White House Targets Brain Injuries. First Lady Michelle Obama announced a program that would expand the existing pool of civilian and military mental health providers to help diagnose and treat the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Important Dates for 2012. Some key dates are coming up as Congress and the Administration face an important year.
Fact or Fiction: Congressional Benefits. MOAA sees plenty of claims about Congressional compensation and benefits. We try to sort out the facts from the fiction.
White House Targets Brain Injuries
On Wednesday, the First Lady announced a new initiative that involves 130 medical schools across the country that are committed to helping train more civilian and military doctors to care for troops and veterans with psychological and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
The collaborative program is being led by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Through an interactive web hub, participating schools will be able to communicate, share best practices, and inculcate military culture with medical knowledge across military, veteran and civilian medical institutions to ultimately bring more resources to bear on these urgent issues facing American heroes.
The focus of the initiative is on the health and wellness of our military, veterans and their families. “PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), TBI, depression and any other combat-related mental health issues should never again be a source of shame,” remarked Mrs. Obama.
DoD and the VA estimate that one in six combat troops are impacted by PTSD, TBI, or both.
The majority of these individuals are seeking help in the civilian community outside of the scope and expertise of military and VA mental health providers.
“With many of these veterans expected to live 50 to 70 years after leaving the military, we must have a long-term commitment to taking care of these folks, that means meeting veterans where they are if we are going to have a positive impact on their health and well being,” said Navy Captain Brad Cooper, Executive Director for the White House Joining Forces Initiative during a follow-on conference.
MOAA fully supports this expansion of mental health training and outreach.
"Seek help, don't bury it," Mrs. Obama said. "Asking for help is a sign of strength.”
Important Dates for 2012
Here is an estimated timeline of when important actions will occur in the second session of the 112th Congress:
Mid February: The President will submit his annual budget proposals to Congress. On or before this date we’ll find out exactly what the Pentagon and Administration will propose in order to cut $450 billion in defense spending over the next decade. Pay freezes, manpower cuts, TRICARE fee increases, retirement changes, and more could be included in the proposal.
Late March: Six weeks after the President delivers his budget to Congress, congressional committees are required to submit their “views and estimates” of spending and revenues within their respective jurisdictions to the House and Senate Budget Committees.
April: House and Senate Budget Committees draft and mark up concurrent resolution on the budget, which sets spending limits for the year. April 15 is the deadline for completion of action on the budget resolution (though partisan and fiscal differences have precluded approval of a formal budget resolution in recent years, and that may prove true again in 2012.)
May: The House and Senate Armed Services Committees will likely begin work on the FY2013 Defense Authorization Bill, including any changes that may be imposed by budget resolution spending limits.
May-July: Full House and Senate pass their respective versions of the defense bill.
July-October: House and Senate negotiators resolve differences between their respective versions.
October-December: Final Defense Authorization Bill passed by House and Senate and becomes law.
November 6: Presidential and Congressional elections.
December 31: Deadline to pass an alternative debt reduction plan in order to avoid the sequestration process that will cut another $600 billion from defense spending over the next decade.
Fact or Fiction: Congressional Benefits
Approval ratings for Congress are at a historic low, and our members often ask us what sort of benefits legislators enjoy.
The following information isn't presented to defend Congressional perks, but only to dispel some myths that perpetually float around the internet. If we're to have credibility defending military programs, we need to have our facts right.
Fact or Fiction:
1) Members of Congress get full pensions for life after serving just one term.
Mostly Fiction. The Congressional retirement system is very similar to that of federal civilians. It’s true that a member of Congress can become eligible for retirement benefits after a minimum of 5 years of service if they’re age 62 or older, but only for a partial pension.
To qualify for a pension a member of Congress must meet one of the following service and age requirements:
- 5 years of service and age 62
- 20 years of service and age 50
- 25 years of service at any age
Like the military retirement system, Congressional retirement pay is calculated on a combination of their average high-three years of salary and a multiplier based on their length of service.
It’s also worth pointing out that members of Congress contribute to their own retirement and pay Social Security taxes. Once retired their Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) are sometimes held artificially below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation.
Since the Congressional retirement system was overhauled in 1984 (to be less generous) the average annual pension is roughly $40,000.
2) Members of Congress don’t pay for their healthcare.
Fiction. Members of Congress and their staffs are eligible for the same health insurance as federal civilians, and they pay the same premiums. They can enroll in any insurance program offered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).
One of the most popular plans under FEHBP (the Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard plan) costs beneficiaries $430 a month for a family, and $185 a month for individual coverage.
Starting in 2014, members of Congress and their staffs will be required to participate in the health care exchanges created under national health care reform.
3) Legislators receive free health care at military facilities such as Walter Reed.
Fiction. Members of Congress can receive care at the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, but the cost of such care is billed to their federal insurance.
4) Congress votes themselves pay increases every year.
Mostly Fiction. The law authorizes Congress a raise every year unless legislators vote to stop it.
Congress voted to forgo a pay raise in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Congressional pay increases are capped lower than the military raise. While military raises are tied to the average American’s (the Employment Cost Index), congressional raises are capped one-half percentage point below that.
In 2012 members of Congress will collect a salary of $174,000 (Congressional leaders receive more).