11.01.09
President Signs National Defense Authorization Act...

President Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill authorizes spending on the thousands of DoD programs including personnel and retiree issue. It includes a 3.4% pay increase for the active duty, allows Grey Area retirees to purchase TRICARE Standard until they reach 60 years old and qualify for retired health care and once again stops DoD from imposing any increases in TRICARE enrollment fee, deductibles or co-payments for military retirees and their families or survivors. But it unfortunately does not include many of our legislative goals including allowing any medical retirees with less than 20 years to qualify for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP), or moving to end the SBP/DIC offset. We need to continue to push the stand alone bills that would accomplish these and other important goals
Additionally, the bill does end the National Security Personnel System in DoD. That was the new DoD pay-for-performance for civilian employees. 220,000 civilian employees will be moved back under the “General Schedule system. The law requires the transition to be completed by January 1, 2012.