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Date
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PERS J 22 Q Change MS
Category
Joint
State
Mississippi
Type Draft
Change Item
State Association First Name
Clifford
State Association Last Name
McDaniel
Proposal Statement
NGAUS, NGB and The Department of Defense support providing full TRICARE eligibility to begin when eligible for retired pay
Recommendation Information
1. Under the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, members of the Reserve Component who served at least 90 days during a fiscal year on a deployment in support of overseas operations such as the Iraq or Afghanistan campaigns are authorized to retire three months early for each 90 day period they served in any given fiscal year. This only applies to members of the Guard or Reserves who participated in a qualifying active-duty mobilization after Jan. 28, 2008, which is the date the Act was signed into law. Service on or before this date does not count toward early retirement.
2. In January 2013, Congress expanded the criteria for early retirement by authorizing additional eligibility requirements. The new rules allow members of the Guard or Reserves to count activations for national emergencies including natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc. Members of the Reserve Components may also be eligible to retire early if they were in a Warrior Transition unit and were injured while mobilized for responses as mentioned above.
3. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act further expanded benefits. The 2015 NDAA removed the requirement for the 90 days of active duty service to be performed within the same fiscal year – activations could cross into consecutive years.
4. Despite Congress intent to provide recognition of the impacts of numerous deployments have on the careers of national Guardsman and Reservists, the laws have been interpreted to apply only to receiving Retired pay and do not apply to receiving TRICARE.
5. With Traditional Guardsman such a system creates another hurdle after 20 years they can become Gray Area retirees without pay, then an Early Retiree with no medical, the finally to reach age 60 where they finally receive similar benefits that their active duty counterparts have enjoyed from the time they retired.
6. Recommend that the National Guard Bureau and Department of Defense weigh the small numbers that this likely affects in the force today versus the administrative and stigma this creates to enable eligibility of TRICARE when you are eligible for Retired pay.
7. Recommend that Congress act to amend the law to make TRICARE Eligibility concurrent with Retired Pay Eligibility.
2. In January 2013, Congress expanded the criteria for early retirement by authorizing additional eligibility requirements. The new rules allow members of the Guard or Reserves to count activations for national emergencies including natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc. Members of the Reserve Components may also be eligible to retire early if they were in a Warrior Transition unit and were injured while mobilized for responses as mentioned above.
3. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act further expanded benefits. The 2015 NDAA removed the requirement for the 90 days of active duty service to be performed within the same fiscal year – activations could cross into consecutive years.
4. Despite Congress intent to provide recognition of the impacts of numerous deployments have on the careers of national Guardsman and Reservists, the laws have been interpreted to apply only to receiving Retired pay and do not apply to receiving TRICARE.
5. With Traditional Guardsman such a system creates another hurdle after 20 years they can become Gray Area retirees without pay, then an Early Retiree with no medical, the finally to reach age 60 where they finally receive similar benefits that their active duty counterparts have enjoyed from the time they retired.
6. Recommend that the National Guard Bureau and Department of Defense weigh the small numbers that this likely affects in the force today versus the administrative and stigma this creates to enable eligibility of TRICARE when you are eligible for Retired pay.
7. Recommend that Congress act to amend the law to make TRICARE Eligibility concurrent with Retired Pay Eligibility.
Resolution No.
22
Item No
Q
Fiscal Year
2019
State Association Email
State Association Phone Number
601-540-2794
Task Force
Personnel/Medical
