Update 4/9/2024: Military pharmacies are back to full operating capacity following the cyberattack mentioned in the article below. Change Healthcare (the agency responsible for processing aspects of military pharmacy benefits related to insurance coverage) removed itself from the military healthcare system while it worked on the security breach. It has since returned to full operations…. Read more »
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warns that PCS moves and military construction projects may be threatened if lawmakers in the House and Senate can’t agree to a full-year defense budget. The DoD would be nearly $6 billion short if a full-year Pentagon spending bill cannot be agreed to. A Brief History of… Read more »
Update: Federal Benefits Open Season is now closed. On Wednesday, November 15, 2023, the Senate approved a stopgap spending bill and sent it to the President’s desk for signature. The bill extended the current operation of the U.S. government in a two-tiered fashion, with the last of the temporary funding expiring in February 2024. The… Read more »
Multiple sources report as many as 40 thousand veterans, and surviving family members have been overpaid by the Department of Veterans Affairs since 2011. These beneficiaries are typically those who qualify for VA pensions, and now the VA is trying to decide what to do about the overpayments. Typically, when the VA overpays a benefit,… Read more »
A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates that Guard and Reserve VA claims are less likely to be approved than their active duty counterparts. That might sound like discrimination at first glance, but the reality of the situation seems to be related in part to a lack of awareness in the Guard/Reserve of… Read more »
The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning against rising numbers associated with a type of veteran benefits scam called “payment redirection fraud.” Due to increased volume in VA claims, a higher profile for those claims thanks to headlines about the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act), and other factors, VA.gov notes,… Read more »
In the last part of 2023, the Department of Veterans Affairs may have started a healthcare revolution for veterans living in military communities. The first headlines on this issue focused on a VA partnership with Naval Hospital Pensacola to provide outpatient surgical services to more than 35 thousand veterans living along the Gulf Coast. Those… Read more »
The Pentagon has announced reforms to its guidelines for those who win military medical malpractice claims against the Department of Defense. Those who successfully bring a case against the DoD may now get up to $750 thousand in damages unrelated to awards for “economic damages,” which have no cap. The $750 thousand cap announced on… Read more »
The Department of Veterans Affairs has updated its mission statement to better reflect its’ 21st century goals to care for all who have served, their families, care providers, and survivors. The VA serves well over 600 thousand women vets, 600 thousand surviving family members, and approximately 50 thousand caregivers in addition to the rest of… Read more »
Are United States military members getting a 5%-plus pay raise in 2024? The short answer at the time of this writing is NO. That is not to say a 2024 military pay chart isn’t forthcoming, but the dollar amounts depend greatly on negotiations over the 2024 defense spending budget. And there lies the issue. There has… Read more »