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S.2617, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008 intoduced by Senator Akaka, was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate 30 JUL. If passed in the House, it will adjust veterans’ compensation rates to keep pace with inflation effective 1 DEC 08. According to recent data provided by the Department of Veteran Affairs this increase will go to 2.8 million veterans and over 300,000 surviving spouses receiving dependency and indemnity compensation. The bill now moves to the House of Representativess for their consideration. While this year’s cost-of-living increase has yet to be determined, the congressional Budget Office has projected a 2.8% increase. Last year’s increase was 2.3% [source: Sen. Akaka press release 21 Jun 08 +]

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In response to the growing number of veterans denied the mental health treatment needed to address their post traumatic stress who end up in legal trouble after self-medicating to suppress their anxieties, Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)on 1 AUG introduced the Services, Education, and Rehabilitation for Veterans (SERV) Act to create veteran drug treatment courts to support veterans combat the cycle of alcohol or drug addiction. A similar program is operational in Buffalo, NY and has already seen great success. The SERV Act would authorize funds to go to the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the development and implementation of veteran’s treatment courts or to enhance operational drug courts to serve veterans.

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In a move that could lead to significant changes in medical care for older men, a national task force in the United States recommended that doctors stop screening men ages 75 and older for prostate cancer because the search for the disease in this group is causing more harm than good. The new guidelines, issued 4 AUG by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, represent an abrupt policy change by an influential panel that had withheld any advice regarding screening for prostate cancer, citing a lack of reliable evidence.

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The House overwhelmingly approved a bill that—among other things—would increase the mileage compensation paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by nearly 50% to help vets who have to drive long distances to receive medical care. The increase in mileage compensation—to 41.5 cents per mile—was included in the Fiscal Year 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, which must still be considered by the Senate and approved by President Bush, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI). The spending bill—which passed 409 to 4—would provide $336 million above Bush’s FY 2009 budget request for servicemember quality-of-life projects to improve living conditions and health care delivery. Projects include the modernization of training facilities, as well as the building of child care centers, barracks and housing, Obey said. The bill also would address the backlog in maintenance at VA medical facilities; improve access to health care for vets in areas where VA does not offer services; increase availability of new generation prosthetics; substantially increase funding for research into trauma, mental health and other critical areas; and provide additional case workers and medical services for homeless vets. [Source: Rep. Dave Obey press release 1 Aug 08 ++]

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Veterans exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange are twice as likely to get prostate cancer as other veterans, UC Davis researchers found in a study published online by the journal Cancer. Prostate cancer in those men also comes on earlier and is more aggressive, said Dr. Karim Chaime, chief resident in urology at UC Davis and the study’s lead author. The findings are a clear signal that men who worked with Agent Orange should be cared for differently, getting earlier biopsies and more aggressive treatment, he said. “This is a high-risk group.” Chaime described the study of more than 13,000 Northern California veterans over eight years as “the biggest study ever done” on Agent Orange effects. It will be published in the 15 SEP print edition of Cancer, after online publication last week, and Chaime hopes it soon could lead to new Department of Veterans’ Affairs treatment standards.

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The USFSPA Litigation Support Group (ULSG) closely monitors cases filed in state courts where former servicemembers, who are receiving military retirement pay, are locked in disputes with former spouses when that pay is converted, by election, to military disability pay under applicable VA benefits. This is a common move by former servicemembers who receive a VA disability rating because of the tax advantages of receiving disability pay over retired pay.  Former spouses usually dispute such an election and demand that foregone share of military retired pay be rendered to them, even though the former servicemember’s only (or major) source of income is now disability pay. Usually, former servicemembers (and their lawyers) rely solely on the provisions of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) which prevents the treatment of military disability pay as disposable pay for purposes of payments to former spouses.  See USFSPA, 10 U.S.C. § 1408(a)(4)(B).  But state courts continue to ignore that provision and rule against the interests of former servicemembers.

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The 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation has suggested a new way of measuring military pay, proposed that more money be spent on special and incentive pays, and recommended restructuring the basic allowance for housing. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jan D. “Denny” Eakle — former deputy director of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service — chaired the commission and briefed the media on the recommendations 12 MAR. This was just the first release of the review, Eakle explained. A second volume, covering retirement and quality-of-life aspects of compensation, will be released in the summer. Eakle said that whenever a QRMC convenes, the first question it examines always is whether military pay is comparable to pay in the private sector. The second is whether military pay is adequate to maintain the force, she said. The 9th QRMC, released in 2002, concluded that for pay to be comparable, it had to be at or above the 70th percentile of the age- and education-matched civilian population, Eakle said. Military pay followed this guidance through 2006, and targeted pay raises in 2007 and 2008 ensure DoD exceeds the 70th percentile for enlisted personnel. Officer pay exceeded this goal in 2006 and has kept pace since then, she said.

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An appeals court has ruled taxpayers cannot sue the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for incorporating religion into its health care programs for the nation’s veterans. The Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 5 AUG that the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFFF) and three of its members have no legal standing to bring the case. The group was trying to end the agency’s practice of asking patients about their religion in “spiritual assessments,” its use of chaplains to treat patients, and drug and alcohol treatment programs that incorporate religion. It claimed those practices violated the separation of church and state. But the court ruled that federal taxpayers cannot challenge those expenditures. It cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year in which the same group was not allowed to sue over President Bush’s faith-based initiative. In that case, the court ruled 5-4 that taxpayers cannot sue the executive branch for expenses that allegedly promote religion. Cases can only be brought when the questionable expenditures are explicitly authorized in a Congressional spending bill, the court ruled. Congress never authorized spending on the chaplain services, pastoral care and other programs challenged, the 7th Circuit ruled.

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Death gratuity checks worth $100,000 can now be deposited electronically. The new measure, which took effect 4 AUG, makes the funds available to grieving family members within 24 hours. Service personnel designate who they want to receive the funds on their Page 2 information. “We want to make those funds available,” said Lt. Karen Eifert, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon. Previously, the death gratuity checks were only available in paper form, often delivered during a visit from a casualty assistance calls officer. Eifert said it could take days or weeks for the funds to clear, resulting, according to recent news reports, in families not having money available for funeral services while banks held up the funds. In one case, a man was jailed over a dispute with his son’s check. “That’s what sprang us into action, to make things easier for families that are grieving,” she said. “We recommend they take the electronic funds transfer.” The $100,000 death gratuity is wholly separate from group life insurance available to military members, she noted. The Navy follows the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps in offering the electronic check to its members. Paper checks will still be available should sailors choose that option. [Source: NavyTimes article posted 7 Aug 08 ++]

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Senators Robert Casey (D-PA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Barack Obama (D-IL) and have sponsored S.3432, the Servicemembers’ Access to Justice Act, with a House companion bill expected soon, which would eliminate state sovereign immunity and make states subject to USERRA claims if they receive any federal financial assistance for any program or activity. The bill would also provide enhanced USERRA remedies against state, federal and/or private employers for violating USERRA, including damages plus interest for lost wages or actual monetary losses where wages have not been denied; liquidated damages equal to the wages or other monetary loss or $10,000, whichever is greater. Members with claims against state and private employers would be entitled to a jury trial and to punitive damages in the case of an employer of 25 or more employees whose violation was done with malice or reckless indifference to the rights of the servicemember. Successful claimants would mandatorily be awarded attorney fees acquired in fighting for their USERRA rights.

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