Lobbying - Family Assistance - Scholarship / Awards - Major Projects - Social Activities

1. Sustain pay raises and adequate BAH for active duty personnel and COLA raises for retirees.
2. Ensure all 8 uniformed services continue to receive pay during a government shutdown.
3. Protect the value of the military health care benefit.
   Ensure any changes to the Military Health System sustain military medical readiness and beneficiary access to top quality care.
4. Protect the MHS pharmacy benefit and achieve flexibility in TRICARE pharmacy copays.
5. Address barriers to accessing care within the MHS including TRICARE coverage gaps and mental health care access challenges.
6. Protect family support programs and ensure military provided services are affordable, readily available, and meet standards for quality and costs.
7. Achieve equity of benefits, protections and administrative support for Guard/Reserve members consistent with their active duty counterparts.
8. Sustain Veterans Health Administration foundation mission and services to meet current needs of veterans and their families.
9. Reform the presumptive process to support veterans claiming service connected disabilities for toxic exposures
10. Achieve concurrent receipt of service-earned retirement pay and VA disability pay.
11. Protect full military honors and burial at Arlington National Cemetery for those currently eligible.
12. Improve survivors’ benefits related to adjustments for inflation, support passage of the Survivor Comfort Act, DIC, and caring for Survivors and Families of Veterans Act of 2021.
13. Support a quality transition experience from active duty to veteran status for all service members.
14. Recognize the pandemic continues to affect the lives of our service members and their families, identify gaps in support and services and make those needs known to congressional leaders and their staffs.

MOAA is thankful for all of our members that took the time to contact their legislators this year on issues important to them and others in the military community. Below is a quick snapshot of our most active issues. Hopefully you took part in the one million plus messages (includes e-mails, letters, and phone calls) we sent to Congress this year.

1. 1. • Protect military people from disproportionate budget cuts
      • Oppose TRICARE changes
      • Active duty pay
      • Prevent Medicare/TRICARE cut
      • Oppose a chained CPI
      • Reject changes to commissaries
      • Repeal the SBP/DIC offset
      • Enhance concurrent receipt

If you didn’t participate in the past, we hope you’ll make it your voice heard in the future. Contacting your legislators is easy using the MOAA website. Just click on the take action button to see the various bills in progress and make your voice heard.

Through your participation you will be enhancing MOAA’s influence on Capitol Hill, you will be kept up to date through MOAA’s award winning monthly magazine on rapidly changing mi1itary, political and legislative action that affects your life. The magazine is included in your membership.

Current MOAA Legislative Challenges

Active/Reserve Force/Family Issues

1. 1. • Sustain active duty, Guard and Reserve force sizes to meet mission requirements
      • Protect currently serving and retiree benefits against significant degradation based on sequestration’s arbitrary cuts
      • Create new incentives for employers to hire and retain drilling Guard/Reserve members
      • Provide incentives for employers/government/contractors to hire military spouses
      • Protect funding for commissary/exchange, dependent schools and family support programs
      • Improve professional licensure transferability for servicemembers and military spouses

Health Care Issues

1. 1. • Avert Medicare/TRICARE payment cut and fix statutory formula to improve access to care
      • Oppose enrollment fee for TRICARE For Life or curtailment of TFL coverage
      • Improve seamless transition and protect Defense and VA health/benefits/support systems budgets
      • Authorize option to subsidize retention of operational reservists’ civilian family health insurance

Retirement/Survivor Issues

1. 1. • Oppose military benefit changes that are inconsistent with service career sacrifices
      • Preserve full-inflation cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)
      • End deduction of VA disability compensation from military retired pay
      • End deduction of VA survivor benefits (DIC) from military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities
      • Implement a more equitable military disability retirement system
      • Restore VA DIC compensation for qualifying survivors who remarry after age 55
      • Reform same SBP calculation for a reservist who dies performing IDT as for active duty deaths
      • Authorize survivors to retain a deceased retiree’s full final-month retired pay
      • Authorize SBP annuities to be paid to Special Needs Trusts for permanently disabled children
      • Reform the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA)
      • Authorize Space-A travel for ‘gray area’ Guard-Reserve retirees and qualifying survivors

Veterans and Other Issues

1. 1. • Improve quality, efficiency, transparency, and timeliness of VA claims-processing system
      • Establish Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for surviving spouses of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts
      • Improve VA health services and access for women veterans
      • Authorize pre-tax payment of health, dental and long-term care premiums
      • Prevent disproportional Social Security/Medicare penalties for any population segment

Other Standard Issue Member Benefits

Fighting for your rights: Through the strength of its members and experienced legislative team, MOAA speaks loudly for the rights and interests of the military community. This is an organization that is looking you, all veterans! MOAA has obtained for us many of the benefits that we currently enjoy, and is working on many more.

Easing the Transition to New Careers: The Officer Placement Service (TOPS) gives you the tools you need to make a successful transition to civilian employment. Take advantage of in-depth career counseling and access to a huge job bank targeting MOAA members.

Shielding! You From Rising! Insurance Costs: MOAA offers an unequaled array of affordable group-rate life, health, and long term care insurance plans that supplement your military benefits.

Guiding! You Through Life’s Challenges: One-to-one counseling for you and your family to help you navigate the maze of military benefits, rights and privileges.

Keeping You Informed: MOAA is your one-stop resource for timely information on the issues affecting your life. Our monthly magazine, e-mail newsletters, local Chapter e-mail or USPS newsletter, and Member Service Center help you get the most out of you! MOAA membership.

Making! Higher Education a Reality: MOAA’s scholarship fund has provided $30 million in zero-interest college loans and grants to more than 7,000 children of service members. As a MOAA member, you are entitled to apply for scholarship funds for your children.