WASHINGTON REPORT

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NAUS has been told that the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 3254, may be brought for a vote in the Senate before the summer recess. Despite the quote above, we certainly encourage Senate leadership to seriously consider this action. Our troops and those that supply our forces need the certainty of a budget they can work with. Postponing the vote will only hurt those fighting to defend our country.

If the bill is brought for a vote NAUS will be supporting at least these three amendments that will be offered:

• Concurrent Receipt by Sen. Reid (D-NV) to allow full receipt of both Military retired pay and VA Disability Pay.
• SBP/DIC Offset by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-NE) to allow full receipt of both the military SBP and the VA Dependency Indemnity Compensation for survivors.
• Stolen Valor by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), which would establish criminal penalties for those who attempt to gain financially through false claims of military service or decorations.

Defense Appropriations Bill

The second half of the Defense bill, the Appropriations bill, H.R. 5856, was passed yesterday in the House by a vote of 326-90. Actions prior to the final vote amended the bill so the total amount of money would be the same as the 2012 level.

In addition, several other amendments were offered and adopted. Of note were measures to cut $650 million in aid to Pakistan; another to allow continued funding of sporting events, most notably NASCAR to aid in recruiting efforts.

As our readers know, in the past we have pointed out that the Pentagon had a large contract with a Russian arms dealer to buy and service helicopters for Afghan Air Force use. Another amendment, offered by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), was approved to prohibit of funds from being used to enter into any agreement with Rosoboronexport, the Russian-made helicopter manufacturer. On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced a new $171 million contract for Rosoboronexport to provide 10 more Mi-17 helicopters for Afghanistan.

The bill now goes to the Senate for its action.

Congressional Inquiry into DoD Excess Medical Fund Reprogramming

NAUS and the VFW are working with House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson to gain additional cosigners for a letter to Secretary of Defense Panetta requesting an explanation of how the budgets for the Defense Health Plans are figured and why there have been large surpluses for the past two years – over $500 million in FY 2011 and now over $700 million in FY 2012.

Chairman Wilson also wants to know why, in light of these surpluses, DoD continues to ask for large increases in TRICARE enrollment and premium fees. He also questions why DoD is not using the surplus fees to aid in research into cures for Traumatic Brain Injury, Post Traumatic Stress and to look for causes and cures to lessen the very high suicide rates of our troops.

According to the CBO the cost of medical care in military facilities has grown at 3.2% in recent years and TRICARE contracted costs have grown at 4.2% per year. These figures are completely at odds with the recent disclosures that medical costs for the private sector are only growing at 0.6% for active duty beneficiaries and at (negative) –2.7% for all other beneficiaries. The Chairman questions what the justification might be for the continued assertions that retiree health care was a burden especially as it seems the costs were millions less than appropriated.

NAUS encourages you to contact your elected representatives and urge them to cosign the letter that Chairman Wilson is readying for delivery to SecDef Panetta. NAUS thanks its members in South Carolina for taking time to contact Chairman Wilson on this matter.

FBI Receives Independent Review of Ft Hood Shooting Rampage

At the close of last week, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former Texas Attorney General, requested that the independent review of FBI actions in conjunction with the November 2009 attack on Fort Hood be made public in a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller. Media reports indicate the final review is expected to be delivered to the FBI soon, and Sen. Cornyn asked Director Mueller to release an unclassified version immediately:

"The key findings and recommendations of this report must be made public, so we can glean any and all lessons from this incident,” Cornyn said. “The American people and specifically the Fort Hood community in Texas have the right to know.”

Sen. Cornyn concluded, “Our government failed the brave Americans who were killed and wounded at Fort Hood that day. The devastation inflicted on them was preventable, and we must make it a high priority to ascertain exactly where the system broke down and ensure it does not happen again.”

UPDATE: A special commission's 173 page report yesterday found that the FBI possessed emails between Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of murdering 13 people and injuring 42 others in a 2009 shooting spree at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, and Anwar al-Awlaki, a suspected terrorist in Yemen who has since been killed by a U.S. drone strike. The FBI was faulted in the report for not sharing the emails with the Defense Department and not interviewing Hasan. FBI Director Robert Mueller had appointed the panel, which was headed by former FBI and CIA director William H. Webster.

Welcome to the NAUS Weekly Update. Please email us any feedback, corrections or tips. You can join NAUS online here.

Veterans Bill Passed in Senate

On Wednesday, the Senate passed H.R. 1627 the Honoring American Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. The Senate had previously received the bill from the House and added several measures including the provisions for providing medical care to those who were affected by polluted water sources at Camp Lejeune for many years. The bill also contains provisions to waive collection of copays for telehealth and telemedicine visits, improvements in tracking and preventing sexual assaults, use of service dogs on VA properties, improving the process of filing jointly for both Social Security and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.

The bill was sent back to the House for its approval and is expected to pass easily.

House Passes Veterans COLA Bill

This week the House passed the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012 (H.R. 4114). While the COLA bill usually is passed toward the end of a session, taking care of this now ensures that veterans will be given the benefits they were promised without any last minute hassle if things bog down in Congress. If signed into law, H.R. 4114 would increase the annual cost-of-living rate for veterans, which goes into effect on Dec. 1, 2012. It is estimated that this year's COLA will be approximately 1.9 percent. The legislation was sent to the Senate for consideration

 HEALTH CARE NEWS

Walgreens and Express Scripts Finally Agree

On Thursday, Express Scripts and Walgreens announced that they had reached a multi-year pharmacy network agreement. Although the companies are not disclosing the terms of the new contract, effective Sept. 15, 2012, Walgreens will participate in the Express Scripts retail pharmacy network available to new and existing clients.

Express Scripts officials announced they would work to ensure a smooth transition for those plan sponsors who will want to include Walgreens pharmacies in their network. NAUS will continue to keep its readers informed of this agreement as more information becomes available.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance Will Not Pursue Bid Protest

TriWest Health Alliance (TriWest) officials announced that they will not be continuing its challenge of the government's subsequent decision to now award this contract to someone else, in spite of being the lowest-cost bidder. TriWest initially won the most recent bid to continue as the TRICARE benefits manager contractor in the TRICARE West Region (TWR) in July 2009. But, the Department of Defense (DoD) open this contract for rebidding in April 2011, after UnitedHealth protested the process, calling it flawed.

In March of this year, the Pentagon awarded the $20.5 billion contract to UnitedHealth Group (UHG). The Government Accountability Office earlier this month upheld the Pentagon's decision and with the TriWest decision not to continue its protest UHG will take over the contract April 1, 2013. NAUS salutes TriWest for its superb service and its generous spirit over the years of its work under contract as a TRICARE vendor.

Eight TRICARE Beneficiary Personal Information Theft Lawsuits Consolidated

Eight civil lawsuits stemming from a security breach that occurred after computer tapes were stolen from a Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) employees vehicle will be consolidated to the US District Court for DC. The decision, filed June 27 by the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, centralizes five actions in DC, one in the Northern District of California, Southern District of California, and the Western District of Texas. All eight actions arose from the September 2011 theft of computer tapes containing the private health information of 4.9 million active duty and retired service members and their families.

SAIC sought to dismiss the original suit filed in a Texas court last October, which sought $4.9 billion in damages, arguing that the claims had no merit. Defendants include SAIC, the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and TRICARE Management Activity. Among the claims made against SAIC is that the company failed to maintain reasonable procedures to prevent unauthorized access to TRICARE.