In this week's edition of e-news...

Congress To Reconvene Next Week
Pittsburgh VA Hosts Veterans Employment Expo, Flu Shot Clinics

Congress To Reconvene Next Week

House lawmakers will go back into legislative session next week in Washington to tackle several items, including tax policy and federal agency budgets, before the end of the 112th Congress.

The focus of the work will be on an alternative plan to a pending “fiscal cliff” of looming tax hikes and automatic spending cuts amounting to more than $500 billion scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013. These two circumstances, if allowed to take effect, would throw the country back into recession according to a report this week by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO concluded between 1.5 and 2.8 million Americans would lose their jobs (increasing the unemployment rate from 7.9 to 9.1%) and the economy would contract by 0.5%.

If the spending cuts and tax increases are avoided, CBO found the economy would grow by 1.7%.

Part of the “fiscal cliff” is an automatic across-the-board cut to the military and social safety net programs. Due to the failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction  (the so-called "Super-committee") to agree on targeted spending cuts as part of an increase in the debt ceiling last year, more than $100 billion will be automatically cut from Medicare, defense programs, and federal agency budgets next year. More specifically, defense programs would see about $55 billion in cuts (ten percent of the Pentagon’s base budget), doctors and hospitals treating Medicare beneficiaries would take a two percent cut in reimbursements, and all federal agencies - from border patrol to customs enforcement - would experience an 8.5 percent to 10 percent cut.

In addition to deliberating on whether to replace the pending automatic spending cuts with more targeted spending cuts, Congress will work on a plan to avoid tax increases for millions of Americans come January 1st. According to the CBO, without congressional action, failure to extend current income tax rates and deal with the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) will increase taxes on working Americans by $4.6 trillion over ten years and $232 billion in 2013 alone. If these tax hikes take effect, economic growth will slow by 1.5%. A report by the accounting firm Ernst & Young found the looming tax hikes would cost the economy 700,000 jobs. To read more on how these tax hikes could affect your family, click here.

Other major policy items that could be addressed include Agriculture Reform Food and Jobs Act of 2012 (known as the Farm Bill), cyber-security legislation, an extension of unemployment benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Congress is also expected to take up a fix to a flawed Medicare physician payment formula. Hospitals and Medicare physicians would see a drastic 27.4 percent cut in payments under a formula meant to constrain the growth in Medicare spending. Without a fix to this formula, seniors will face difficulty finding doctors willing to treat Medicare patients, as the reimbursement amount is less than the cost of treatment.

To share your thoughts on the looming spending cuts and tax hikes, please click here.

Pittsburgh VA Hosts Veterans Employment Expo, Flu Shot Clinics

The Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Regional Office and Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard will host the 4th Annual Veterans Employment Expo Wednesday, November 21st from 9:00 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland located at 4141 Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh. To learn more about the Employment Expo, call (412) 305-0240 or click here.

Throughout the month of November, the Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Healthcare System will offer free flu shot clinics to veterans in Washington and Greensburg Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Individuals who are over 50 years old or are younger than 50 with chronic medical problems are highly encouraged to receive a flu shot. Extensive studies suggest flu shots save lives and prevent costly hospitalizations.

The walk-in clinics are not open on federal holidays. Veterans may also receive flu vaccines on evenings and weekends in the Emergency Room Department at the University Drive VA in Oakland, PA 15240.

The Washington County clinic (724-250-7790) is located at the Washington Crown Center Mall, Room 450, 1500 West Chestnut St, Washington, Pa 15301.

The Westmoreland County Clinic is located in the Westmoreland Mall Plaza, 5274 State Route 30, Suite 10, Greensburg, Pa 15601.

For more information on the Veterans Flu Shot clinics, contact Jim Hill in Congressman Murphy’s Mt. Lebanon office at (412) 344-5583.