“32 Stars+” Weigh In. The Joint Chiefs
and the Services’ Senior Enlisted Advisors have added their support to the
administration’s recent budget-cutting proposal that would hike health fees for
all retirees, chop force levels, curtail pay raises, close bases, and reform
retirement for new entrants.
New Rules Help Caregivers. First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of
Labor Solis announced new rules to the Family and Medical Leave Act that will expand
leave protection for families of active duty servicemembers and families caring
for wounded, ill or injured veterans.
MOAA Hosts Spouse Career Fair. Last week MOAA
hosted its 6th annual Military Spouse Symposium and career fair in
San Diego, drawing more than 500 spouses.
“32 Stars+”
Weigh In
Last
week we reported on the Pentagon’s initial roll-out of the FY2013 defense
budget that would hike health fees for all retirees, impose means-testing of
health care fees, chop force levels, curtail future pay raises, close bases,
and seek a commission to reform retirement for new entrants.
On
January 25, the Joint Chiefs and the Services’ Senior Enlisted Advisors added
their support for military compensation reforms included in the Pentagon’s
proposal by writing to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leadership.
In
what’s being dubbed the “32-star letter”, the Services’ officer and enlisted
leadership called the proposed cutbacks as “sensible” and characterized TRICARE
enrollment and deductible fee increases for retirees as “comparatively moderate
and tiered based on retirement income.”
This
isn’t the first time the Joint Chiefs have endorsed TRICARE fee increases for
retirees. MOAA understands that the
Joint Chiefs are in a precarious position and need to find ways to cut defense
spending, but we don’t believe it should be done on the backs of those that
have served a career in the military.
MOAA
strongly objects to means-testing health care
fees based on retired pay. No other
federal employee or retiree has their health benefits means-tested.
This
proposal actually undermines the whole basis of a health care benefit,
switching from one that is “earned by service” to one based on “level of need”...in
other words, a social welfare mentality that undermines the whole principle
that longer and more successful service shouldn’t be rewarded by lower benefits.
MOAA
plans to fight inappropriate fee hikes and more. Our concern is that the DoD proposal continues
to push for beneficiaries to pay more while failing to address inefficiencies
within the delivery of military healthcare.
As
for the other proposals on the table, MOAA plans to hold our fire to see if it
results in a balanced approach. Our
biggest concern is that leaders in the administration are starting to take the all
volunteer force for granted.
New Rules Help
Caregivers
On
Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced
new rule changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that would allow
more currently serving and veteran family members to take time off from work
before, during or after deployments and leave to care for wounded, ill or
injured veterans.
The
FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid (job-protected)
leave in a 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons such as
birth, adoption or placement of a child, care of a family member with a health
condition, or the employee’s own health condition.
In
2008, the FMLA was expanded to provide certain family members of the active
duty, Guard and Reserve with up to 26-workweeks in a 12-month period to care
for servicemembers with a serious injury or illness incurred in the line-of-duty.
The
new rules would extend FMLA leave protections to military families as a
whole. Key aspects of the new rules
would:
- Provide
up to 26-weeks of caregiver leave to cover family members caring for recently
separated veterans with serious line-of-duty injuries or illnesses, including
conditions that may surface up to five years after the member leaves the
service
- Allow
the spouse, child or parent of an active duty member to take leave to deal with
deployment-related issues and events such as financial, legal, child care
arrangement, and to attend military events before, during or after a deployment
overseas.
- Allow
families up to 15 days of leave to spend time with a servicemember during rest
and recuperation leave.
“We
are going to work every day until every last one of you feel the pride and the honor
that this entire country feels,” said the First Lady to an auditorium full of
senior service leaders and caregivers.
“As long as we all just keep joining forces to support these amazing
families, we will be able to serve all of you as well as you’ve served us.”
MOAA
is grateful for the efforts of the First Lady along with her Joining Forces
campaign, and the Labor Department in expanding military leave protections for
our military, veterans and their families.
We look forward to the implementation of the new rules and doing all we
can to let potential eligibles know about these new protections.
MOAA Hosts
Spouse Career Fair
MOAA,
in partnership with Blue Star Families, hosted its 6th annual Spouse
Symposium in San Diego last week.
The
symposium, titled “Keeping a Career on the Move”, drew more than 300 military
spouses to the morning session, which included a dynamic employer panel, “Five
Things Employers Want You to Know”. Representatives from the Society for Human
Resource Management, Facebook, United Way, and CSC provided attendees an
insider’s look at how employers see military spouse job seekers.
Monique
Rizer, MOAA Deputy Director, Spouse Programs, rounded out the morning with an
interactive workshop on “Finding Your Dependable Strengths”.
In
the afternoon, over 500 military spouses and veterans attended a career fair
featuring over 50 local employers who were actively recruiting and hiring.
During
the career fair, MOAA Benefits Information Director Bud Schneeweis, (USCG-Ret) delivered
his popular seminar, “The Dollars and ‘Sense’ of Working Outside the Home.”
MOAA’s
Government Relations Department hosted a very successful “Capitol Hill Q and A”
session. Set up as “coffee shop”-like
interactive session, it offered spouses the opportunity to meet one on one with
experts in the areas of health care, employment, education and
legislation.
Karen
Golden, MOAA Deputy Director of Government Relations (Military Family Issues)
fielded questions regarding spouse licensure, the Interstate Compact on
Educational Opportunity for Military Children, military spouse residency, GI
Bill, pay and retirement. The event
provided valuable feedback from the “grassroots level.”