U.S. Military (Ret.): Changes at VA slow but progressing - Military Retirement - Army Times

U.S. Military (Ret.): Changes at VA slow but progressing

I’ve been hearing a lot from retirees who are increasingly worried about their benefits.

There are concerns about the long-term future of Tricare for Life, the 25 percent hike in premiums just announced for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance program and projected changes in the cost of dental care under the new retiree dental care contract.

President Barack Obama and Congress also failed to keep their promise to provide full concurrent receipt of retirement pay and disability compensation to “Chapter 61” medical retirees.

The topper is the absence of a retiree cost-of-living adjustment — the first time in a generation that retirees will see no COLA, thanks to the recession.

Then there’s the Veterans Affairs Department, the agency that many retirees love to bash — and often with good reason.

But efforts to transform VA are, in fact, underway, starting with a 2010 VA budget of $112.8 billion, an increase of 15 percent over 2009. The centerpiece is a dramatic boost in health care funding that will support an estimated 122,000 more patients in 2010 than in 2009.

The budget includes $4.6 billion for mental health programs, a $288 million increase; $5.9 billion for long-term-care services, a $663 million increase; and $440 million to improve care to veterans in rural areas.

VA also is trying to make headway on two other important initiatives — reducing the time it takes to get an initial decision on a benefits claim, and creating a seamless, reliable electronic veterans records system.

The 2010 budget includes $1.8 billion — a $364 million increase — to improve the way VA administers benefits. Officials say average claims processing time will drop to about five months next year — still too long, but better than it used to be.

The second initiative is a collaboration between VA and the Defense Department to create a long-overdue “virtual lifetime electronic record,” which would include a veteran’s medical records, administrative record, transfers, dependent information, etc.

The idea is to assemble this documentation while a service member is still on active duty so that when he separates or retires — and transitions to VA for his health care needs — a complete health record is already available.

This would eliminate one of the most frustrating aspects of filing benefits claims — the burden is completely on veterans to obtain and provide copies of their service medical records to VA to back up their claims.

The 2010 budget includes $360 million for this ongoing effort.

The wheels of change move slowly, especially within large government bureaucracies, but progress is being made. To ensure it continues, all retirees should regularly contact their senators and representatives to press their views, concerns and ideas.

Retired Command Master Chief Alex Keenan served 28 years in the Coast Guard. E-mail him at retired@atpco.com.