Troop pay, benefit fight in Congress likely to reignite over new report

Congress will soon have to act on reforms to the military benefits system when the special commission on how to fit a modern military into tight budgets reports back to Capitol Hill, igniting fights over pay and health benefits.

For the last year, members of Congress have avoided big fights over military personnel issues, saying they wanted to put off decisions until the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission finished its work. But with the commission’s report due by Feb. 1, everything from housing to child care could be targets for reform.

Jamie Graybeal, the associate director of public affairs for the commission, declined to go into details about the recommendations ahead of the report’s release, but said the commission has found efficiencies to continue to provide benefits to attract an all-volunteer force.

“All of our recommendations will fall into three broad categories,” he said. “The first is pay and retirement; the second is quality of life and the third is health care.”

The report comes at a time when Congress is looking to trim budgets, but has found it difficult to dip into the Pentagon for fear of upsetting a powerful constituency in troops and veterans.

In 2013, lawmakers cut cost-of-living adjustments for military retirement pay, then quickly rolled back the changes after a backlash. The lawmakers said they would await the commission’s findings before tackling retirement pay again.

Members of Congress have also put off decisions on commissary privileges and how retired military pay for health care.

The fiscal 2014 defense bill that became law last month continued to dodge these issues, making only small tweaks to Tricare co-payments and housing allowances.

“We’re not sending the message that we’re not going to address the problem, we’re sending a message that we understand the problem, but we’re not trying to get a permanent fix now ahead of the commission coming in,” a senior Senate staffer said in December following negotiations.

Joyce Raezer, the executive director of the National Military Family Association, predicted the new report will focus primarily on health care.

“To me, that’s probably the biggest area that they’re waiting for the report to do anything other than tweak around the edges,” she said.

Officials have promised that any changes to retirement will only apply to those who join the military after the changes are passed. Those who are already retired or are currently serving shouldn’t see any change in pay.

But that same promise doesn’t extend to health care for retirees, Ms. Raezer said.

“In terms of how much people pay for health care, what kind of insurance system we have, I think a lot of people’s attention will be on health care and what does that mean for access to care,” she said.

Ms. Raezer said lawmakers writing reforms will have to deal with competing documents, including other studies of different pieces of military compensation, as well as a Defense Department budget that will likely include major benefits cuts to offset sequestration.

She said, however, that she hopes that commission’s findings at least get lawmakers talking about how to make benefits last for future service members.

“I would hope people give these recommendations a thoughtful look with the idea of what are the benefits going to be for the people who will serve our country in the future, not just be rejected out of hand as ’OK here’s another study,’” she said. “It’s time to have that thoughtful conversation, let’s use this as an opportunity.”