claims Backlog [21] -------- (Shinseki Pledges Change)
== VA Claims Backlog [22] ---------- (Surge Strategy Needed)
== Burn Pit Toxic Emissions [04] ---------- (VA to Investigate)
== Tricare User Fee [29] ------------ (Increase Prevention Bill)
== Tricare User Fee [30] ---------- (Budget Committee Review)
== Tricare User Fee [31] ---------------------- (No Decision Yet)
== COBRA [01] ---------------------- (ECS 2009 Impact)
== Obama VA Officials ---------------------- (Deputy Secretary)
== Obama VA Officials [01] ------------ (VBA Undersecretary)
== Obama VA Officials [02] ------ (Intergovernmental Affairs)
== TSP [13] --------------------------- (Bleak January)
== WW1 Vet Search [04] ------------------ (Buckles Turns 108)
== Mesothelioma ---------------------------- (Overview)
== Asbestosis ------------------------------- (Overview)
== Veteran Legislation Status 13 FEB 09 --- (Where we Stand)
===============================
ECS 2009 UPDATE 01: The final stimulus package agreed to by House and Senate
conferees was pared back from what both the House and Senate had passed earlier,
but is still a massive $789 billion package that includes funding for a variety
of initiatives that will affect the military community in one way or another.
Following is a summary of selected provisions:
• Federal Income Tax Rebate: Working employees (including the self-employed)
would see a reduction in federal income tax withholding and liability of up to
$400 (single) or $800 (married filing joint return). This tax credit would be
calculated at 6.2% of earned income, up to the capped amount. The credit would
phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes above $75,000 (single) or
$150,000 (married joint return).
• Special Payment: Social Security annuitants, disabled veterans, and certain
others would be eligible for a one-time $250 payment. Anyone who is eligible for
this payment and also eligible for the federal income tax rebate mentioned above
would have the $250 deducted from the latter in determining the end-of-year tax
liability.
• Military Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP): HAP benefits (normally payable
only at BRAC locations) are extended to certain military homeowners who bought
homes before 1 JUL 06 and who sell the homes before 30 SEP 12. To qualify the
person must have received PCS orders or must have incurred a service-caused
condition during a deployment in that period that caused disability retirement.
For a member who died during a deployment, the surviving spouse is eligible. The
HAP authorizes the government to reimburse the homeowner for a loss on the sale
up to 95% of the original value, or to purchase the home for up to 90% of the
original value. Market values are determined by the Defense Department.
• Education Tax Credit: Taxpayers with college education expenses would receive
a tax credit of up to $2,500 for the cost of tuition, books, and related
expenses during 2009 and 2010. The credit would be 100% of the first $2,000 and
25% of the next $2,000. The credit would phase out for taxpayers with adjusted
gross incomes above $80,000 (single) or $160,000 (married).
• First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit: For 2009, the credit would be 10% of the
purchase price, up to a maximum for $8,000. The previous requirement for
homeowners buying homes after January 1, 2009 to pay the money back would be
removed, unless the house is sold within three years of purchase.
• Vehicle Sales Tax Deduction: Taxpayers purchasing a new car, light truck, RV
or motorcycle in 2009 will be able to deduct state and local sales and excise
taxes paid on the vehicle. The deduction will phase out for taxpayers with
adjusted gross incomes above $125,000 (single) or $250,000 (married).
• Incentives to Hire Unemployed Veterans: Businesses would get a tax credit of
40% of the first $6,000 in wages for hiring unemployed veterans who are within 5
years of leaving active duty and who have drawn unemployment compensation for
more than 4 weeks during the year before being hired
• Filipino Vet Compensation: Authorized release of $198 million to rectify Uncle
Sam's postwar snub (i.e. see Filipino Vet Inequities article). About 18,000
Filipino vets who fought in the war under the American flag will now receive up
to $15,000 for their service.
[Source: MOAA Leg Up 13 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
Mobilized Reserve 10 Feb 09: The Department of Defense announced the current
number of reservists on active duty as of 10 FEB 09. The net collective result
is 1943 fewer reservists mobilized than last reported in the Bulletin for 27 JAN
09. At any given time, services may mobilize some units and individuals while
demobilizing others, making it possible for these figures to either increase or
decrease. The total number currently on active duty in support of the partial
mobilization of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 92,394; Navy
Reserve, 6,241; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 15,010; Marine Corps
Reserve, 7,349; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 733. This brings the total National
Guard and Reserve personnel who have been activated to 121,727, including both
units and individual augmentees. A cumulative roster of all National Guard and
Reserve personnel who are currently activated can be found at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2009/d20090210ngr.pdf. [Source: DoD News
Release 097-09 13 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VA COLA 2010: U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’
Affairs Committee, on 10 FEB introduced S.407 to increase veterans’ compensation
through a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The bill is cosponsored by Ranking
Minority Member Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and all the other members of the
Veterans’ Affairs Committee: Senators Rockefeller (D-WV), Murray (D-WA), Sanders
(I-VT), Brown (D-OH), Webb (D-VA), Tester (D-MT), Begich (D-AK), Burris (D-IL),
Specter (R-PA), Isakson (R-GA), Wicker (R-MS), Johanns (R-NE), and Graham
(R-SC). “Compensation for disabled veterans and their survivors is a cost of
war. Many of the veterans and widows receiving this benefit live on a fixed
income, and they count on annual cost-of-living-increases to protect the
purchasing power of their compensation,” said Akaka. The COLA increase for
veterans would match the annual increase provided to Social Security recipients,
which is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index. The COLA
is designed to offset inflation and other factors that alter the cost of living
over time. Last year's increase was 5.8 percent. The increase for this year has
not yet been determined. The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment
Act of 2009 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase, as of 1 DEC
09, the rates of:
• Veterans’ disability compensation;
• Dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children; and
• Additional related benefits.
[Source: Akaka press release 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VA HEALTH CARE FUNDING UPDATE 18: THE chairmen of the House and Senate
veterans’ affairs committees took a major but far from final step 12 FEB in
fulfilling the top request from veterans’ service organizations: They sponsored
legislation (S.423) that would provide funding a full year in advance for
Veterans Affairs Department health care. House Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob
Filner (D-CA 51st) bill H.R.1016 is the corresponding house legislation. Having
Filner and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) on board does not guarantee the change in
the budget process will take place, but it at least ensures the issue will
receive high-level attention. It doesn’t hurt that President Obama said during
the presidential campaign that he also supports the idea, which could help VA
weather Congress’ near-constant failure to pass an annual budget on time. The
support from Filner and Akaka comes as no surprise. The two chairmen announced
in SEP 08 that they supported the idea, but there was not enough time remaining
in the legislative session for their legislation to be considered then. The idea
is to help VA avoid the uncertainty that comes from not having a budget approved
on time. In 19 of the past 22 years, Congress failed to approve a VA budget by
the start of the fiscal year on 1 OCT. On average, the final funding bill is
approved three months late.
The Filner and Akaka legislation would have Congress approve the 2011
veteran’s health care budget this year, when it also passes the 2010 budget.
Then, beginning in with the 2012 budget, funding levels for veterans health care
programs — but not the rest of the VA budget — would be finalized one year
before the VA needs the money. Congressional aides, speaking on the condition of
anonymity, said advanced appropriations would not make Congress get things done
on schedule. Instead of approving health care budgets 12 months in advance, it
is more likely funding levels would be approved nine to six months in advance —
but that would still be an improvement over late budgets. But a change in budget
procedures that would have the veteran’s health care budget approved before any
other federal spending is not a sure thing. Proponents of other programs like
education, agriculture and defense might argue that they also deserve advance
funding, aides cautioned. “Everybody wants to think their program is the
priority. Nobody wants to be second when it comes to dividing up the budget,”
said a House aide. Veterans groups, however, are happy Filner and Akaka are
backing their cause. “Finally, Congress is getting ahead of the curve and
sufficiently planning the VA health care budget so that veterans are not left
waiting,” said Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
The legislation is a major priority for the American Federation of
Government Employees, which represents VA health care workers. The union said
that inconsistent funding for VA makes it difficult to hire doctors and nurses
when necessary, or make long-range plans for the health care workforce. "We
can't hire anyone [in the second half of the year] because we don't know what
the budget's going to be," said J. David Cox, AFGE's national
secretary-treasurer. "Then, we get our funding in February, and we need to hire
everybody, but nurses aren't coming out of school then. They're coming out in
May and June." The union also is planning to push for expanded collective
bargaining rights for VA registered nurses, physicians' assistants, and
dentists. Cox said the union would advocate strongly for both the funding
legislation and the collective bargaining legislation. The National Federation
for Federal Employees also is supporting the collective bargaining bill, saying
that increasing workers' rights and input would improve conditions at VA.
Congress and the Government Accountability Office have expressed concern about
growing vacancy rates in the VA's health system, especially among certified
registered nurse anesthetists, whose vacancy rate is 13%. At 43 medical
facilities GAO examined nationwide, 15 said that 40% or more of their CRNA
positions were vacant. [Source: NavyTimes Rick Maze article 12 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VA EMERGENCY CARE UPDATE 03: On 19 FEB U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI),
Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the Veterans’ Emergency
Fairness Act of 2009 (S.404). This bill would enable the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) to reimburse veterans enrolled with VA for the remaining costs of
emergency treatment received outside of VA’s health care system if the veteran
has outside insurance that only covers part of the cost. Under current law, VA
can reimburse veterans or pay outside hospitals directly only if a veteran has
no outside health insurance. “Because insurance may not cover all costs, a trip
to the ER can leave insured veterans financially crippled. My bill would enable
VA to fill the gap for veterans whose outside insurance does not meet their
needs,” said Akaka. In addition to reimbursing veterans for future costs of
emergency care, the bill would allow the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to
provide retroactive reimbursements back to May 2000 when VA was first authorized
generally to cover the cost of outside emergency care for veterans enrolled with
VA for their care. [Source: Sen. Akaka press release 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VET CEMETERY ALASKA: Alaska's "Senate State Affairs Committee has approved a
bill to create a veterans cemetery which will serve the interior and northern
parts of Alaska. The bill allows the Legislature to appropriate income from the
sale of veterans' commemorative license plates to a cemetery fund. It now moves
to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. The state presently has two national
veterans’ cemeteries in Sitka and at Fort Richardson, but has no sacred ground
in the Interior where men and women who fight for the U.S. can be buried with
full military rites. The question was tabled for a while, but rose again in
recent years as vets aged and the prospect of final wishes and wills grew more
real. Senate Bill 45 is co-sponsored by state Sens. Gene Therriault (R-North
Pole) and Charlie Huggins (R-Mat-Su). As national veterans cemeteries fill with
those who fought wars long past, states are increasingly creating their own
hallowed ground. With a commitment by the state to maintain the cemeteries and
to provide land, the federal government will build them — an action worth about
$7 million. The state estimated annual operating costs to be about $250,000. But
the state first has to chip in about $750,000, according to the bill’s sponsors.
Gov. Sarah Palin included an initial $250,000 in her fiscal year 2010
budget proposal toward the creation of a state veterans cemetery in Fairbanks.
It’s the ideal location, some say, central to a number of smaller communities
and home to the second-densest population of veterans in a state with more vets
per capita than any other — totaling about 100,000, Therriault testified. He
estimated Fairbanks is home to 11,000 veterans. The U.S. Veterans Administration
estimated that 15,000 Alaska veterans will pass away in the next 10 years, and
about half are expected to want a final resting place in a veterans cemetery.
Fairbanks is the only area of the state that qualifies for a veterans cemetery
under federal guidelines calling for one within 75 miles of a certain population
of vets, said McHugh Pierre, legislative liaison for the state Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs. “It barely qualifies,” he said. “They (the
federal government) realize Alaska is an exception. They’re willing to work with
us to make this cemetery a reality.” Rep. David Guttenberg (D-Fairbanks)
introduced legislation creating the cemetery before, but the bill died in the
Senate. This year he introduced House Bill 97, which has been referred to the
Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. [Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Rena Delbridge article 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
COMPUTER KEYBOARDS: According to new research by "Which?", a London-based
consumer group, it was determined that computer keyboards are a source of nasty
bacteria. Swabbing 33 keyboards in its office, it found four were home to
enough bacteria to be potential health hazards. One keyboard was so badly
contaminated it had to be trashed, harboring five times more germs than one of
the office's toilet seats and 150 times more than the level the group considers
safe. Most of the group's keyboards, and by implication most keyboards in use
today, aren't harboring harmful levels of E. Coli, staphylococcus aureus, and
other nasties. But is yours? There's no economical way to test all the keyboards
out there, but there are commonsense ways to prevent or eliminate bacterial
contamination. According to a report released by the group the main cause of a
bug-infested keyboard is eating lunch at your desk. Crumbs and spills fall on
and between the keys. The food deposits encourage the growth of millions of
bacteria, which can lead to stomach bugs. Neglecting to wash your hands after
going to the bathroom is another possible cause of bacterial contamination of
keyboards. And dust can trap moisture and enable any bacteria already on your
keyboard to flourish. Another potential risk, not mentioned by the report, is
sharing a keyboard among several workers, one or more of whom might have
inadvertently coughed or sneezed onto the keyboard or into his hands before
touching the keyboard. If a coworker has a cold or the flu, those viruses could
wind up on your hands.
The way to deal with a dirty keyboard - assuming it's not so bad it needs
to be trashed -- is simply to clean it. But if you don't regularly clean yours,
you aren't alone. An online survey of 4,000 computer users found 46% of
respondents said they clean their keyboard less than once a month, 22% once a
month, and 29% more than once a month. Cleaning a mildly dirty keyboard is easy.
Some suggestions on how to do this are:
• To get rid of crumbs and dust that have found their way between the keys,
first unplug the keyboard, turn it upside down over a trash can, and gently
shake. Afterward, to remove any remaining debris, you might spray between the
keys with a can of compressed air, vacuum between the keys using a handheld
vacuum cleaner, or wipe between the keys with a computer brush or small
paintbrush.
• To rid key surfaces of grease grime, unplug the keyboard and gently wipe it
off first with a cloth slightly dampened with water, then with a dry cloth. Then
gently rub the keyboard with an alcohol wipe to get rid of bacteria and viruses.
How often you clean depends on how clean you are.
• To keep letters and other markings on the keys from fading, don't rub too
hard, and avoid household cleaning liquids. According to “Which?”, alcohol-free
wipes are gentler on your keyboard but aren't as effective in ridding it of
germs.
• Aside from ergonomic or specialty varieties, most computer keyboards are
relatively inexpensive, and replacing one if you spill a coffee or soda on it is
relatively painless. Some people have reported that placing a keyboard in a
dishwasher sometimes works in such cases (provided you allow plenty of time for
it to dry afterward), but others say their keyboards have stopped working after
this treatment.
• If you use a computer in a dirty or dusty environment, consider using a soft,
flexible keyboard "skin," available from computer supply outlets. These are more
easily cleaned than keyboards.
• Don't forget to clean your mouse as well. A moistened cloth, moistened cotton
swab, alcohol wipe, and compressed air can help you clean both ball and optical
mice.
[Source: MOAA News Exchange Reid Goldsborough article 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
ESTATE PLANNING UPDATE 01: Many veterans use tax-deferred investments such as
IRA’s or fixed annuities to supplement their retirement income. These
investments are popular because of their potential tax advantages. Tax deferred
accounts typically allow investment earnings that would ordinarily be taxed on
an annual basis to accumulate free of taxation until funds are withdrawn from
the account, generally to provide income at retirement. In addition to taxes at
the time of withdrawal, a 10% penalty on the earnings may be imposed on tax
deferred accounts if withdrawn prior to age 59 ½. While these are excellent
vehicles when you want to accumulate wealth, they can be inefficient if you want
to pass the assets to your heirs. They could be subject to both income and
estate taxes at your death. The combined tax impact could erode the value of
your tax-deferred investment depending on the overall value of your estate and
the status of estate tax regulations. Goals and plans change over time, so if
your current goal is to pass your existing IRA or fixed annuity to your heirs
and you do not plan on using the asset for income, Capital Transfer could be an
effective planning tool for you.
Capital Transfer is designed to maximize the value of your tax-deferred
investments when passed to your heirs. This planning concept repositions the
tax-deferred asset to avoid both the income and estate taxes due at death. The
Capital Transfer concept uses the value of your tax-deferred investment to
purchase a life insurance policy. If properly structured, the life insurance
death benefit can be free of income and estate taxes for your heirs. Life
insurance death benefits are generally income tax-free to the beneficiary and
may also be estate tax free if the insurance is purchased outside your estate.
Capital Transfer is not right for everyone, but could be suitable for your
specific situation and result in a larger inheritance for your heirs. Before
investing you need to consider your investment goals, time horizon and
applicable risks and consider working with an investment professional that deals
with several companies and knows life insurance policies. Usually credit unions
and banks have investment professionals on there staff to assist you. It is very
important that you evaluate your current financial situation to determine if
Capital Transfer will meet your planning needs. [Source: Wealth News Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TRICARE HOSPITAL PAYMENT SYSTEM: Civilian hospitals that provide outpatient
services to Tricare beneficiaries got a temporary, 11th-hour reprieve from the
Pentagon’s proposed plan to have Tricare switch to using Medicare’s payment
system for those services. Critics said the change, which had been set to take
effect 9 FEB, has the potential to disrupt outpatient services in civilian
hospitals for Tricare users. In 2002, Congress required the Defense Department
to use Medicare payment rates for the Tricare system “to the extent
practicable.” The Pentagon’s proposed plan, outlined in the 1 APR 08, Federal
Register, would have Tricare adopt Medicare’s fee schedule for reimbursements to
hospitals for outpatient services, which is about 25% less than Tricare’s
current payment rates to hospitals. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), one of the critics of
the proposal, said the Pentagon plan “does not provide for a broad, multi-year
transition period that is necessary for hospitals offering Tricare services to
adjust to a lower payment schedule.” In a statement 10 FEB, Webb said he
welcomes the decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates “to postpone any action
that could jeopardize services to our military men and women who rely on the
Tricare health care system.”
In a notice published in the 6 FEB Federal Register, defense officials
said they have moved the effective date of the proposed change to 1 MAY in order
to ensure that administrative claims processing procedures are fully in place to
accommodate the new payment schedule. Defense officials also noted that in the
meantime, a 20 JAN memorandum from the Obama administration asked agencies to
consider delaying the effective dates of pending rules, and to invite additional
public comments on the final rule. The Pentagon has reopened the public comment
period on the proposed change in the hospital fee schedule until 9 MAR. In a
November letter to defense officials, 57 senators said the transition period for
the outpatient payments should cover all services in all hospitals serving
Tricare patients, to cushion hospitals from across-the-board reductions in
payments from Tricare. In a 28 JAN letter to Gates, Sen. Ben Nelson, (D-NE)
urged reopening the public comment period and consider revisions. “This is an
opportunity to reverse course on a rule that would cut nearly $500 million in
payments to hospitals serving our nation’s servicemen and women and their
families,” Don May, vice president for policy for the American Hospital
Association, said in an advisory posted on the AHA Web site. [Source: NavyTimes
Karen Jowers article 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TRICARE PANAMA RATES: A new Tricare provider fee schedule for medical
services and procedures is in effect for Panama. Tricare officials expect the
new fee schedule to better reflect actual medical costs. There are no changes in
payments for laboratory, radiology, and pathology services and procedures.
Tricare Standard deductibles and cost-shares will not change for beneficiaries
in Panama under the new fee schedule. Annual out-of-pocket caps for active duty
family member costs will remain at $1,000 and $3,000 for retirees and their
eligible family members. The new reimbursement rates, which went into effect 1
FEB 09 were implemented as a cost control measure by using a country-specific
index factor to account for variations in the cost of living and exchange rates
for different countries. In NOV 08 Tricare beneficiaries and providers in Panama
who filed Tricare claims during the past two years received letters from Tricare
Management Activity (TMA) notifying them of the fee schedule change. The new
allowable charges and inpatient per diem rates are available on the Tricare Web
site at http://www.tricare.mil/CMAC.
[Source: Tricare news Release No. 09-12 dtd 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
CANCER STATISTICS: The 1999–2005 United States Cancer Statistics (USCS)
Incidence and Mortality Web-based report was released 11 FEB. It marks the
seventh time that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) have jointly produced official federal cancer
incidence statistics for each state having high-quality cancer data. The report
is produced in collaboration with the North American Association of Central
Cancer Registries. This year's report features information on more than one
million cases of cancer diagnosed in 2005 among residents of 48 states, 6
metropolitan areas, and the District of Columbia in which about 96% of the U.S.
population reside. Incidence data are from CDC's National Program of Cancer
Registries (NPCR) and NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
Program. Data from population-based central cancer registries in these states
and metropolitan areas meet the criteria for inclusion in this report. The
report also provides cancer mortality data collected and processed by CDC's
National Center for Health Statistics. Mortality statistics, based on records of
deaths that occurred during 2005, are available for all 50 states and the
District of Columbia. The report can be accessed at
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/uscs/.
Major Findings on the report follow. The numbers in parentheses are the
age-adjusted (U.S. standard) rates per 100,000 people:
1. Cancer Among Men - The three most common cancers among men include:
• Prostate cancer (142.4): First among men of all races and Hispanic origin
populations.
• Lung cancer (84.6): Second among men of all races and Hispanic origin
populations.
• Colorectal cancer (58.2): Third among men of all races and Hispanic origin
populations.
2. Leading causes of cancer death - Men:
• Lung cancer (69.4): First among men of all racial and Hispanic origin
populations.
• Prostate cancer (25.4): Second among white (22.7), black (54.1), American
Indian/Alaska Native (18.0), and Hispanic (18.7) men.
• Liver cancer: Second among Asian/Pacific Islander men (14.5).
• Colorectal cancer (21.0): Third among men of all races and Hispanic origin
populations.
3. Cancer Among Women - The three most common cancers among women include:
• Breast cancer (117.7): First among women of all races and Hispanic origin
populations.
• Lung cancer (55.2): Second among white (56.6), black (50.9), and American
Indian/Alaska Native (37.6) women, and third among Asian/Pacific Islander (26.9)
and Hispanic (25.2) women.
• Colorectal cancer (41.9): Second among Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2) and
Hispanic (33.9) women, and third among white (40.8), black (49.4), and American
Indian/Alaska Native women (24.5).
4. Leading causes of cancer death - Women:
• Lung cancer (40.6): First among white (41.6), black (40.2), Asian/Pacific
Islander (18.2), and American Indian/Alaska Native (29.2) women, and second
among Hispanic women (14.4).
• Breast cancer (24.0): First among Hispanic women (15.1), and second among
white (23.3), black (32.9), Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3), and American
Indian/Alaska Native (15.3) women.
• Colorectal cancer (14.6): Third among women of all races and Hispanic origin
populations.
5. Racial or Ethnic Variations - Among four races and Hispanic origin, for all
cancers combined:
• American Indian/Alaska Native men have the lowest incidence rates of cancer;
however, Asian/Pacific Islander men have the lowest death rates from cancer.
• White women have the highest incidence rates of cancer; however, black women
have the highest death rates from cancer.
• American Indian/Alaska Native women have the lowest incidence rates of cancer
and the third-highest cancer death rates
[Source: CDC National Program of Cancer Registries Feb 09 ++]
===============================
FILIPINO VET INEQUITIES UPDATE 13: It looks as though it took the collapse of
the American economy to get the Filipino veterans of World War II the
recognition and compensation they have been seeking for more than six decades.
The stimulus bill approved by the U.S. Senate on 9 FEB and approved by the House
and Senate conferees authorized the release of $198 million to rectify Uncle
Sam's postwar snub. About 18,000 Filipino vets who fought in the war under the
American flag will now receive up to $15,000 for their service. Key
representatives had previously stated they felt confident that the vets'
benefits would be in the final version of the bill for President Barack Obama to
sign. "Both the House and Senate leadership have been supportive of this issue,
and I trust that the leadership will move this forward," said Rep. Mike Honda
(D-CA 15th), chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. And
"given President Obama's support of this issue, "... I'm confident that it'll
remain."
The vets' quest for compensation stems from President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's decision in JUL 41 to draft 140,000 soldiers from the Philippines,
then an American colony. A year later, Congress passed a law allowing Filipino
soldiers to become U.S. citizens with full military benefits. But in 1946, after
Filipino soldiers fought and died side by side with U.S. troops, President Harry
S. Truman signed two bills denying them citizenship as well as most veterans'
benefits. The bills were postwar cost-saving measures that Truman said he
regretted. The vet compensation was not in the House version of the stimulus
bill. But it was inserted by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) who lost an arm in combat
in World War II. The compensation provision has not been without controversy.
CNN's Lou Dobbs is railing against it, and several senators — including Arizona
Sen. John McCain — objected to including the lump-sum payments in a bill whose
purpose is to stimulate the U.S. economy. Inouye, speaking last week on the
floor of the Senate, said he didn't necessarily disagree with some of the
critics. "This is not a stimulus proposal. It does not create jobs," he
conceded. "But the honor of the United States is what is involved."
Of the 250,000 Filipino vets of World War II, about 12,000 live in the
Philippines and 6,000 in the United States. About 30,000 came to the country in
the early '90s after President George H.W. Bush signed a bill granting them
instant citizenship. About 2,000 settled in the Bay Area. But all but a few
hundred in Northern California have either died or returned to the Philippines
because life here was too hard. Last April, the Senate by a vote of 96-1 passed
a bill that would have given the Filipino vets a pension from the Department of
Veterans Affairs of $900 a month if they lived in the United States, $300 plus
VA health care if they lived in the Philippines. But the bill stalled in the
House and was eventually replaced by the lump-sum provisions. Vets who are U.S.
citizens would get $15,000; vets who are citizens of the Philippines would get
$9,000. Honda noted that Congress in September had set aside the funds for the
vets — and just not released them. "They have been waiting for over 60 years,"
he said. "This is an opportunity for America to honor its promise." [Source:
Mercury News Ken McLaughlin article 10 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
FAA DATA BREACH: Personal data belonging to more than 45,000 employees and
retirees of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was stolen after
hackers broke into a computer server, the agency said 9 FEB. Two of the 48 files
on the server contained personal data for those on the agency's employee rolls
for the first week of FEB 06, the FAA said. Those affected will be notified by
letter, and law enforcement has been contacted. The breach did not affect air
traffic control or other operational systems, the FAA said. The FAA is the
latest U.S. government agency to be affected by a data breach, incidents of
which have been increasing by the year as hackers successfully target servers
with weak security. Other causes include the loss or theft of laptops containing
unencrypted information. The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) said in
January that more than 35 million data records were breached in 2008 in the
U.S., a record number.
In one of the most serious incidents affecting the U.S. government, the
Department of Veterans Affairs reported that a laptop and hard drive containing
personal information of 26.5 million military veterans and their spouses was
stolen from an employee's home in May 2006. A federal judge on 10 FEB approved
the government's plans to pay a total of $20 million to veterans exposed to
possible identity theft , calling it a welcome deal to settle lawsuits. Sen.
Daniel Akaka ((D-HI), who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said
the...theft offers an important lesson in ensuring the government upholds its
promise to protect veterans' data privacy." Meanwhile, new VA Secretary Eric
Shinseki "has said he wants to push for greater use of electronic data as a way
to reduce errors in medical care and speed processing of claims." In the interim
veterans who have not already taken steps to ensure personal protection against
loss remain at risk as a result of government's inability to stop data
breaches. Insurance protection is available at very reasonable costs. [Source:
New York Times Jeremy Kirk article 10 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TRICARE SURVIVOR BENEFIT UPDATE 02: Spouses of service members killed in
combat would receive military health care for life at no charge under a bill
introduced 9 FEB by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY 2nd). The chief effect of the
legislation would be to prevent surviving spouses from being charged the same as
retirees for using Tricare health benefit beginning three years after a service
member’s death, which is the case under current law. The bill, HR 917, is the
first measure introduced by Guthrie, an Army veteran who said he wants to use
his military experience to help veterans and families. “It is our responsibility
to care for the widows and children of those who have died in the line of duty,”
Guthrie said in a statement. “These families have made the ultimate sacrifice
for our nation, and they deserve the best care we can provide.” Guthrie, a 1987
graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served in the 101st Airborne Division,
said the “current way health care benefits are provided to the families of
service members killed in combat is burdensome and costly. My legislation will
make sure those families, whose loved ones gave their lives for our freedom,
have affordable coverage. This is something everyone can agree on, regardless of
political party,” Guthrie added.
Under current law, spouses of service members killed in combat continue to
receive free active-duty health care benefits for three years. After that, they
may continue to receive Tricare coverage but are charged the same enrollment
fees and copayments that apply to military retirees. Dependent children are
eligible for free care until age 21, or age 23 if they are full-time college
students, as long as they do not marry. Children with disabilities may remain
eligible for free care beyond those age limits. Under Guthrie’s bill, there
would be no cost for continued coverage for surviving spouses. The current rules
for dependent children would remain the same. The bill was referred to the House
Armed Services Committee, where it will be considered along with other health
care legislation later this year when lawmakers begin work on the 2010 defense
budget. [Source: NavyTimes Rick Maze article 10 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VA HOME LOAN UPDATE 15: Recent changes to the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program
are helping veterans in financial difficulty. The new VA Loan Electronic
Reporting Interface (VALERI) system provides banks and lending institutions more
opportunities to help veteran borrowers retain their homes in this difficult
mortgage environment. VALERI is a rules-based system designed to identify
veterans who are experiencing financial difficulty. VALERI automates VA’s
previously paper-based processes. Now, via the Internet, servicers can
electronically report delinquencies and major loan events, apply VA rules to
help borrowers become current, send electronic documents, and file claims. VA
completed the transition of all VA-backed loan servicers nationwide to the new
electronic reporting system in NOV 08. Servicers now report on daily activities
for more than 1.2 million VA-guaranteed loans. As a result of VA’s efforts to
help veteran borrowers retain their homes, VA’s serious delinquency rate (loans
more than 90 days delinquent) has dropped over the past six years. According to
the most recent Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey, VA’s
serious delinquency rate is 3%, as compared to 17.85% for subprime loans. Three
hundred VA loan technicians at nine regional offices assist veterans and service
members with VA-guaranteed loans avoid foreclosure by helping establish
repayment plans, special forbearance, or loan modifications. VA loan technicians
also provide as much assistance as possible to other veterans who do not have
their home loans guaranteed by VA. Information about VA’s home loan guaranty
program is available at
www.homeloans.va.gov. [Source: Veterans Today 10 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
Louisiana Veterans Honor Medal: New medals authorized by the state of
lousiana for its soldiers who have fought or died in the nation's wars will be
first presented by Gov. Bobby Jindal and other officials in a ceremony at
Barksdale Air Force Base on 10 MAR 09. The beribboned, gold-plated Veteran
Service Medal was authorized in the last legislative session, in its first major
distribution March 10 at noon at Hoban Hall. For veterans who died in service,
next of kin will receive a medal with a gold star and a gold ribbon. Wounded
veterans will receive a medal with a purple ribbon, and all other veterans will
receive one with a blue ribbon. Eligibility for receipt of the Veterans Honor
Medal is a veteran must:
• Have served in the armed forces of the United States during wartime or
peacetime.
• Have received an honorable discharge or died prior to separation.
• Be a current Louisiana resident, was a resident upon entering military
service, or was a resident at time of death.
Veterans can request the medal by submitting an application a; long with a copy
of their DD-214 to LDVA at P.O. Box 94095, Baton Rouge, LA, 70804; or fax to
225-922-0511. Eligibility will be verified. Additional documentation may be
required. Applications can be downloaded at
http://www.vetaffairs.com/data/files230/Honor%20Medal%20Application.pdf.
Relatives or friends of the veteran may apply for the medal on the veteran’s
behalf. However, medals will only be provided to the veteran or veteran’s next
of kin. Due to a limited supply, only one medal per veteran will be issued. No
medals will be sold or provided to collectors. [Source: Shreveport Times John
Andrew Prime article 8 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION (DIC): DIC is a monthly tax free benefit
paid by the Veterans administration to eligible survivors of a:
• Military service member who died while on active duty, active duty for
training, or inactive duty training; or
• Veteran whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease; or
• Veteran whose death resulted from a non service-related injury or disease, and
who was receiving, or was entitled to receive, VA Compensation for
service-connected disability that was rated as totally disabling for at least 10
years immediately before death, OR since the veteran's release from active duty
and for at least five years immediately preceding death, OR for at least one
year before death if the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after
September 30, 1999.
Those eligible to receive benefits are:
1. Surviving spouses meeting the following criteria:
• Validly married the veteran before 1 JAN 57; or
• Was married to a service member who died on active duty, active duty for
training, or inactive duty training; or
• Married the veteran within 15 years of discharge from the period of military
service in which the disease or injury that caused the veteran's death began or
was aggravated; or
• Was married to the veteran for at least one year; or
• Had a child with the veteran, and cohabited with the veteran continuously
until the veteran's death or, if separated, was not at fault for the separation,
and is not currently remarried. However, a surviving spouse who remarries on or
after 16 DEC 03, and on or after attaining age 57, is entitled to continue to
receive DIC.
2. Surviving child(ren) who are not included on the surviving spouse's DIC and
are unmarried and under age 18, or between the ages of 18 and 23 and attending
school, or a helpless adult meeting specific criteria. Criteria requirements
for helpless adult children can be obtained by calling 1-800-827-1000.
3. Surviving parent(s) may be eligible for an income-based benefit. When
countable income exceeds the limit set by law, no benefit is payable. Eligible
parents must report all sources of income to VA; for example, gross wages,
retirement annuity, insurance proceeds or annuity, interest, and dividends. The
spouse's income must also be included if living with a spouse. A spouse may be
the other parent of the deceased veteran, or from remarriage. The 2009 income
limit for a sole surviving parent, or one of two parents not living with a
spouse is $13,456. For a sole surviving parent living with a spouse, or one of
two parents living with a spouse it is $18,087. Payment rates are reduced based
on the countable income of the parent or parents: Income limits change annually.
Those eligible for DIC are also eligible for Health Care (CHAMPVA), Federal
Employment Preference, Home Loan Guaranty, and Survivors' & Dependents'
Educational Assistance. Under current law a spouse's Survivor Benefits Plan (SBP)
annuity is reduced by any DIC amount received. Bills have been submitted in
Congress for the last 4 years to eliminate this deduction without success. The
2009 bill is H.R. 775. The basic monthly rate of DIC changes annually with COLA
adjustments. There can be no decrease in the amount. For 2009 it is $1,154 for
an eligible surviving spouse. The rate is increased for each dependent child,
and also if the surviving spouse is housebound or in need of aid and attendance.
Add $246 if at the time of the veteran's death, the veteran was in receipt of or
entitled to receive compensation for a service-connected disability rated
totally disabling (including a rating based on individual unemployability) for a
continuous period of at least 8 years immediately preceding death and the
surviving spouse was married to the veteran for those same 8 years. VA also
adds a transitional benefit of $286 to the surviving spouse's monthly DIC if
there are children under age 18. The amount is based on a family unit, not
individual children. For benefit rate tables, including those for children
alone and parents, refer to
http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Rates or call 1-800-827-1000. To apply for DIC
claimants should complete VA Form 21-534 Application for Dependency and
Indemnity Compensation, Death Pension and Accrued Benefits by a Surviving Spouse
or Child. Veterans in receipt of VA disability compensation are encouraged to
brief their spouses on how DIC would apply to them to ensure there are no false
expectations in their estate planning. [Source:
www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/factsheet 12 Jan 09 ++]
===============================
CSRS SURVIVOR ANNUITY: A Washington advocacy group has asked the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) to make sure federal employees in the Civil Service
Retirement System (CSRS) are aware of a loophole that could prevent their
spouses or ex-spouses from claiming a survivor's annuity. The Pension Rights
Center sent OPM acting Director Kathie Ann Whipple a letter urging her to notify
all CSRS participants that if they left government and died before claiming
their federal benefits, their widows or widowers would not receive an annuity.
"It is essential that CSRS employees have this information when making decisions
that could have such significant impact on their families," the letter stated.
The request comes after a Pension Rights Center project aiming to prevent
poverty among older women received calls from women caught off-guard by the
policy. "Because participants in CSRS are not covered by Social Security, these
pension benefits are, for many of these women, the primary or only source of
retirement income," the group wrote.
Under current law, survivors of federal employees covered by CSRS receive
annuities if the employee died while working for the government or retired and
immediately began collecting pension benefits. But survivors of CSRS employees
who left the government and died before age 62, or reached age 62 but died
before filing an application for CSRS retirement, are eligible only for a
lump-sum payment of the employee's retirement contributions, without interest.
In 2007, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced pension reform legislation that
included language granting survivor benefits to spouses and former spouses of
CSRS participants regardless of when the employee left federal service. The
measure would have brought CSRS in line with the newer Federal Employees
Retirement System and many private sector pension plans. Daniel Adcock,
legislative director for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees
Association, said on 5 FEB that NARFE has long advocated such legislation. In
the meantime, federal human resources offices should be more forthcoming when
employees leave government service, according to Adcock. "It's not a state
secret if you look at OPM's CSRS handbook," he said. "But whether personnel
offices go to the trouble of exploiting this discrepancy between FERS and CSRS
-- it's up to whether that event happens." [Source: GovExec.com Brittany R.
Ballenstedt article 6 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
FISHER HOUSE EXPANSION UPDATE 04: The Fisher House Foundation opened its 43rd
guest house for the families of wounded American servicemen and women on 30 JAN.
Located on the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System campus on the edge of
Beverly Hills and Hollywood, the California-Spanish style "comfort home,"
includes 21 suites, each with a private, handicapped-accessible bathroom. The
two-story, elevator-equipped house features communal spaces such as a family
room, a multi-cooking station kitchen, a large dining room and shared laundry
facilities. It is the city's first, following those at military and veterans
hospitals in Palo Alto, San Diego and Fairfield, Calif. Yet officials there were
pressing for a second house even before the new one opened. As large as the VA's
budget is for medical care, there's not enough to help cover the costs borne by
ailing veterans' families. And those costs are rising, driven by the changing
nature of wartime injuries and medical care.
Each community where Fisher House builds is asked to raise about half the
funds needed to complete the process. In Los Angeles the community did a
remarkable job. Among contributors the American Legion Pacific Palisades Post
283 donated $2.125 million. That was the largest single donation ever made by an
American Legion post. The Fisher House endeavor started in 1990, when New York
developer Zachary Fisher and his wife decided to build "comfort homes" next to
military hospitals to give relatives a free place to stay when family members
went in for treatment. Backed by tens of millions of dollars in private
donations and a sprinkling of government funding, the foundation has built
Fisher Houses at the major Defense Department medical centers. The main task now
is to do the same for VA hospitals, dozens of which have asked for at least one
home. The foundation has broken ground on six additional houses and is
developing plans for eight or nine more, with a total price tag of nearly $70
million. The Los Angeles Fisher House is the only one that will open this year.
It takes about 14 months for a home to be completed
Although they're a fraction of the VA's caseload, young veterans from
Afghanistan and Iraq are posing some of the biggest challenges. More are
returning with catastrophic injuries -- the kind that would have been fatal 20
years ago -- as well as traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress
disorder. The average stay at a Fisher House used to be about two weeks,
foundation officials say, but now it's three to four times as long for those
whose relatives were injured in combat. Imagine paying a Brentwood hotel bill
for 60 days, and you'll get an idea of how beneficial the new Fisher House will
be for the spouses, parents and children of vets undergoing lengthy treatments
for battlefield injuries. The free lodging and plane tickets provided through
the foundation have saved more than 11,000 families upward of $100 million. But
there's an important symbolic value to the effort too. While two wars have been
waged "off budget," financed with money borrowed from future generations, the
American public has shared in little of the sacrifice made by its men and women
in uniform. The Fisher Houses and their private contributors are an exception.
We need more efforts like theirs. For more info on using Fisher house facilities
or providing support refer to
www.fisherhouse.org . [Source: LA Times Editorial & AFPS Samantha L. Quigley
article 9 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
INDEPENDENT BUDGET: Annually coauthors AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans,
Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States work to ensure that The Independent Budget (IB) is the voice of
responsible advocacy and that their recommendations are based on facts, rigorous
analysis, and sound reasoning. The IB, which has a 23 year history, is based on
a systematic methodology that takes into account changes in the size and age of
the veteran population, cost-of-living adjustments, federal employee staffing,
wages, medical care inflation, construction needs, the aging health-care
infrastructure, trends in health-care utilization, benefit needs, efficient and
effective means of benefits delivery, and estimates of the number of veterans
and their spouses who will be laid to rest in our nation's cemeteries. The
organization's 2010 IB released 3 FEB can be viewed at
http://es3.pva.org/independentbudget/index.htm.
This year the IB calls for a $4.5 billion increase in veterans programs,
including $3.6 billion for health care. This is an even bigger increase than the
groups asked for a year ago, and puts added pressure on President Barack Obama
to keep campaign promises for full funding of Veterans Affairs Department
programs. The increase, which would result in a $54.6 billion discretionary VA
budget, includes health care, administrative and construction funds and some
costs related to the administration of benefits, but not the costs of the
benefits themselves. Recommendations made in the independent budget often become
a benchmark used by members of Congress to judge the adequacy of administration
budget requests. Its timing before the Obama administration makes its first
budget submission sets the stage for criticism if Obama asks for an increase of
less than $3.6 billion. Randy Pleva Sr., Paralyzed Veterans of America
president, said the four organizations “urge” Obama to adopt the independent
budget recommendations. “It is good for veterans. It is good for the economy. It
is good for America,” he said in a statement.
In addition to the health care increase, the budget calls for increases in
funding for information technology, the National Cemetery Administration, the VA
inspector general’s office, administrative costs for processing benefits claims
and a $2 billion increase in construction money. The big increase in major and
minor construction is an effort to reduce a backlog of infrastructure needs,
according to the veterans groups. Part of the health care increase would be used
to lease facilities for outpatient care, said Glen Gardner, VFW national
commander. “Forcing disabled veterans to travel great distances because their
local VA medical center dropped inpatient care is not the proper way to care for
America’s veterans,” Gardner said. [Source: VFW Washington Weekly & NavyTimes
Rick Maze articles 30 Jan & 6 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VET CREMAINS UPDATE 02: The unclaimed cremated remains of veterans left in
funeral parlor basements, hospitals or prisons are now eligible for a proper
military interment in New Jersey. On 4 FEB, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed
legislation authorizing New Jersey veterans' service organizations to receive
the cremated remains of veterans for burial if they remain unclaimed after one
year. It is unknown how many cremated remains, or cremains, of veterans have
been left at funeral parlors or other places across the state, said Roman P.
Niedzwiedz, first vice president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 899 in
Bordentown Township. It's estimated there are more than 1,500 cremains in the
state. "The one way that America honors it's veterans is by giving them a
military funeral," he said. However, for some, and for a variety of reasons, the
honor was never given as their remains were never claimed by family or friends
after cremation.
"We are the family that will claim those remains," he said of the state's
veterans. Now with authorization given in the new legislation, veterans'
services can begin contacting funeral parlors and other places the unclaimed
cremains end up to check and see which ones are veterans. The remains can be
handed over only after they remain unclaimed for one year and an attempt has
been made to contact family or friends. The remains must then be scattered at
sea or disposed of on land in a dignified manner at the Brig. Gen. William C.
Doyle Veterans Cemetery. "We as a state have stepped up to recognize the
sacrifice given to protect our freedom," Corzine said Wednesday at a ceremony at
the veterans cemetery. Francis Carrasco, vice chairman of the veterans'
grass-root effort Mission of Honor, said the first to be honored could be the
remains of a World War II veteran that have been sitting at a funeral home in
Bergen County for 25 years.
The cemetery is located in Arneytown, North Hanover Township, Burlington
County on Province line Road, which intersects Route 664 to the north of the
cemetery and Routes 537 and 528 to the south. It's central location, 15 miles
southeast of Trenton, makes it easily accessible from the New Jersey Turnpike,
the Garden State Parkway and Interstates 195 and 295.The cemetery is a
contemporary memorial type with all grave markers flush with ground level. It
covers 225 acres and was designed to accommodate 154,000 veterans and their
family members. To provide privacy and protection from the elements for the
bereaved, a chapel is provided for committal ceremonies. The United States and
New Jersey State flags are flown in the front court of the chapel in tribute to
all veterans buried in the cemetery. As a state shrine, Doyle Cemetery honors
the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces. Approximately 15 burials
occur each business day and the cemetery is visited by thousands of visitors
each year. [Source: The Courier-Post George Mast article 5 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
WWII VET'S SHOCKING DEATH: A 93-year-old World War II medic Martin Schur
froze to death in his Bay City, Michigan, home. Schur had been living alone
since his wife died. The veteran's frozen body was found in his home 17 JAN,
just four days after a device that regulates how much power he uses (installed
because of failure to pay) shut off his power. A medical examiner said the
temperature was 32 degrees in the house when Schur's body was found. and that
Schur died a slow, painful death. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without
first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning," said Dr. Kanu
Virani. The Michigan State Police launched an investigation into Schur's death
for possible criminal violations. The death has prompted a review of Bay City
Electric Light & Power's rules and procedures for limiting or cutting off power.
Utility officials said Schur owed about $1,000 resulting in a "limiter"
being put on his home. Limiters are devices that cut power as a warning for
people who haven't paid their bills. Limiters can be reset to restore a lesser
degree of power until a bill payment is worked out. In Schur's case, the limiter
was never reset, and it's unclear whether he knew how to do that. Unlike private
utilities regulated by the state, Bay City runs and oversees its own utilities
and therefore doesn't fall under Michigan's public service commission. By law,
Michigan requires private companies to prohibit cutting off service to senior
citizens between November and April. Seniors must register for the program. The
city has begun questioning whether its rules and procedures for limiting or
cutting off power need a major overhaul. The utility has stopped its practice of
cutting power to customers who don't pay their bills. The utility also has
removed all "limiters" on homes. Scher's nephew William Walworth said someone
should have looked at Schur's payment history and made direct contact to see
whether something was wrong. He's hoping the nation will learn from his uncle's
death.
The size of the estate -- if it's as large as the nephew believes -- adds
another tragic twist to death. His nephew said his uncle indicated to family
members two years ago that he had saved up more than a half-million dollars over
the years. "I just know at one time he said he had over $600,000 in savings,"
said Walworth. "That's what he told me and my brother, and he was proud that he
was able to save and build his estate up to that." Schur's will designates the
Bay Regional Medical Center as beneficiary to the entire estate. Schur and his
wife, Marian, who died more than a year ago, did not have any children. Cathy
Reder, an attorney negotiating on behalf of the Medical Center and the Schur
family, said she was filing paperwork in probate court for the court to
determine the validity of the will. A hearing has been set for 17 MAR. Reder
would not specify the amount left to the hospital, other than to say it's more
than $1. Walworth said his uncle was a frugal man who hadn't eaten at a
restaurant for over 30 years. "He was very tight, and he was very frugal. But he
did manage to save a lot of money." [Source: CNN.com Wayne Drash article 4 Feb
09 ++]
===============================
IRS COLLECTION POLICY UPDATE 03: Obama administration officials have asked for
an independent review of the Internal Revenue Service's controversial private
debt collection program, contracting officers told collection agencies on 4 FEB.
Two companies with ongoing contracts to recoup delinquent taxes on behalf of the
IRS were informed that a decision to exercise the first option year on their
contract, which would begin 8 MAR, would not be made until an independent
third-party review of the program's effectiveness was conducted and the results
were analyzed. The review is expected to take 30 days. House lawmakers lauded
the decision to examine the program, which they have long opposed and repeatedly
voted to ban. Support for the program was greater in the Senate. "Despite
evidence that the private collection program has led to undue confusion among
taxpayers and did not produce government savings, this program continued without
review for years," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD 5th). "I have
spoken to [Treasury] Secretary [Timothy] Geithner about this matter and applaud
him for reviewing this program on its merits instead of continuing it based on
ideology as the previous administration did."
Hoyer also praised his colleague Rep. John Lewis (D-GA 5th), for
reintroducing a bill on 3 FEB to strip the Treasury secretary of the authority
to enter into private debt collection contracts. In unveiling the legislation,
Lewis said during a recession "taxpayers must be able to deal with the IRS
directly to work through any difficulties they may encounter." Colleen Kelley,
president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said that when cases are
turned over to private agencies, taxpayers are denied the options often provided
to them by the IRS, such as postponing or suspending collection for a limited
time or implementing flexible payment schedules. "In the context of the nation's
current economic turmoil, it is more critical than ever to end this program,"
Kelley said. "The last thing people need when they already are straining under
job losses and other severe economic conditions are bounty hunters breathing
down their necks." The national taxpayer advocate has repeatedly called for the
repeal of the program, labeling it ineffective and accusing the IRS of
overstating the debt recovered by private collection agencies. Kelley said the
program should be shut down immediately instead of waiting for a review, but
expressed confidence that an objective analysis would lead to the "inescapable
conclusion" that the program is a costly failure and should be ended promptly.
[Source: GovExec.com Elizabeth Newell article 6 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
SBP DIC OFFSET UPDATE 12: In late JAN Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX 27th)
introduced HR 775 which would repeal the DIC offset which impacts some 61,000
widows whose military spouse died of service connected causes. According to the
latest available data from the Dept of Defense Actuary on the Military
Retirement System, these offset survivors receive an average of $1145/month DIC
which offsets their average $892/month SBP. Under the present rules, to receive
the higher DIC payment widows(ers) must agree to accept the unused SBP premiums
in a onetime lump sum payment and forfeit all future SBP use options. One impact
of this is that it imposes a greater tax burden on the survivor. HR 775 has
these additional provisions:
a. Prohibits retroactive benefits.
b. Prohibits recoupment of certain amounts previously refunded to SBP
recipients.
c. Repeals authority for optional annuity for dependent children.
d. Restores eligibility for previously eligible spouses who elected to transfer
their SBP to a surviving child or children.
As of 7 FEB this bipartisan bill is already up to 112 co-sponsors
inclusive of Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC 1st) who has sponsored bills on this issue
for many years. This is all very good news, since in the past several years we
had trouble getting support for this issue in the House -- not the Senate.
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL),has indicated that he will introduce his bill for the
111th Congress in the next two weeks. You can check at
http://thomas.loc.gov (where you can browse
bills by sponsor) to see if your Representative has signed on to HR 775. If he
or she has your are encouraged to call or write and thank him or her. If they
are not yet a co-sponsor you are encouraged to contact them and ask them to
support this bill and their constituent. At
http://capwiz.com/usdr/issues/alert/?alertid=12541746 can be found an USDR
action alert letter that can be forwarded (as is or edited) to your
legislators. All that is required is for you to enter your zip code if you have
previously sent action alerts via USDR in the past. If not, you will be
required to enter your zip code plus contact data prior to forwarding. [Source:
TREA Washington News flash 6 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
GI BILL UPDATE 37: One of the most attractive features of the new Post-9/11
GI Bill is its Yellow Ribbon program, designed to entice higher-priced colleges
or graduate degree programs to enter agreements that make their tuition and fees
even more affordable for academically qualified veterans. But VA officials are
worried that Yellow Ribbon participation (when the new GI Bill begins in August)
will be low because of the financial crisis, which has lowered the value of
endowments at many private colleges. Keith M. Wilson, director of education
service for the Veterans Benefits Administration, speculated in a January
interview that most colleges “aren’t going to want to do a Yellow Ribbon program
… because their finances have been hit too hard in the last couple of months.”
Wilson later withdrew that assessment, saying he should withhold forecasts until
regulations on the new GI Bill are final and colleges have a better
understanding of what’s possible under Yellow Ribbon agreements. Susan Hattan, a
consultant on the new GI Bill for the National Association of Independent
Colleges and Universities (NAICU), said she doesn’t agree with Wilson’s negative
forecast. “Our experience is that there is a lot of interest in the Yellow
Ribbon program” among the NAICU members, she said. The association represents
952 private colleges including every Ivy League school.
Montgomery GI Bill users now attend more than 6,000 colleges and
universities. The new GI Bill will nearly double the value of education benefit
— enough to cover tuition and fees up to maximums tied to costs at the most
expensive state-run college or university. Veterans also will receive a monthly
living allowance based on local military housing allowances. The Yellow Ribbon
offering is an additional feature. Colleges and universities can volunteer to
enter into agreements with the VA to waive up to half of tuition and fees set
above such charges at the most expensive state-run undergraduate degree program.
The VA, in turn, agrees to match the waived amount, thus boosting GI Bill
reimbursements to schools as well as the overall value of the education benefit
for veterans. “Schools are really struggling right now, especially the high-end
schools,” Wilson said in January. “Their endowments have just been crucified.
That’s [the] gut feeling I get from talking with these folks.” His speculation
triggered complaints from advocates for private colleges. David L. Warren,
president of the NAICU, wrote that Wilson’s assessment was premature and likely
inaccurate.
Warren wrote, “Most private colleges are enthusiastic about the opportunity
to serve the veterans eligible for the Yellow Ribbon program,” Warren wrote in
Stars & Stripes newspaper. He suggested that whatever cautionary statements
colleges have made to Wilson likely reflect the newness of the Yellow Ribbon
concept and lack of final guidelines to schools on how the program will work.
Taking the time to understand fully a new commitment before signing [on] the
dotted line should not be interpreted as a lack of interest in making the
commitment”. Wilson said he never meant to imply that private colleges were less
inclined than state schools to support GI Bill-eligible veterans, nor did he
mean to suggest that not all schools have been hit by the financial crisis.
Also, Wilson agreed it was too early to assume at what level colleges might
participate in the Yellow Ribbon discounts. Earlier, Wilson had said many
colleges likely would offer “token” participation, either by offering Yellow
Ribbon waivers only to a small number of students or by waiving only a small
percentage of its higher tuition level.
The Yellow Ribbon feature was the brainchild of Sen. John Warner (R-VA),
who retired in January. He insisted it be included in the new GI Bill so bright
students can afford to attend some the best schools in the country, as his
generation of veterans was able to do after World War II. Consultant Hattan said
it is true that “higher education, along with just about everybody else in the
country, is looking at their finances and worrying. But the one thing I think
you’ll also see is that the furthest thing down the line that institutions are
planning is to cut student financial aid.” There is confusion among colleges
over how the Yellow Ribbon program will operate, Hattan added. The VA’s draft
regulation on the Post-9/11 GI Bill said schools who want to participate in the
Yellow Ribbon program must be prepared to waive all or a portion their tuition
and fees in excess of the highest priced state undergraduate degree program.
Schools might prefer to give veterans scholarship money from endowment funds,
for example, rather than waive tuition, she said. “The schools will try to look
at all potential sources they can draw on to figure out the match” with the VA,
Hattan said. “If they can’t use scholarship funds as part of their match,
obviously that cuts down options that they might otherwise have.”
The National Association of College and University Business Officers
challenged this part of the draft regulations, too. Rather than stipulate that
Yellow Ribbon participants waive some part of their tuition, this association
said the VA should adopt language found in the law, which referred to use of
“direct grants [and] scholarships” for Yellow Ribbon agreements. The VA is
proposing schools use only tuition waivers under Yellow Ribbon to ensure equity.
If schools were allowed to offer scholarships, that money often is targeted to
boost specific curriculums. The new GI Bill should be available to students on a
first come, first served basis and for any type of degree offered at a school,
the VA said. [Source: MOAA Observation Post Tom Philpott article 5 Jan 09 ++]
===============================
POSTAL SERVICE: These days, the check isn't in the mail. It's increasingly on
the Internet — and that's bad news for the U.S. Postal Service. Electronic
communication and a withering economy have pushed the Postal Service into its
worst financial crisis since Benjamin Franklin founded the institution in 1775.
The Postal Service has lost $7.9 billion in the past two years. It has borrowed
money to pay its bills. Mail volume fell 4.5% last year and the Postal Service
expects a bigger drop this year. Last week, the agency asked Congress for
permission to consider reducing delivery from six days a week to five. "We have
to make adjustments quickly to keep the ship afloat," Postmaster General John
Potter says. "We have to weather the storm of the bad economy first and figure
out how traditional mail fits into an electronic world." Now, it's facing a
range of modern problems that could cause it to run out of cash this year or
early next. "The last thing we want to do is not be able to make payroll and
provide service to the American people," Potter says.
The Postal Service's biggest challenge: the cost of providing health care
to current and future retirees. Its $53 billion obligation is greater than those
of the Big Three automakers. The service owes its retiree health fund $7.4
billion this year. Last week, Potter asked Congress for permission to delay $2
billion in health care payments until after 2016. Without that break, the Postal
Service could run out of cash 30 SEP, when a lump sum $5.4 billion retiree
health fund payment comes due. The Postal Service has been an independent agency
of the U.S. government since 1971. It hasn't gotten a direct taxpayer subsidy
since 1982. By law, it's supposed to break even or make a small profit to
reinvest in its operations. Congress regulates the Postal Service heavily. By
law, the agency must deliver mail six days a week. It must deliver across the
USA at the same price, even to distant parts of Alaska. It can't close post
offices for economic reasons. Stamp prices can rise only at the inflation rate,
except in emergencies. Potter says the Postal Service wants to avoid a federal
bailout or big rate increases.
With 650,000 workers, the Postal Service is the USA's third-largest
employer, after Wal-Mart and the Defense Department. It has the nation's biggest
vehicle fleet — and high gas prices cost it $500 million last year. Union
contracts make layoffs rare. Raises are automatic. Labor costs have been reduced
through early retirement packages and cutting back hours. The Postal Service has
trimmed its workforce by 120,000 since 2002. It wants to cut 100 million work
hours this year. The average unionized postal worker made $66,929 in wages and
benefits in 2008, the Postal Service says. This month, the Postal Service will
request a 1- or 2-cent increase in the price of a first-class stamp. The change,
matching inflation, would take effect in May. The price of a first-class stamp
has risen a little slower than inflation: from 25 cents in 1988 to 42 cents
today. The U.S. has some of the lowest stamp prices in the industrialized world.
The Postal Service is projecting another multibillion-dollar loss in 2009.
The Postal Service's financial crisis could lead to a variety of dramatic
changes — thousands of post office closings, cutbacks or elimination of Saturday
deliveries, significantly higher stamp prices or a direct federal bailout. In
2006, at the peak of the credit bubble, Congress passed its first major overhaul
of the Postal Service since 1971. The Postal Service got more freedom to control
its prices, especially on packages and overnight deliveries that compete with
services offered by private companies. But the law also ordered the Postal
Service to pay $55 billion over 10 years to create a reserve fund to cover
retirees' long-term health care benefits. The first payment was made in 2007 and
caused a $5.1 billion loss. Last year, the loss was $2.8 billion. In both years,
the Postal Service would have been profitable if not for its legacy costs. The
Postal Service already pays the health care costs for 452,000 retirees and their
survivors. That burden will increase as an aging, unionized workforce retires
and collects the same benefits as other federal retirees.
Oddly, the Postal Service's retirement system is in good shape compared
with that of the rest of the federal government. The federal retirement system
has an unfunded liability of $5.3 trillion, including $1.2 trillion for retiree
medical benefits. The Postal Service's pension obligation is fully funded. Its
retiree health care plan has a $53 billion shortfall. In 2006, Congress ordered
the Postal Service to set aside money to cover the medical costs of its future
retirees. This burden has left the Postal Service with few options. The U.S.
government couldn't privatize the service, even if it wanted to, because no
buyer would want to take on the $53 billion obligation, says privatization
supporter Don Soifer, executive vice president of the conservative Lexington
Institute. Labor costs account for 80% of Postal Service costs."It's all about
controlling labor costs," Soifer says. "That's what will determine if a bailout
is needed in the future." [Source: USA TODAY Dennis Cauchon article 2 Feb 09
++]
===============================
MISSISSIPPI VET CEMETERY: The Mississippi State Veterans Cemetery has gone
from just talk to becoming something tangible in just three short years. The
amount of work done by local, state and national legislators, in addition to
private citizens, businesses and other entities has been immeasurable. The
cemetery, which will have a groundbreaking ceremony sometime in the fall and
should be completed in 2011, will cost approximately $7 million to complete. The
project will see three phases implemented over roughly 30 years. The first phase
will pretty much lay the groundwork for the rest of the project. In it will be
about 5,000 burial sites, administrative buildings, maintenance buildings and a
funeral facility. Extensive landscaping will transform the now empty cow pasture
into a pristine and memorable place of reflection and solemn reverence. The
federal funding for the project comes from the US Veteran's Administration
Cemetery Program. Other funding comes from the state of Mississippi as
legislators have taken up the campaign in creating the state's first veterans
cemetery. Other cemeteries such as the ones located in Natchez and Vicksburg are
national cemeteries.
The project grew to be highly competitive when it was time to name a
location for the cemetery. Winston and Leake counties put up a valiant charge to
be the home of the cemetery but in the end the area between Hickory and Newton
on Hwy 80 won out. The 75 acre former dairy farm was already owned by a state
agency, the Mississippi State Extension Service, so the transition of the land
was smooth and painless. Also in the favor of the site chosen is the low amount
of work that will have to be done. There are no major buildings or power lines
that need to be moved. In keeping with the landscape of rolling hills and
ridges, the cemetery will undergo more landscaping and some dirt work. A
$150,000 grant approved through the Mississippi Development Authority will pave
roads in and out of the cemetery. Veterans from several western Alabama counties
such as Sumter and Choctaw, also are eligible to be interned at the cemetery.
For information about eligibility requirements go to the US Department of
Veterans Affairs/ Burial and Memorial website
www.cem.va.gov/CEM/bbene_burial.asp. [Source: The Newton Record Brian
Livingston article 2 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TAX TIPS 2008: Federal lawmakers simply cannot resist tinkering with the tax
code. By one estimate, more than 500 tax law changes were made last year alone.
Many of the 2008 changes were made in connection with the slowing economy in
general and the housing crisis in particular. But many tax-law tweaks last year
also were in areas that seem to get constant attention on Capitol Hill. Such
revisions of existing laws often leave taxpayers feeling like characters in an
IRS version of the movie "Groundhog Day," each year facing essentially the same
tax challenges. The good news is that such "tax script" revisions are at least
somewhat familiar. The better news is that these rewrites, as well as some
totally new tax laws, offer ways to trim tax bills and provide a happier ending
to your 2008 tax-filing circumstances. Among the most persistent recurring tax
laws are those known as extenders. The name comes from the fact that these tax
breaks technically are temporary. But Congress usually extends a handful of
particularly popular provisions for another year or two. Last year was no
exception. The laws that were given new life in 2008 include:
• Tuition and fees deduction -- Up to $4,000 of qualified college tuition and
fees paid last year can be deducted.
• Educator deduction -- Teachers and other qualified educators can get a tax
deduction for up to $250 spent in 2008 on classroom supplies.
• State and local sales tax write-off -- If you paid more state and local sales
taxes than state income tax last year, the option to deduct the sales tax amount
as an itemized expense also was extended.
Although these deductions are still temporary, when Congress renewed them in
2008, they also extended the tax breaks through 2009. So this year at least, we
won't have to wait for Capitol Hill to rewrite this part of the usual tax
script. In addition to the new 2008 tax code changes and prior year carryovers,
many pre-existing laws have new dollar amounts this filing year, thanks to
inflation adjustments. For details on these tax issues refer to "Old tax laws,
new amounts." at
http://www.bankrate.com/caf/itax/news/taxguide/20090130-changes-to-old-tax-laws-a1.asp?caret=1r
.
Last year's economic stimulus payments, or rebates as they were popularly
called, actually were credits against 2008 income. And some people may be able
to cash in on the rebates this filing season by claiming the Recovery Rebate
Credit. This new credit, available only on 2008 returns, could help filers who
last year did not receive the maximum credit of up to $600 for single taxpayers,
$1,200 for married couples filing jointly. Changed tax circumstances, such as a
new child in the family, also could get you a bit more rebate money on your 2008
return. The Recovery Rebate Credit can be claimed on all three versions of the
1040. You'll need to know how much you received last year in order to calculate
what you're eligible for now. Some other changes you might review to see if they
could impact on your 2008 tax liability are:
• First-time homebuyer's credit
• Standard property tax deduction
• Surviving spouse home sale exclusion
• Housing tax-break holdovers
• AMT inflation adjustments
• Zero capital gains
• 'Kiddie' tax
• Required retirement distributions
[Source: ConsumerAffairs.com Bankrate's 2009 Tax Guide Kay Bell article 5 Jan 09
++]
===============================
TAX TIPS 2008 UPDATE 01: The dismal housing market prompted lawmakers to
create the following new tax breaks in 2007 and 2008:
• First-time homebuyer credit: Thanks to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act
of 2008, some first-time homebuyers can claim a credit of 10% of the home's
purchase price, up to a maximum of $7,500. You could qualify as a first-time
buyer if you have not owned a home in the three years prior to the qualifying
purchase.There is, however, some limitations. The credit phases out for
higher-income taxpayers. It is available only for primary homes purchased
between 9 APR 08 and 30 JUN 09 and it's not a true credit. The tax break must be
paid back, without interest, in equal payments over 15 years. The repayment
period begins 2 years after the year in which you claimed the credit. Thus, if
you claim the credit on your 2008 tax return, the repayment period begins in
2010 and you must include the first installment as additional tax on your 2010
tax return. If your home ceases to be your main home before the 15-year period
is up, you must include all remaining annual installments as additional tax on
the return for the tax year that happens. This includes situations where you
sell the home or convert it to business or rental property. If you die, any
remaining annual installments are not due. If you filed a joint return and then
you die, your surviving spouse would be required to repay his or her half of the
remaining repayment amount. Refer to Form 5405 for more details. Congress is
considering expanding this first-time homebuyer credit.
• Standard property tax deduction: The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of
2008 provides a new home-related deduction for taxpayers who don't itemize their
expenses. Up to $500 for single homeowners, double that for joint filers, can be
added to the taxpayer's standard deduction amount. This option will help
homeowners who don't have enough deductions to itemize, but who paid property
tax for their personal residence in 2008. The standard property tax deduction
originally was for the 2008 tax year only. However, as part of another tax bill
enacted a few months later, the tax break was extended to 2009.
• Home sale exclusion for surviving spouse: One of life's most difficult
decisions is whether to keep or sell a home after the death of a spouse. It also
often posed a costly tax dilemma for a widow or widower. Usually, a married
couple can exclude up to $500,000 in profit on the sale of their home. When a
husband or wife died, the house had to be sold in the year of death for that
full exclusion amount to apply. Now, however, a tax law that took effect in 2008
will allow the surviving spouse to claim the $500,000 exclusion as long as he or
she sells the home within two years after the spouse's date of death. The widow
or widower must remain unmarried and all other tests, such as residency and
ownership, also must be met.
• Housing break holdovers: Don't forget a couple of real estate-related tax
break holdovers that could save eligible taxpayers some money: foreclosure debt
relief and deductible private mortgage insurance payments. In late 2007, the
Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act helped ease the double whammy of home foreclosure:
losing a residence and then owing tax on any amounts of debt that were written
off, or forgiven, by the lender. Now up to $2 million of that amount, known as
cancellation of debt income, is not taxed. The law applies to home foreclosures,
short sales or loan renegotiations from 1 JAN 07, through 31 DEC 12. Some
homeowners who must pay private mortgage insurance premiums in connection with
their loans also get a tax break. They can claim some of those costs as a
deduction on their 2008 returns. This deduction began with the 2007 tax year and
was subsequently extended to PMI on new mortgages issued from 2008 through 2010.
[Source: ConsumerAffairs.com Bankrate's 2009 Tax Guide Kay Bell article 5 Jan 09
++]
===============================
TAX TIPS 2008 UPDATE 02:
• Alternative Minimum Tax Patch: The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, is a
parallel tax system created 40 years ago to ensure that the rich had to pay at
least some tax. Nowadays, however, more middle-class taxpayers find they are
potential AMT payers because the tax is not indexed annually to account for
inflation. To keep these filers off the AMT roll, Congress has approved
temporary fixes for the tax which increase the amount of income that is excluded
from the AMT. The 2008 patch raised the exemptions to $69,950 for a married
couple filing a joint return and qualifying widows and widowers, up from
$66,250; $34,975 for a married person filing separately, up from $33,125;
$46,200 for singles and heads of household, up from $44,350.
• Zero Capital Gains: Capital gains tax rates already are lower than ordinary
tax bracket rates, but beginning in 2008 some investors will owe no tax on
profits from the sale of long-term holdings. Effective 1 JAN 08 the 5% tax rate
on qualified dividends and capital gains that applied to taxpayers in the 10%
and 15% tax brackets is zeroed out for some. While no taxes generally are good
taxes, the zero percent rate does have some limitations. Some young investors
are prohibited from taking advantage of the zero-percent option. Some older
taxpayers might find untaxed capital gains could produce unexpected taxes on
their Social Security benefits.
• Required Retirement Withdrawals: The stock market downturn has caused
problems for a lot of investors. Particularly hard hit are retirees who depend
upon their investments to help meet day-to-day living expenses. Investors age
70½ or older also must factor in mandatory withdrawals, known as required
minimum distributions (RMDs) from their tax-deferred retirement accounts, such
as traditional IRAs or 401(k)s.To help these older investors weather the market
downturn, lawmakers enacted a measure to remove the distribution requirement for
2009. They did not, however, extend the tax relief to septagenarians who had to
make RMDs in 2008. Because tax rules allow for a retirement plan owner's first
required minimum distribution to be delayed until 1 APR of the year following
the one in which they turn 70½, some taxpayers will be making their 2008
withdrawals this year. Don't be confused by the law exempting 2009 required
minimum distributions; your 2008 RMD, even if you take it in 2009, is still due.
You do, however, get one break. Usually deferment of the first RMD means that
you end up taking two distributions in the same year, the one you postponed
until April and the current year's distribution due by Dec. 31. But with 2009's
withdrawal suspended, you'll only have to take out the 2008 amount.
• Kiddie Tax: Before 529 plans and other dedicated education savings accounts
were around, parents used to open investment accounts in their children's names.
It also provided a way for the earnings to be taxed at the child's lower tax
bracket rates. That loophole came to an end with the creation of the "kiddie"
tax. This levy kicks in when a child's account earns more than a certain amount
($1,800 in 2008, $1,900 in 2009) and requires that excess earnings be taxed at
the parents' highest marginal tax rate, which could be as high as 35%. That rule
lasts until the child reaches a certain age, at which time the youngster's lower
rates then apply. Originally, the kiddie tax applied until a child turned 14.
For the last few years, however, lawmakers have been pushing that age upward.
For 2008 tax purposes, the parents' higher rates will be collected on investment
earnings until the dependent child turns 19, or 24 if the youngster is a
full-time student. Part of the reason for the change was to prevent wealthier
parents from taking advantage of another 2008 tax-law change, the zero percent
capital gains on lower-income investors.
[Source: ConsumerAffairs.com Bankrate's 2009 Tax Guide Kay Bell article 5 Jan 09
++]
===============================
VA CLAIMS BACKLOG UPDATE 21: Eric K. Shinseki, the new Veterans Affairs
secretary, said 4 FEB he is trying to reduce the six-month delays in paying
veterans’ disability claims, and he wants to move quickly toward an
all-electronic claims system that could speed up the process. In his first
appearance before Congress since becoming secretary, Shinseki said the VA is
looking at a major switch that would phase out paper processing, possibly by
2012. “This is a brute-force solution,” Shinseki told the House Veterans Affairs
Committee, adding that a technological format is needed “to ensure timely,
accurate consistent decision-making on behalf of our veterans. This is part of
what our backlog is about. That will take investment, of course,” he said. In
his testimony, Shinseki also said he was launching a topdown review of his
embattled department and reiterated his promise to submit a “credible and
adequate 2010 budget request” that will be cost-effective while fully sensitive
to veterans in need. “If it’s going to be solved any faster, it’s going to take
leadership,” he said of the challenge ahead, promising a “change of culture” at
the government’s second largest agency.
Shinseki, got a recent tour of the paperwork battlefield on which VA claim
adjudicators serve every day. It was a bracing scene -- literally. “You walk
into one of our rooms where…decisions are being made about disabilities for
veterans [and] see individuals sitting at a desk with stacks of paper that go up
half way to the ceiling. And as they finish one pile, another pile comes in,”
Shinseki told the Committee. “There are 11,100 people doing this…good people,
hired to do a rather challenging job in which they are trying to apply judgment
to situations that occurred years ago,” Shinseki said. Paperwork, he added,
doesn’t draw out “a full appreciation for the context of combat.” The army of
claim adjudicators is equal in size to the 82nd Airborne Division, Shinseki
said. It grew by 4000 in the last two years. Another 1100 will be hired this
year to address VA’s claims backlog. It’s “a brute force solution” to a problem
best solved with an electronic claim processing system. “If we don’t…create a
paperless process,” Shinseki told lawmakers, “I’ll report a year from now that
we hired more people to do this.” Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AR 2nd) said Shinseki
should make another visit soon to one of VA’s file rooms. “It’s almost
dangerous,” said Snyder. The rooms “are overwhelmed” with claims. Some
individual claims have swelled to “three, four and five volumes.” Ironically,
Snyder said, technology might be aggravating the problem. Veterans who look
continuously to strengthen disability claims are making internet searches.
Printouts on all aspects of their conditions or diseases are then sent to the VA
to be added to case files. “The files will just keep growing,” Snyder said.
“We’ve got to get a handle on this whole thing.”
One new proposal that Shinseki floated was that he believes that all active
duty military members, upon discharge or retirement should be mandatorily
enrolled in the VA health system. Rep. Steve Buyer (Ind.), ranking Republican
on the committee, asked Shinseki to support an increase in Dependency and
Indemnity Compensation. DIC is paid to survivors of members who die on active
duty or die of service-related conditions in retirement. DIC hasn’t kept pace
with survivor compensation for federal civilian workers, Buyer said he is
preparing a bill that would raise DIC by 12 percent across the board. Basic DIC
is now $1154 a month and $286 a month is added for each dependent child under
age 18. Another $246 is added if, at time of death, a veteran had been rated as
100-percent disabled for eight years, and had been married during that the same
period.
Shinseki was warmly received by the committee where he laid out
administration priorities for veterans. Behind him, representatives of various
veterans’ service organizations mostly nodded heads in agreement. They didn’t
nod, however, when Shinseki declined to endorse a legislative priority for many
VSOs this year: a bill to require that VA health budgets be funded a year ahead
of normal appropriations. Advocates say this will ensure timely funding of VA
hospitals. They no longer would have to operate on the cheap under a
“continuing resolution” because the VA budget got bogged down by a partisan
fight. In late January, many VSOs hailed such a bill, the Veterans Health Care
Budget Reform Act, reintroduced for 2009 by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Senate VA
Committee chairman. But Shinseki implied Congress simply needs to act more
responsibly on VA appropriation bills. “My preference would be for a timely
budget and I will assure you I’ll do my part,” he said. While Army chief of
staff, Shinseki recalled, “I lived with continuing resolutions and I know full
well the impact they bring.” If his experience as VA secretary shows health
care budgets still can’t get passed on time, then “other options” will be
discussed, Shinseki said.
House Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA 51st) said that after
several years of budget restrictions and growing backlogs, the VA must work hard
to restore credibility among the nation’s veterans. “So many veterans view the
VA as ‘Veteran’s Adversary,”’ he said. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ 5th) who chairs
the oversight subcommittee, said he wants to ensure the VA remains mindful with
its technology initiatives to “implement high standards” of quality given the
department’s past problems with maintaining electronic data. “We all have our
work cut out for us,” Mitchell said. Shinseki said he would review the
“fundamentals in every line of operation.” “I intend to ... demand the highest
levels of integrity, transparency and performance in leading the department
through the fundamental and comprehensive change it must quickly undergo,”
Shinseki said. “We will be measured by our accomplishments, not by our
promises,” he added. [Source: AirForceTimes Hope Yen & Stars and Stripes Tom
Philpott articles 4 & 7 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
VA CLAIMS BACKLOG UPDATE 22: While representatives of the Board of Veterans’
Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims bickered over who
bears more responsibility for the long delay veterans face on disability claims,
a key Republican senator said it was time to take some drastic action. Sen.
Richard Burr of North Carolina, ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans’
Affairs Committee, said proposals from the appeals board, the court and veterans
service organizations will not end veterans’ frustration any time soon. While
such changes as holding federal workers more accountable for errors and
shortening deadlines for filing and ruling on appeals might provide some help,
Burr said, the end result is likely to be modest, with the Veterans Affairs
Department able to finish a few more claims each year than received. But with an
estimated backlog of between 600,000 and 800,000 claims, depending on how it is
counted, modest progress isn’t enough, he said. Burr called for a military-style
“surge” strategy to allow VA to quickly reduce the backlog using temporary
measures.
Burr, whose remarks came at a 11 FEB hearing on the appeals process for
veterans claims, said he would work with committee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka
(D-HI) to try to find a solution. Burr said he knows VA, the appeals board and
appeals court are making efforts to get decisions faster but they’re not moving
fast enough. “Whatever the reasons, it is clear that the appeals process takes
far too long, and it is not acceptable,” he said. VA’s average processing time
on an initial benefits claim is six months, Burr said. If a veteran appeals, the
Board of Veterans’ Appeals takes an average of 1,100 days to rule on the case.
If a veteran appeals the board’s decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans
Claims, it can take another 14 months for a decision to be issued. “It is
understandable why many veterans, including veterans back in North Carolina, are
extremely frustrated by this long appeals process,” Burr said. Rep. Bob Filner
(D-CA 51st) House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman also has talked about a
“surge” approach to reducing the backlog of claims. One of his ideas is to
automatically approve claims related to Agent Orange exposure by Vietnam-era
veterans, as long as there is no obvious fraud. Another Filner proposal would
automatically grant claims that were prepared with the help of a veteran’s
service officer certified to handle claims.
Kerry Baker of Disabled American Veterans, who testified at the Senate
hearing, said the appeals rate on veterans claims is climbing. In 2007, VA made
824,844 claims decisions that generated about 100,000 appeals. For 2009, VA
estimates it will make 942,700 claims decisions that will result in 132,000
appeals. Baker suggested several procedural steps to make the process move a
little faster, including reducing the amount of time a veteran has to appeal an
initial VA determination. Current law allows up to a year to appeal the
decision, but Baker said this could be cut to six months. He also said VA
employees need to be held more accountable for both the speed and accuracy of
claims they handle. A sign of the problem, he said, is that almost 6,000 cases
handled by the Board of Appeals for Veterans Claims in 2007 were sent back
because of requests for VA medical records. “The disturbing factor here is that
a VA employee can usually obtain VA medical records without ever leaving the
confines of one’s computer screen,” Baker said. [Source: AirForceTimes Rick Maze
article 11 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
BURN PIT TOXIC EMISSIONS UPDATE 04: Seven members of Congress have added
their names to a growing list of legislators concerned about service members who
say burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have made them sick. “It has come to our
attention that a growing number of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
are becoming sick and dying from what appears to be overexposure to dangerous
toxins produced by burn pits used to destroy waste,” reads a letter from Rep.
Tim Bishop D-NY), to Eric Shinseki, the new secretary of veterans affairs.
“Further conversations with other veterans have revealed that the armed forces
have not investigated this threat adequately.” Bishop’s office sent the letter 2
FEB. It was also signed by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR 3rd); Bill Delahunt (D-MA
10th); Maurice Hinchey (D-NY 22nd =); Keith Ellison (D-MN 5th); Sander Levin
(D-MI 12th); and Allyson Schwartz (D-PA 13th).
Congress first heard about the issue, the letter states, after a series of
stories came out in Military Times showing that service members were exposed to
everything from burning petroleum products to plastics to batteries in burn pits
used to dispose of waste at every base in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tests showed the
fires released dioxins, benzene and volatile organic compounds, including
substances known to cause cancer. So far, 150 people have contacted Disabled
American 3thVeterans (DAV) to say they are sick, and they believe the burn pits
caused their ailments. Of those 150, about 30 have lymphoma and leukemia. Other
reported conditions include asthma, bronchitis, sleep apnea, chronic coughs,
allergy-like symptoms and heart problems. “After years of helping veterans of
the Vietnam and Gulf wars cope with the health effects of toxic battlefields, we
have learned that we must take exposures to toxins seriously to ensure that this
generation of service members does not face the same difficulties,” the letter
states. The lawmakers ask Shinseki to use the Gulf War Advisory Committee to
“investigate the combined effect of sand, burn pits, dioxins, benzene and
volatile organic compounds” on veterans. They also want VA to compile statistics
for the toxin levels in the blood of those who have served in Iraq and
Afghanistan compared to those who have not. And they ask that VA notify its
doctors that “veterans have been exposed to chemicals from fires in Iraq and
Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, Burke O’Neil LLC, a Washington, D.C., law firm that has filed a
class-action lawsuit against defense contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root LLC for
improperly disposing of waste and insufficiently sanitizing water supplies for
U.S. troops in Iraq, has invited the 150 ill service members to join the suit,
said Kerry Baker, DAV’s assistant legislative director. So far, about 30 have
done so, according to Elizabeth Burke, a lawyer with the firm, which plans to
file its suit soon. Burke O’Neil also filed a third class-action suit in
Montgomery County, Md., dated 21 JAN, focusing on the way KBR disposed of waste
in burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan after several people came forward with
cancer that they believe came from exposure to the burn pits, Burke said. The
lawsuit states that KBR “illegally burned biohazard materials, hydraulic fluids,
lithium batteries and other hazardous materials in the open-air burn pits,
causing noxious and unsafe smoke to drift over the base. Defendants burned
tires, trucks, munitions boxes, and items containing pesticide residue.”
The suit accuses KBR of negligence, battery, nuisance, negligent and
intentional infliction of emotional distress, product liability, willful and
wanton conduct, negligent hiring, breach of duty to warn, and medical
monitoring. It asks for compensation for physical injuries, emotional distress,
fear of future disease, and need for continued medical treatment and monitoring.
It also asks that KBR be stripped of all revenue for the contracts the
plaintiffs say the company violated. Four plaintiffs have chronic respiratory
illnesses, one has “weeping lesions” on his arms and feet, one has
gastrointestinal illness, and one has reactive airways disease. Baker is
compiling a list of service members and veterans who believe they were exposed
to the burn pits to make a case that VA should compensate people for their
illnesses. His e-mail address is
kbaker22@comcast.net. [Source: NavyTimes Kelly Kennedy article 4 Jan 09 ++]
===============================
TRICARE USER FEE UPDATE 29: Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX-17th) has reintroduced
legislation that would freeze Tricare fees for military retirees, a preemptive
strike in case the Defense Department tries again to raise deductibles,
copayments and enrollment fees in an effort to hold down its health care costs.
The Military Retirees’ Healthcare Protection Act (H.R.816), introduced 3 FEB, is
important because of its chief sponsor and because of the timing. Edwards, an
ally of President Barack Obama who had been discussed as a possible vice
presidential running mate, is chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee
responsible for military quality of life programs and veterans health care.
Overcoming Edwards’ opposition would be difficult. Additionally, Edwards’ move
to drop a bill even before the Obama administration has announced its plans for
military health care is a warning sign to the White House and Defense Department
that it might be a mistake to assume that Tricare fee increases could be used to
help cover health care costs in the 2010 defense budget. For three consecutive
years, the Defense Department has asked Congress to increase Tricare fees for
retirees and to revise pharmacy copayments for active-duty families and retirees
in order to reduce costs. Congress has rejected the idea every time.
Defense officials estimate fee increases would cut $1.6 billion in defense
health care costs, partly from the fees and partly from discouraging working-age
retirees who have other health care options from enrolling in the military
health benefits plan. Edwards, who estimates that higher fees would apply to 3
million people, made clear that discouraging the Obama administration is part of
his strategy. “I hope the new administration will not request the same premium
increases as the last, but this legislation will allow us to remove any
temptation,” he said in a statement. “I believe that keeping our promise of
quality, affordable health care for military retirees is the right thing to do
and the smart thing to do,” Edwards said. “It is right because our nation has a
moral obligation to keep our promises to those who have kept their promise to
defend our nation. It is the smart thing to do because we cannot attract the
best and brightest to fight our war on terrorism in the years ahead if they see
us breaking faith with those who served in years past. To win the war on
terrorism, we must keep faith with our warriors.” Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC-03rd),
is an original cosponsor of the bill, which last year had more than 215
cosponsors.
Supporters of The Military Retirees’ Healthcare Protection Act (H.R.816)
are encouraged to contact their legislators and request they sign on as
cosponsors to this bill. At
http://capwiz.com/usdr/issues/alert/?alertid=12591151&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id]
can be found an USDR action alert letter that can be forwarded (as is or edited)
to your legislators. All that is required is for you to enter your zip code if
you have previously sent action alerts via USDR in the past. If not, you will
be required to enter your contact data prior to forwarding. Alternate letters
for transmission are available at MOAA’s Legislative Action
http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/?bill=12603596 and FRAS’s Legislative
Action Center
http://capwiz.com/fra/issues/alert/?alertid=12589421 . [Source: ArmyTimes
Rick Maze 4 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TRICARE USER FEE UPDATE 30: A Senate committee wrestling with ways to get the
federal deficit under control is weighing recommendations from a nonpartisan arm
of Congress that include increases in health care fees for retirees and their
families, as well as limits on veterans’ health care benefits. At a Senate
Budget Committee hearing 10 FEB, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), committee chairman,
said the $11.6 trillion national debt is expected to more than double by 2019,
with federal health care costs a key factor. Conrad said he thinks even that
forecast is overly optimistic and that the debt will be larger. The
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan arm of Congress, has compiled a
list of 115 options for changes in medical care programs, mostly ways to cut
federal funding, that Conrad’s committee is considering as it tries to prepare a
2010 federal spending guide. The options include raising enrollment fees,
copayments and deductibles for military retirees younger than age 65 and their
families using the Tricare health benefits program; requiring some veterans to
pay copayments when being treated for medical issues not related to military
service; and a novel idea of allowing active-duty families to pocket money
— up to $500 each year — if they don’t use health benefits.
Also included is a cost-sharing idea for Medicare-eligible military
retirees under which the government would not cover the first $525 of health
care costs each year and provide limited reimbursement of the next $4,725 in
costs, all in an effort to discourage unnecessary medical treatment. That aim
also is the basis for the CBO proposal to give $500 to active-duty families in a
tax-free allowance that would be used to cover new out-of-pocket expenses for
Tricare. It could be used to pay for insurance from other sources, such as a
spouse’s employer-provided health care plan, or it could be pocketed if the
family doesn’t spend it. It was clear from the hearing that the costs of
military and veterans health care programs are NOT the primary focus of
lawmakers, who are more worried about spiraling costs for the Medicare and
Medicaid programs. However, the fact that Tricare fees have not increased since
that program was created in the mid-1990s — despite constant calls by the
Defense Department to raise deductibles, copayments and enrollment fees to cut
military health care costs — is likely to get attention because other Americans
are paying more for their health care.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) noted that between 2001 and 2007, health care
premiums for average Americans increased by 78%, which he called an
“unsustainable” and “unhealthy” trend. The budget committee does not have the
power to increase Tricare fees or change veterans’ health care benefits.
Instead, its influence is in making recommendations on federal spending by
preparing annual revenue and spending plan that, if approved by Congress, sets
limits for various programs. A recommendation in the budget guide to cap
military or veterans health care funding could force lawmakers on other
committees to devise ways to reduce spending. [Source: NavyTimes Rick Maze
article 10 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TRICARE USER FEE UPDATE 31: In recent weeks there have been rumors going
around the internet among military retirees that President Obama has proposed to
cut the Tricare benefits by raising various fees. It is important to understand
that is not true at this time. The rumors have centered on a report put out by
the Congressional Budget Office that says one option for Congress is to raise
Tricare fees. However, that is not a proposal. It is a report that is issued
every two years that contains possible options for Congress regarding spending
and/or reductions in the entire federal budget. TREA Legislative Director Larry
Madison met in FEB with top officials from the office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs. They stated directly that no decision on what DoD
will propose to Congress regarding Tricare has been made and they did not know
for certain when they would be making a final decision. The officials did
express concern about the long-term viability of the military health care
system, and when questioned by Madison, they acknowledged one option they are
looking at is to encourage military retirees to use MTF’s in the future.
However, this is only in the talking stage and any decision on that will not be
made anytime soon. The officials also stated that they are exploring options
that would lower co-pays for the best drugs available to treat a specific
condition. Again, no decision on this has been made. While there is no harm in
contacting members of Congress with your concerns about possible increases in
Tricare fees, TREA suggests waiting until the Administration submits its
proposal so we know exactly what we are dealing with. Be assured that TREA’s
Washington office and the RAO will let you know as soon as we hear what the
proposals will be. [Source: TREA Washington Update 13 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
COBRA UPDATE 01: It would have been vastly cheaper for most people to keep
health insurance after losing a job if the government's original stimulus plan
had been supported. Jobs aren't the central point of the package sought by
President Barack Obama, passed by the House and steered to the Senate. The point
was to cushion the blow from losing one. For those who would have qualified,
relief would have been substantial. Under a proposed dramatic temporary
expansion of COBRA (the law that lets the unemployed keep health insurance from
their old job for up to 18 months if they pay for it in full) costs would have
dropped by about two-thirds for a year. Moreover, people who lost a job they've
held for 10 years would have been able to stay on COBRA at their expense all the
way to age 65, when Medicare takes over, if they did not get another job with
insurance first. People 55 and over could have done the same without meeting the
10-year requirement. It's so expensive for people to extend that insurance now
that many don't do it. It can quickly eat up a majority of unemployment
benefits.
That's just one of the proposed steps to maintain health access in the
worst economic conditions Americans have lived through in generations. And
that's the key, maintenance more than advancement. People who lose jobs at
businesses that employ fewer than 20 people don't qualify for COBRA. For them,
the government would have brought many more jobless people under Medicaid's
wing. The feds would have paid for this, plus would have given states a lot more
money to run the cost-shared part of the program. In return, states taking the
extra money would have been expected to back down on some of the cuts they've
made to the program recently. Altogether it would have been a pricey lifeline:
$40 billion to subsidize health insurance for the unemployed and more than twice
that to support Medicaid. Budget hawks, whose voices are practically lost in
the wind these days, wonder whether the relief really would have been temporary.
They know it's politically tough for the government to take something back once
people get a taste of it. Witness the expiring tax cuts that former President
George W. Bush won from Congress. Obama promised to continue most of those cuts
while raising taxes back up on the rich. But with the recession so deep, it's
less likely he'll seek to raise those tax rates after all. [Source: Washington
Post AP Calvin Woodward article 2 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
OBAMA VA OFFICIALS: Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki praised
President Barack Obama's intent to nominate W. Scott Gould as next Deputy
Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Gould is currently vice president for public
sector strategy at IBM Global Business Services and a former intelligence
officer in the naval reserve. He has public service experience at both the
departments of Commerce and Treasury. Shinseki said, "Scott and I share a
reverence for those who have served in uniform. He is fully committed to
fulfilling President Obama's vision and my goals for transforming the Department
of Veterans Affairs into a 21st Century organization, and he understands the
fundamentals that will drive that transformation: Veteran-centric,
results-oriented and forward looking." Shinseki further said that Gould
possesses a unique and wide-ranging set of skills in information technologies,
acquisition, budget, human resources and leading the modernization of large,
complex organizations. "Scott's expertise in these areas, as well as his broad
experience in the public sector, the private sector and the military, will prove
invaluable for better serving our Veterans," Shinseki added.
Gould worked in the public sector as the chief financial officer and
assistant secretary for administration at the Commerce Department and deputy
assistant secretary for finance and management at the Treasury Department from
1994 to 1999. As a White House Fellow, he worked at the Export-Import Bank of
the United States and in the Office of the White House Chief of Staff. Prior to
his job at IBM, he was chief executive officer of The O'Gara Company, a
strategic advisory and investment services firm, and chief operating officer of
Exolve, a technology services company. As a naval reservist, Gould served at sea
aboard the guided missile destroyer Richard E. Byrd and as assistant professor
of naval science at Rochester University. He was recalled to active duty for
both Operation Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom as a naval intelligence
reservist. During President Obama's campaign and after his election, Gould was
co-chair of the National Veterans Policy Team, Obama for America, and co-chair
of the Veterans Agency Review Team for the Presidential Transition Team. A
fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, Gould is a former
member of the National Security Agency's Technical Advisory Group and the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Overseers. He has been awarded
the Department of Commerce Medal, the Treasury Medal and the Navy Meritorious
Service Medal and is coauthor of The People Factor: Strengthening America by
Investing in the Public Service. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell
University and a Masters in business administration and a Doctorate in education
from the University of Rochester. [Source: VA News Release 30 Jan 09 ++]
===============================
OBAMA VA OFFICIALS UPDATE 01: A Harvard University researcher with some
radical ideas about how to reduce the backlog of veteran’s disability claims
appears to be in line to head the Veterans Benefits Administration. Linda Blimes,
a public policy lecturer and research at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government,
wants the Department of Veterans Affairs to operate like the Internal Revenue
Service — on an honor system that trusts veterans claiming service-connected
disabilities. All veterans claims would be approved as soon as they are filed,
with a random audit conducted to “weed out and deter fraudulent claims,” Blimes
told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in testimony in 2008. Ninety percent
of veterans disability claims end up being paid after they make it through the
system, she said — proof, she said, that most veterans are asking only for what
they deserve. Immediate payment of at least a minimum benefit would help to
reduce the average 180-day waiting time for initial benefits claims to be
processed and allow VA to redeploy the employees processing those claims to work
on more complicated appeals, she said. Blimes also has talked of a vastly
simplified disability rating system that would have just four ratings instead of
the current 10 for service-connected disabilities and illnesses.
Blimes has not been formally announced as a nominee, but her name is being
circulated among lawmakers and congressional staff in what has become a standard
procedure to determine whether there is any strong opposition to her taking the
key post. Her idea of a streamlined claims process has some prominent
supporters, among them Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA 51st), the House Veterans Affairs
Committee chairman who has talked of automatic claims approval as a way to
quickly eliminate the claims backlog. Retired Rear Adm. Patrick Dunne, a
holdover from the Bush administration, has stayed on to run the VBA until a
successor is named. He is not the only VA executive who has stayed around; Dr.
Michael Kussman also remains as VA’s undersecretary for health. In addition to
Blimes, another name being circulated is that of disabled Iraq war veteran Tammy
Duckworth, who could become VA’s chief of intergovernmental affairs. Duckworth,
the Illinois director of veterans affairs, is closely associated with President
Barack Obama.
On 30 JAN, the White House announced its intention to nominate W. Scott
Gould, a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer, to be VA deputy secretary
under retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, the former Army chief of staff recently
named to head VA. Gould does not have experience running veterans programs, but
he was co-chairman of the review team that looked at VA for Obama and has
experience in trying to centralize and streamline organizations. Gould is vice
president for public sector strategy at IBM Global Business Services. Gould is
married to Michelle Flournoy, whom Obama has nominated to be undersecretary of
defense for policy. [Source: ArmyTimes Rick Maze article 3 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
OBAMA VA OFFICIALS UPDATE 02: Disabled Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth soon
will be nominated to be part of President Obama’s team at the Veterans Affairs
Department. Duckworth, a major in the Illinois National Guard who lost both legs
in 2004 after the helicopter she was flying was struck by a rocket-propelled
grenade, will be nominated to be assistant veterans secretary for public and
intergovernmental affairs, White House and VA officials announced 3 FEB. The
White House announced the “intention” to nominate Duckworth. A formal nomination
won’t be made until background checks are done and Duckworth completes the
required pile of paperwork and disclosure statements, VA officials said. In
2006, after a failed bid for a seat in the House of Representatives, Duckworth
was named Illinois’ director of veterans affairs. A close ally of Obama, she was
frequently mentioned as someone who might be appointed to or run for the Senate
seat Obama vacated when he became president. The Senate seat ended up going to
Ronald Burris, who had served as Illinois comptroller and attorney general.
Bob Wallace, executive director of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), said he
was pleased to see a disabled veteran named for a key job at the VA. “Too often,
this job goes to a nonveteran,” he said. Wallace said he did not know Duckworth,
but “we hear good things about what she has done in Illinois.” And, being an
Iraq war veteran means “she brings that new perspective. That is something we
need,” Wallace said. Duckworth had a minor run-in with the VFW during her
congressional campaign when the group’s political action committee endorsed her
Republican opponent, a nonveteran. Some Democrats talked of boycotting the VFW,
but Duckworth issued a statement telling veterans not to drop out of a veterans
service organization that had done so much good over the years. VA Secretary
Eric Shinseki said in a statement that Duckworth “brings significant talent,
leadership and personal experience” to VA. “Effective communications with
veterans and VA’s stakeholders is key to improving our services and ensuring
veterans receive the benefits they deserve,” Shinseki said. The post Duckworth
is being asked to fill involves working with Congress and shaping VA’s message
to veterans and the news media. VA officials also said she would be responsible
for programs for homeless veterans, consumer affairs and special events for
veterans undergoing rehabilitation.
Duckworth, a frequent witness before the House and Senate veterans’ affairs
committees on issues involving Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, remained in the
National Guard after her 2004 injuries. Her husband, Bryan Bowlsbey, also is an
Iraq war veteran and a major in the Illinois National Guard. Sen. Daniel Akaka,
D-Hawaii, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, made clear he will be
supporting Duckworth once her formal nomination is made. Akaka called her “a
rising star and a source of inspiration for the newest generation of veterans.
She has seen the system from many sides — as a wounded warrior at Walter Reed,
an expert witness before Congress, and the head of the Illinois Department of
Veterans Affairs.” Testifying in 2007 before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, Duckworth said VA seemed unprepared to deal with both older veterans
and younger Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and made a controversial proposal
that all new amputees be treated in the private sector or at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center rather than at VA because the department’s prosthetic
programs were not state-of-the-art. Artificial limbs provided at VA were geared
toward veterans who wanted to do a little walking and perhaps drive a car, while
younger veterans want to be able to run marathons and climb mountains and return
to duty, if possible, she said. Duckworth said she was speaking from experience
because the high-tech limbs she was given by the Army could not be repaired or
adjusted at the VA hospital she used near Chicago because the hospital had no
experience with the prosthetics. [Source: MarineCorpsTimes Rick Maze article 4
Feb 09 ++]
===============================
TSP UPDATE 13: The thrift savings Plan (TSP) is a long-term retirement savings
plan, which is an ideal supplement to military and civilian retirement plans.
Investment money is deposited directly from each paycheck which makes it easy to
'pay yourself first' while only investing what you deem appropriate. The most
reliable fund in the TSP posted minimal gains in JAN 09, while the rest lost
ground. Following is the status of each fund at the close of JAN:
• I Fund, made up of international investments represented in the 401(k)-style
federal employee retirement plan, experienced the steepest losses for the month,
falling 11.93%. The fund also posted 12-month losses of 44.57%.
• C Fund, composed of common stocks on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index of the
largest domestic companies, dropped 8.41% in January. It declined a total of
38.62% during the past 12 months.
• S Fund, which invests in small- and mid-size companies by tracking the Dow
Jones Wilshire 4500 Index, dropped 8.19% in January. The fund also posted losses
of 39.58% for the year.
• F Fund, which invests in fixed-income bonds, reported minimal losses for
January, falling 0.86%. The fund posted long-term gains, however, earning 2.74%
in 12 months.
• G Fund, made up of short-term Treasury securities specially issued to provide
a higher return than inflation without any serious risk from market
fluctuations, grew 0.19% in January. Its 12-month gain was 3.61%.
• L Fund life-cycle options (which are a blend of the five basic funds that
automatically grow more conservative as investors near retirement). All five L
funds experienced losses for January. L 2040, intended for employees with a
target retirement date around the year 2040, dropped 7.67%; L 2030 fell 6.69%; L
2020 lost 5.58%; and L 2010 tumbled 2.61%. The L Income Fund, designed for
employees with planned retirements in the very near future, lost 1.74% in
January. All the L funds also posted losses during the past year. The L 2040
Fund took the hardest hit, falling 33.19% over 12 months. L 2030 plunged 29%
during that time; L 2020 dropped 24.12%, L 2010 lost 11.02% and L Income
declined 5.83%.
[Source: GOVExec.com Brittany Ballenstedt article 2 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
WW1 VET SEARCH UPDATE 04: World War I took place so long ago — in a lost
world of cavalry horses and biplanes — that it’s a little startling to meet
Frank Buckles in the flesh. Buckles who turned 108 on 1 FEB is the last known
survivor of the American military personnel who took part in World War I. On
Tuesday, as a winter storm moved in from the west, he sat in a blue blazer in a
warm corner of his day room, surrounded by history books. Outside, white wisps
blew across the pale stubble on the 330-acre cattle farm where he settled
quietly in 1954 after what had already been a life’s worth of adventure in two
wars and as a commercial seafarer. Beyond lay the river town of Harpers Ferry,
W.Va., and the Civil War battlefield at Antietam, Md. Buckles said he had always
known he would grow quite old. His father lived to be 97. He had a sister who
was 104. Other relatives on his mother’s side lived to be 100. The national
World War I veterans group, of which he is the commander and sole member, used
to publish a newsletter. Each issue counted down the number of old doughboys
still around. As the number got smaller and smaller, "I realized I’d be one of
the last," he said, "but I never thought I’d be the last."
On 11 NOV, the 90th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I,
the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs recognized Buckles as "our
last living link" to that war. Buckles met President George W. Bush at the White
House last year and was feted at the Pentagon. He seems to have enjoyed the
attention, but he isn’t eager to talk about the melancholy that must come with
being the last of 4,734,991 American military personnel during the United
States’ participation in the war, in 1917 and 1918. "Being the last is sort of a
negative thing because it means all your buddies have gone before you, so he
doesn’t dwell on that," said Muriel Sue Kerr of Mount Vernon, Va., the longtime
director of Buckles’ veterans group and the granddaughter of a World War I
veteran. He’s still in good health — "for a man my age," as he put it. A couple
of years ago, his only child, Susannah, 53, moved in with him. His son-in-law
built two rooms on the ground floor of his 250-year-old house so he doesn’t have
to climb stairs.
In SEP 06, portrait photographer David DeJonge of Grand Rapids, Mich., set
out to photograph all remaining World War I veterans. He had 15 names on his
list. By the time he was finished, six had died. In March, nine DeJonge
portraits, including one of Buckles, were hung in a corridor of the Pentagon.
With Buckles beside him, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said: "The First World
War is not well-understood or remembered in the United States. There is no big
memorial on the National Mall. Hollywood has not turned its gaze in this
direction for decades. Yet few events have so markedly shaped the world we live
in." To qualify as a World War I veteran, someone must have been on active duty
between 6 APR 17 and 11 NOV 18. About 53,000 died in combat, with another
204,000 wounded. The primarily privately funded World War One Liberty Memorial
Museum located at 100 W. 26th Street, Kansas City, MO 64108-4616 is the only
national institution with plans to commemorate the end of the Doughboy
generation. It is open TUE thru SUN from 1000 to 1700 (1615 for the Tower) and
closed on Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day. The Museum
is free to the public on Memorial Day and Veterans Day and on other days tickets
cay be purchased in the Museum Store. For additional info on WW1 or the museum
refer to
www.libertymemorialmuseum.org. [Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer Tom
Infield article 1 Feb 09 ++]
===============================
MESOTHELIOMA: Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the
mesothelial cells that lines many organs and body cavities. The mesothelium
(composed of mesothelial cells) is the membrane that lines three of the body's
cavities, and depending on what cavity it lines it is given a specific name: the
thoracic cavity (pleura), abdominal cavity (peritoneum), and the heart sac
(pericardium). The mesothelium that covers the internal organs is called the
visceral mesothelium, while the layer that covers the body wall is called
parietal mesothelium. Mesothelium tissue also surrounds the male internal
reproductive organs and covers the internal reproductive organs in women.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the mesothelium, in which cells of the
mesothelium become abnormal and divide uncontrollably and without order. They
can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Most cases of mesothelioma
begin in the thoracic cavity (pleura) or the abdominal cavity (peritoneum).
Mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a
naturally-occurring fibrous substance that was widely used in the twentieth
century in a number of different industries. Popular because of its durability,
fire resistance, and insulating properties, it was regularly used in the
manufacture of several thousand different products, up until the time that
asbestos warnings were issued in the mid-1970s. It is estimated that
approximately 80 to 90% of mesothelioma cases are caused by asbestos exposure.
Due to a long latency period, mesothelioma symptoms (shortness of breath, severe
cough, chest pain) may not appear for 20 or more years. For this reason,
mesothelioma is often diagnosed in later stages of development, which severely
complicates treatment and chances of survival. The exact way in which asbestos
causes mesothelioma is not well understood but what is apparent is that any
length of exposure to asbestos can be hazardous and may result in the
development of asbestos-related diseases later in life. Medical professionals
offer four different theories on cause. The element that ties each together is
the fact that asbestos results in cellular damage, which causes cells to lose
control over their own cycles of normal division and begin dividing
uncontrollably. Healthy cells follow cycles of cell division that ensure tissues
and organs do not grow beyond normal size - in cancer cells, these restraints
are lost. The theories are:
• Asbestos causes irritation and inflammation of mesothelial cells, which
results in irreversible scarring, cellular damage, and eventually cancer.
• Asbestos fibers enter cells and disrupt the function of cellular structures
that are essential for normal cell division, causing cellular changes that lead
to cancer.
• Asbestos causes the production of free radicals. These molecules damage DNA,
and cause cells to mutate and become cancerous.
• The presence of asbestos causes cells to produce oncoproteins. These molecules
cause mesothelial cells to ignore normal cellular division restraints, and this
can lead to the development of cancer.
Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year
in the United States, comprising around 3% of all cancer diagnoses. Naval
veterans and shipyard workers are especially susceptible. This cancer occurs
more frequently in men than in women, about four times more frequent. All forms
of mesothelioma, except for benign mesothelioma, are invariably fatal. The
prognosis for mesothelioma is almost always poor and most studies report a
median survival of less than one year, but the prognosis really depends on how
early it is diagnosed and aggressively it is treated. At
www.asbestos.com can be found the
up-to-date information on this cancer. It is a resource offering more than 2000
pages on all asbestos issues ranging from occupational exposure to mesothelioma
treatment. [Source: Mesothelioma Cancer Center
www.asbestos.com Jan 09 ++]
===============================
ASBESTOSIS: This, a serious lung disorder caused by breathing in tiny asbestos
fibers that can develop into cancer. Once inhaled into the lungs, these fibers
cannot be destroyed or expelled by the body. They remain embedded in the lung
tissue and cause chronic irritation and inflammation. Over time, as this
irritation continues, scar tissue develops and replaces healthy lung tissue.
Scar tissue is inflexible and cannot contract and expand, which leads to
symptoms of asbestosis. Symptoms begin to appear when lung function has been
damaged by asbestos exposure. One of the first signs of asbestosis is when
breathing has become noticeably difficult. Many asbestosis patients compare the
symptoms they experience to those of asthma. Generally, the first symptom of
asbestosis is shortness of breath during physical exertion. As the condition
worsens, shortness of breath may be experienced even when resting. Other
symptoms of asbestosis include painful breathing and coughing. For further
information on symptoms refer to
www.asbestos.com/asbestosis/symptoms.php. People with asbestosis may also
develop dangerous complications that occur as a result of reduced lung function.
These include high blood pressure, heart disease, and buildup of fluid in the
lungs. In addition, people who have developed asbestosis may be at risk of other
asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma cancer.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of living veterans were exposed to
toxic asbestos-containing materials during military service. Most military
divisions utilized the caustic substance mainly for insulation purposes, but
more than 300 products containing asbestos were used by the military, primarily
by the Navy from the 1930s through the 1970s. Every ship and shipyard built by
the Navy before the mid-70s was fitted with numerous asbestos-containing
materials. These materials were extensively used in engine and boiler rooms and
other areas below deck for fire safety purposes. Navy personnel who worked below
deck were heavily exposed to asbestos, but all sailors are at risk, as the
deadly compound was used in navigation rooms, sleeping quarters, and mess halls.
Products such as brakes, gaskets, valves, cements, adhesives, and floor and pipe
coverings all contained asbestos. Thus, Navy veterans and shipyard workers are
one of the most at-risk groups for developing asbestos-related diseases. More
than 30% of Americans beset with mesothelioma (a rapacious cancer that attacks
the internal lining of the lungs, abdomen, and heart) were exposed to asbestos
during military service. At www.asbestos.com
you can review by state shipyards that used asbestos plus other job sites with a
risk of exposure.
Veterans with asbestos-related illnesses find themselves in a unique and
troubling situation, as they virtually have no avenue to seek compensation
through the current government system. Ailing veterans are prohibited by law to
seek compensation from the U.S. government through the court system. Veterans
are allowed to apply for Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits for asbestos-related
diseases. If in doubt as to how to proceed the resources and staff (i.e. pro
bono) at www.asbestos.com or
1-800-272-3786 can assist veterans in applying for benefits. You can also seek
assistance from your local veteran service officer (VSO). Initially, a veteran
must provide proof that their disease is asbestos-related and that exposure
occurred during military service. If a veteran cannot prove their asbestos
exposure is limited and isolated to their military service, they are advised to
seek compensation directly from asbestos manufacturers. The VA does not
presently recognize mesothelioma as a service-connected medical condition.
Thus, even if a veteran has been diagnosed with mesothelioma (of which nearly
100% of all cases are caused by asbestos exposure), the VA may refuse to treat
them - unless the veteran can provide proof that the cancer is caused by
exposure to asbestos while in service.
Diagnosis of asbestos-related diseases is difficult since many of the
symptoms are indicative of other disorders. With symptoms ranging from
respiratory problems to chest pain, asbestos-related illnesses are often
misdiagnosed. The non-specificity of symptoms leads to mistaken diagnosis and
consequently allows the diseases to fester and spread. For example, pleural
mesothelioma, the most common form of asbestos cancers, demonstrates symptoms
such as a persistent cough, night sweats, and fever. Early warning signs such as
these are frequently misdiagnosed as pneumonia or influenza, affording the
cancer the opportunity to develop and pervade the body. Mesothelioma treatment
for asbestos-related illnesses varies depending on the condition. Due to the
common late diagnosis of these diseases, treatment is often limited to making
the patient comfortable, as curing illnesses caused by asbestos is very rare.
[Source: Mesothelioma Cancer Center
www.asbestos.com Jan 09 ++]
===============================
HAVE YOU HEARD?
My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked,
'What's on TV?' I said, 'Dust.'
And then the fight started...
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She
said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.' I
bought her a scale.
And then the fight started...
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace
expensive... so, I took her to a gas station.
And then the fight started...
After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social
Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to
verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home.
I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come
back later. The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt
revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is
proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application. When I
got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security
office. She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten
disability, too.'
And then the fight started...
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept
staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' ‘Yes,’ I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I
understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago,
and I hear she hasn't been sober since. 'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think
a person could go on celebrating that long?'
And then the fight started...
I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order
first. "I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please. "He said, "Aren't
you worried about the mad cow?" "Nah, she can order for herself."
And then the fight started...
A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with
what she sees and says to her husband, 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and
ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.' The husband replies, 'Your
eyesight's near perfect.'
And then the fight started.....
I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95.
Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would
make her look better at night than the cold cream.
And then the fight started....
My wife asked me if a certain dress made her look big. I told her not as much
as the dress she wore yesterday
And then the fight started.....
A man and a woman were asleep like two innocent babies. Suddenly, at 3 o'clock
in the morning, a loud noise came from outside. The woman, bewildered, jumped up
from the bed and yelled at the man 'Holy Mowly. That must be my husband!' So the
man jumped out of the bed; scared and naked jumped out the window. He smashed
himself on the ground, ran through a thorn bush and to his car as fast as he
could go. A few minutes later he returned and went up to the bedroom and
screamed at the woman, 'I AM your husband!' The woman yelled back, 'Yeah, then
why were you running?'
And then the fight started.....
Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, grabbed the
dog, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the truck,
and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50
mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that
the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed,
and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different
anticipation, and whispered, 'The weather out there is terrible.' My loving wife
of 10 years replied, 'Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?'
And then the fight started....
I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?" It warmed my
heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation. "Somewhere I haven't been in a
long time!" she said. So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?"
And then the fight started....
My wife and I were watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire while we were in bed.
I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?" "No," she answered. I then
said, "Is that your final answer?" She didn't even look at me this time, simply
saying "Yes." So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."
And that's when the fight started....
===============================
VETERAN LEGISLATION STATUS 13 FEB 09: Refer to the Bulletin’s Veteran
Legislation attachment for or a listing of Congressional bills of interest to
the veteran community that have been introduced in the 111th Congress. Support
of these bills through cosponsorship by other legislators is critical if they
are ever going to move through the legislative process for a floor vote to
become law. A good indication on that likelihood is the number of cosponsors
who have signed onto the bill. Any number of members may cosponsor a bill in the
House or Senate. At http://thomas.loc.gov
you can review a copy of each bill’s content, determine its current status, the
committee it has been assigned to, and if your legislator is a sponsor or
cosponsor of it. To determine what bills, amendments your representative has
sponsored, cosponsored, or dropped sponsorship on refer to
http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d111/sponlst.html. The key to increasing
cosponsorship on veteran related bills and subsequent passage into law is
letting our representatives know of veteran’s feelings on issues. You can reach
their Washington office via the Capital Operator direct at (866) 272-6622, (800)
828-0498, or (866) 340-9281 to express your views. Otherwise, you can locate on
http://thomas.loc.gov your representative
and his/her phone number, mailing address, or email/website to communicate with
a message or letter of your own making. Refer to
http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/cong_schedule.html for dates that you can
access your representatives on their home turf. [Source: RAO Bulletin
Attachment 13 Jan 09 ++]
===============================
Lt. James “EMO” Tichacek, USN (Ret)
Director, Retiree Assistance Office, U.S. Embassy Warden & IRS VITA Baguio City
RP
PSC 517 Box RCB, FPO AP 96517
Tel: (951) 238-1246 in U.S. or Cell: 0915-361-3503 in the Philippines.
Email: raoemo@sbcglobal.net Web:
http://post_119_gulfport_ms.tripod.com/rao1.html
AL/AMVETS/DAV/FRA/NAUS/NCOA/MOAA/USDR/VFW/VVA/CG33/DD890/AD37 member
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