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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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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Families of some active-duty Reserve and National Guard members will get a break on paying annual deductibles associated with the military’s health care system, according to a final rule (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-18597.htm) published 12 AUG in the Federal Register. The rule, which was proposed in AUG 06 and took effect on 12 AUG makes permanent the Defense Department’s authority to waive the annual TRICARE deductibles for eligible dependents of reservists and Guard members who are called to active duty for more than 30 days. It applies to those who choose to participate in TRICARE Standard or Extra, rather than TRICARE Prime. By law, the TRICARE Standard (or Extra) deductible for active-duty family members is $150 per individual and $300 per family each fiscal year. For those at the E-4 level and below, the deductibles are $50 per individual and $100 per family. Dependents are defined as spouses and children. In addition, the final regulation increases the amount that can be billed to out-of-network health care providers. “This helps reserve and Guard family members to be able to continue to see civilian providers with whom they have established relations and promotes access and clinically appropriate continuity of care,” the notice stated. The rule makes permanent authority exercised by Defense through the extension of a demonstration project. The fiscal 2005 National Defense Authorization Act gave the department that authority and waived certain TRICARE deductibles for active-duty members of reserve components. The Federal Register notice stated that an independent government estimate concluded that the annual cost for implementing the rule would be less than $30 million. [Source: GovExec.com Today 13 Aug 08 ++]

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The new form, available in the link below was developed to ease the claim processing in the Philippines for two different situations:

1. When an itemized bill/receipt/statement is needed to go along with a claim, but the provider cannot provide one.

2. When one of our beneficiaries has Other Health Insurance (OHI), but the OHI company does not, cannot or will not provide a statement of coverage and what was paid by the OHI.

This form has been reviewed, vetted and approved through the required HQ TRICARE departments as well as the contracting partner, WPS. It is the hope of Tricare Area Office – Pacific (TAO-P) that this form will help ease the claims processing when the above two situations occur. The form is available for download on the TAO-P website: http://tpaoweb.oki.med.navy.mil/, by clicking the button titled “TRICARE In The Philippines”. For questions call (81) 6117-43-2031/29 Camp Lester, Okinawa or email Tony.Ingram@med.navy.mil. [Source: Lt Col Tony Ingram, Chief, Program Operations, TAO-P msg. 11 Aug 08 ++]

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Effective 1 JUL service members will be able to select from one to ten persons of their choosing to receive the $100,000 death gratuity benefit. Prior to the change in law, payments were restricted to the spouse, then children (if applicable), and then to a family member as elected by the service member. It didn’t allow a married service member to leave the death gratuity to anyone else.

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The title of the House committee report sums up what happened: “Die or Give Up Trying: How Poor Contractor Performance, Government Mismanagement and the Erosion of Quality Controls Denied Thousands of Disabled Veterans Timely and Accurate Retroactive Retired Pay Awards.” The report by the majority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform domestic policy panel, released Tuesday, concluded that at least 28,283 disabled retirees were denied retroactive pay awards because rushed efforts to clear a huge backlog of claims led program administrators to stop doing quality assurance checks on the claims decisions. And of the original 133,057 potentially eligible veterans, 8,763 died before their cases could be reviewed for retroactive payments, according to the report. At issue are the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payments and Combat-Related Special Compensation programs, approved by Congress in 2003 and 2004 to allow large numbers of disabled retirees to receive full concurrent military retirement pay and veteran’s disability compensation.

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The National Park Service is an participant in the new Interagency Pass Program which was created by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act and authorized by Congress in DEC 04. Participating agencies include the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture - Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. The pass series, referred to collectively as the America the Beautiful Pass, went sale 1 JAN 07. It replaces the former Golden Age, Golden Access, and Golden Eagle pass. The new series consist of the following:

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Anyone in the military community who feels the need to talk to someone regarding their situation can call or contact:

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On 14 JUL, the Bureau of Labor Statistics at www.bls.gov/cpi announced the JUN 08 monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the metric used to calculate the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for military retired pay, VA disability compensation, survivor annuities, and Social Security.

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