rutstein retirement sends shock waves throughout the commissioned

dhhs eliminates public health emergency surge capacity
PHS Inactive Reserve Officers Dismayed at Notice of Dismissal
ismayed” is probably not the
“Dbest word to describe the
strong and angry reaction of many
Inactive Reserve officers upon receipt
of letters dated September 7th from
the Office of the Surgeon General.
The letter informed them that the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act (PPACA) “abolished the Inactive
Reserve Corps” and their “commission
as an IRC officer was terminated effective
March 23, 2010.”
For the record, COA strongly disputes
the assertion that the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act “abolished the
Inactive Reserve Corps.” No where
in that voluminous law is the Inactive
Reserve component of the PHS
Commissioned Corps even mentioned.
We have confirmed with the principal
congressional sponsor of the language
in the bill that pertains to the Corps that
it is not the intent of Congress to abolish
the IRC; nor is that how the language
in the law ought to be interpreted.
Such congressional positions continue
to be ignored by the DHHS Office
of General Counsel from where, we
are told, the idea to abolish the IRC
originated.
The effects of the unfortunate and
incorrect decision to dissolve the IRC
were immediate and widespread. Most
obvious is the loss of any public health
surge capacity by the federal government
in the event of a public health
emergency. IRC officers were key
participants in the PHS Commissioned
Corps response to Hurricane Katrina
and other emergency response tasking.
Less obvious was the sudden loss of
highly-skilled reserve support provided
in dozens of “short tour” assignments
supporting the Department of Defense
and other agencies. Inactive Reserve
officers were withdrawn without notice
from Walter Reed Army Medical
Center, U.S. Northern Command, and
other key assignments.
DHHS meanwhile, points to PPACA
authorization of a Ready Reserve component
for the Corps and in the letter
terminating the Inactive Reserve officers
“encourage(s) interested individuals
to apply.” All well and good except
for two issues – one easily resolved, and
one not so easily resolved.
The first easy issue is that the Ready
Reserve does not yet really exist. All
of the rules and regulations that will
govern the new Ready Reserve have
yet to be approved. These include appointment
criteria, policies, application
procedures, compensation, promotion,
assignment, retirement and a host
of other little details where the devil
so often resides. The OSG Office of
Reserve Affairs, under the able direction
of CAPT Carol Romano, worked
hard to develop all these things over
the last several months. Unfortunately,
at last report, all the documentation
appears lost within the OPHS bureaucracy
while awaiting approval by the
Assistant Secretary for Health.
The second, more vexing issue is
money. The PPACA authorizes $5 million
in each fiscal year 2010 through
2014 for recruitment and training and
$12,500,000 in each of those same
years for the Ready Reserve Corps.
Funding authorized in the PPACA
has to be appropriated before it is real.
The problem is that the FY 2011 HHS
Appropriations bill does not request
such funding for the Ready Reserve.
Why? Because DHHS did not request
any such funding.
Of course, the fate of all the FY 2011 appropriations
bills is up in the air. It is very
possible that the country will be funded
on a series of continuing resolutions until
the 112th Congress is seated in January.
Another complicating factor is that
without a billet-based force management
system for the active duty PHS
Commissioned Corps, determining the
requirement for the size and composition
of a Ready Reserve component is
problematic.
The obvious result is that a populated,
operational, functional Ready Reserve
component for the Commissioned Corps
is still months, if not years, away. The
parameters have to be approved, policies
put in place, funding appropriated, and
candidates identified and processed.
In the meantime, thanks to the inexplicable
determination of an attorney in
OGC, the country’s only public health
emergency surge capability no longer
exists. How many hurricanes are swirling
in the Atlantic this year?
COA is advising all IRC officers to contact
their Senators and Representative
to protest the HHS decision. The
Association is also taking our concerns
about the IRC and Ready Reserve to
select offices on Capitol Hill, including
the Senate HELP and House Energy
and Commerce Committees.
The IRC officers themselves are also
taking action including attracting media
attention to the issue and even contemplating
a lawsuit against DHHS. COA
is consulting on these strategies, but we
hope the issue will be favorably resolved
before such activities are necessary.
The Department needs to recognize
and demonstrate appropriate appreciation
for the services provided by
Inactive Reserve officers. If the OGC
finding cannot be overruled, then the
Department must expedite the implementation
– including finding the funding
– of a Ready Reserve component.
The Ready Reserve should include an
Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) that
provides for voluntary short tours
similar to the services that were once
provided by the IRC.
To do less unnecessarily comprises the
public health and national security of
the nation.
18 commissioned officers association