The Department of Defense has made a policy change, effective next November,
to allow 16 million honorably discharged veterans to shop online for discounted military exchange products. Peter K. Levine, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, signed a memorandum 11 JAN announcing the benefit expansion, effective Veterans’ Day 11 NOV, and giving Congress the required 30 days’ notice before actions begin to implement the plan. Months of preparation are needed to make e-shopping portals more robust and
to allow the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) time to create software for verifying veterans’ status using Department of Veterans Affairs records.

Career service members earn their retired pay by service alone and those unfortunate enough to suffer a service caused disability in the process should have any VA disability compensation from the VA added to, not subtracted from, their service-earned military retired pay. The proposition made by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to remove the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) provision would strip previously earned retirement benefits from hundreds of thousands of retired service members. Veterans are widely regarded as disadvantaged
when looking for post-service employment opportunities, due largely to the military culture and combat related training. Bean counters at the Congressional Budget Office have come up with a
billion-dollar idea to reduce the deficit. Unfortunately, it’s a billion-dollar bad idea, one that could harm nearly 600,000 service members in the process. The CBO, a nonpartisan budget analysis arm within the legislative branch, has pointed out that Congress could save a whopping $139 billion from 2018 to 2026 by doing away with “concurrent receipt.” This practice allows veterans to collect both retirement pay and disability pay at the same time.
Our elected Congressional representatives continue to receive private medical benefits, compensation and other benefits. Let’s ask them why they don’t forfeit some of their private benefits and take government health care, etc. How much would this safe the government?

Honorably discharged veterans could be able to shop online at military exchange websites as early as Veterans Day, barring any objections from Congress. The change in Defense Department policy would open up online exchange shopping privileges but it won’t apply to shopping at brick-and-mortar exchange stores. A defense official confirmed a letter announcing the change was signed Wednesday by Peter Levine, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. Copies were sent to lawmakers on four House and Senate committees, and if no objections are raised within 30 days, officials with Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Navy Exchange Service Command expect to be able to implement the new benefit by mid-November

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulation on copayments for Veterans’ outpatient medications for non-service connected conditions. VA currently charges non-exempt Veterans either $8 or $9 for each 30-day or less supply of outpatient medication, and under current regulations, a calculation based on the medication of the Medical Consumer Price Index (CPI-P) would be used to determine the copayment amount in future years.
This new regulation eliminates the formula used to calculate future rate increases and establishes three classes of outpatient medications identified as Tier 1, Preferred Generics; Tier 2, Non-Preferred Generics including over-the-counter medications; and Tier 3, Brand Name. Copayment amounts for each tier would be fixed and vary depending upon the class of outpatient medication in the tier.
These copayment amounts will be effective February 27, 2017:
$5 for a 30-day or less supply – Tier 1 outpatient medication
$8 for a 30-day or less supply – Tier 2 outpatient medication
$11 for a 30-day or less supply – Tier 3 outpatient medication

On January 13, 2017 the VA established the following:
The presumption of service connection applies to active duty, reserve and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 days (cumulative) between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, and are diagnosed with any of the following conditions:
• adult leukemia
• aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
• bladder cancer
• kidney cancer
• liver cancer
• multiple myeloma
• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Parkinson’s disease

In the past, the VA has found enough evidence to link 14 health conditions, including various cancers, to Agent Orange exposure. In March, a federal panel of scientific experts said there is now evidence to suggest that Agent Orange exposure may be linked to bladder cancer and hypothyroidism. It also confirmed, as previous experts have said, that there is some evidence of an association with hypertension, stroke and various neurological ailments similar to Parkinson’s Disease. Since then, a VA-led study has found stronger evidence to link hypertension, more
commonly known as high blood pressure, to Agent Orange exposure. But high blood pressure is common as people age, so compensating veterans for the condition could be expensive

Congressional researchers say that eliminating the ability of nearly 600,000 military veterans to collect retirement pay and disability compensation simultaneously could save billions and contribute to deficit reduction. The Congressional Budget Office, a federal agency that provides lawmakers with budgetary and economic information, says doing so could save the government $139 billion between 2018 and 2026. The CBO’s report was published online 8 DEC as part of a series of options for reducing the federal deficit from 2017 and 2026. The practice is called “concurrent receipt.” By law, veterans are eligible to collect both sets of pay if they meet specific criteria. Vets who sustained career-ending combat injuries are eligible for combat-related special compensation, while those veterans who received a disability rating of 50 percent or more after at least 20 years of service are eligible for what is termed concurrent retirement and disability pay.
It remains to be seen how the next Congress and the incoming administration will respond to CBO’s recommendation. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring the U.S. debt to zero in eight years, although he also touts a massive — and potentially costly — military expansion

On December 16, 2016, H.R. 5015, the Combat-Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act of 2016 became Public Law No: 114-292. This new law provides veterans medically separated, or retired from the military due to combat-related injuries another opportunity to recoup the taxed portion of their severance payments.
The law requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to identify veterans medically separated from military service due to combat-related injuries that were issued severance payments after January 17, 1991, and withheld amounts for tax purposes.
DOD will provide this group of veterans with a notice of the amount of improperly withheld severance payments, and instructions for filing amended federal tax returns to recover the withheld amount. The period for filing this IRS claim for a credit, or refund is extended to one year after DOD provides the veteran with the information required by this Act.
This law will be a significant benefit to this group of injured and ill veterans, and partially fulfills DAV Resolution 011 that calls for allowing all veterans to recover taxes withheld from their disability severance pay.

The VA now provides eligibility determinations for interment in a VA national cemetery prior to the time of need. Through the Pre-need Determination of Eligibility Program, upon request, individuals can learn if they are eligible for burial or memorialization in a VA national cemetery. Interested individuals may submit VA Form 40-10007