(left to right) Directors Herschel Stroud and Dave Hanson, 2^nd VP Don Sheriff, Secretary Jeff Heeb, President Stan Sneegas, Past-President George Schaeffer, 1^st VP Tom Carmody, Treasurer Buck Newsom, Director Frank Taylor.

MOAA LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Issue 1. Concurrent Receipt Bill Reintroduced.

A few weeks ago, we reported that Rep. Mike Bilirakis (R-FL) had reintroduced his concurrent receipt bill, H.R. 303. Now, Sen's. Reid, McCain and 36 other cosponsors of both parties have reintroduced the Senate companion bill, S. 392. This is the same bill that was designated S. 170 during the previous Congress. The sponsors recognize that quick action in 2003 appears unlikely, given that we won't know which retirees are and which ones aren't covered by the recently enacted provision until about June 1.

In the meantime, you can help by sending your legislators MOAA-prepared messages urging their support for H.R. 303 and

S. 392. Visit http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/ and click on the bill numbers (under"Retirement Issues"), then enter your ZIP code and click "Go" to see the MOAA-suggested message to Congress.

Issue 2: Pentagon Seeks to Limit Beneficiaries' Care Options

A persistent problem with TRICARE Standard has been that beneficiaries who need certain kinds of care have to check with a local military facility before getting the care in the private sector. TRICARE Standard will pay the claim for civilian care in such instances only if the local military facility issues a non-availability statement (NAS) indicating the care can't be provided at the military facility.

TRICARE sees it as the patient's responsibility to know which kinds of care require NASs, and beneficiaries who fail to seek them end up having their claims disapproved and getting stuck with paying the bill themselves. But the Pentagon is already trying to repeal the new law before it even goes into effect. Is DoD saying it can't compete for TRICARE Standard beneficiaries 'business or that it doesn't even want to try?

Issue 3: On Wednesday, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced S. 451, the Survivor Benefit Plan Benefits Improvement Act of 2003. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has joined Sen. Snowe as a cosponsor. S. 451 is a companion bill to Rep. Jeff Miller's H.R. 548, introduced in the House in early February. It would increase the age-62 SBP annuity over a period of five years.

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SURVIVOR BENEFIT PROGRAM OFFSET IMPACT

Proposed fix to Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP): Rep. Miller's (R-FL) H.R. 548, increases SBP annuity from 35% to 55% of base pay, as promised.

Broken promise: When SBP was enacted in 1972, Congress intended that the government would pay 40 percent of the cost. This was short-lived. Over time, because of too-pessimistic actuarial assumptions, the government's cost share has declined the 25 percent. Retirees' premiums now cover 75 percent of expected long-term program costs versus the intended 60 percent. Further, many were never aware that their annuity would be reduced from 55 percent to 35 percent upon attaining the age of 62. The retirees were not aware of this reduction at the time they signed up for SBP in the 70's. As some of you may know, the Civil Service retired employees have no off-set.

MOAA National has not kept a database of the widows/widowers affected individually by SBP, and has asked for the Chapters to forward examples of individuals who are affected. The news media will use these examples to provide the "human interest" side of the SBP issue, as they tell the story to assist Annuitants receive what was promised. They are looking for examples of the different ways in which the Social Security offset may have affected you as an individual.

This will assist MOAA National in getting the wrongful offset rescinded, as they were successful in getting the TRICARE for Life pushed through Congress. Therefore, it is asked that survivors or even spouses who may be affected by the unfair offset, fill out the impact example (pp. 3-4) enclosed for your use and forward to the address shown.

As a minimum, please send in the cards for your Senator and Representative, received in your MOAA magazine.