Federal Daily - June 9, 2009
APWU Urges Solis to Rescind Tighter FMLA Regulations
American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President William Burrus urged Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to rescind tighter regulations governing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) imposed in the waning days of the Bush administration. In a letter to Solis posted on the APWU Web site June 4, Burrus pointed out ways in which the new rules do not benefit workers. The new regulations, he noted, define “serious health condition” more narrowly; require employees to provide more medical documentation about their conditions, and provide it more often; allow employers to contact an employee’s healthcare providers without the employees’ knowledge or permission, and permit employers to request FMLA recertification every six months in conjunction with an absence, at the employee’s expense. The Bush tweaks to FMLA rules “weakened the law and made it more difficult for workers to exercise the rights the legislation was designed to protect,” Burrus said. However, Burrus requested that Labor Department retain the “one positive change” in the new rules which expanded FMLA rights for members of the military and their families. Burrus also praised the FMLA Restoration Act (H.R. 2161), introduced in the House on April 29. To see more, go to: http://apwu.org/news/webart/2009/09-063-fmla-burrusdolletter-090604.htm.
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Schools Partner with VA to Help Veterans Pay for Education
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on June 5 that it has entered into more than 700 agreements with institutions of higher learning across the nation to participate in the Post-9/11 GI Bill’s “Yellow Ribbon Program.” The program allows institutions to fund tuition and fee expenses that exceed the highest public, in-state undergraduate rates. The institution can contribute up to 50 percent of those expenses, and VA—under the partnership agreement—will match this additional funding for eligible students. This matching may enable qualified students potentially to attend school tuition-free, VA said. Many schools signed agreements for participation not only in undergraduate programs, but in graduate and doctoral programs. Some schools entered into one agreement that covered all their campuses throughout the United States. “VA is very pleased with the widespread interest in the program,” said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Patrick W. Dunne. The program is reserved for those who have served at least 36 months on active duty or served at least 30 continuous days and were discharged due to a service-related injury. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1694.
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CBO: TRICARE Savings Could be Less than Projected
The amount of money DoD projects it will save by increasing the out-of-pocket costs paid by some TRICARE beneficiaries could be overstated, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released on June 5. DoD has estimated that it could save $1.9 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 in military health care spending, and $6.0 billion by FY 2013 (11 percent), by implementing changes including increases to enrollment fees, deductibles and copayments that TRICARE beneficiaries pay, CBO said. However, those savings amounts may not be accurate, CBO said. CBO found that DoD did not include in its estimates the effects that increased cost sharing for TRICARE might have on other federal programs—such as Medicaid and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program—and on revenues. Those effects would decrease, though to a relatively small degree, the reductions in spending that might be realized from increasing TRICARE beneficiaries’ costs. Even though DoD has not requested any TRICARE fee increases for the upcoming fiscal year, the notion remains a hot topic on Capitol Hill where lawmakers are looking to close the yawning federal budget deficit. One reason is that although TRICARE beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs have remained the same or been reduced since the mid-1990s, taxpayers’ share of support for the program has risen dramatically, the report said. For example, the cost today for a 45-year-old military retiree to enroll his or her family in the TRICARE program’s managed care plan, TRICARE Prime, is $460 per year—the same cost in nominal terms that prevailed in 1995. To see more, go to: www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/102xx/doc10261/TRICARE.pdf
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