Comments from Former Congressman
Ronnie Shows
Concerning Phil Alperson

When people ask me what I miss the most not being in congress, I always respond that I miss seeing the people I worked with. Phil Alperson is one of those people.  Phil is totally dedicated to his job and the people of the congressman's district.

I saw first hand his ability to write legislation from just an idea I had or from just listening to someone with a good idea.

The "Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act", the health care for military retiree's bill became a reality because of his professional way of approaching the concept, doing his research on the problem, and asking the right questions of the right groups of military organizations.  To this day I give Phil credit for the success of HR 2966 "The Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act".

Thanks Phil, good luck and enjoy your retirement.

Your Friend
Ronnie Shows

80 John McNease Lane
Bassfield, MS  39421
phone: (601)943-6107
email: ronnieshows@zzip.cc

 

Former Congressman Ronnie Shows 

Phil Alperson
The Unsung Hero of the Legislative Process

Extracted from the May/June 2004 edition of the
NAUS Uniformed Services Journal

Phil Alperson has served five members of Congress since 1977. His name is very familiar to NAUS members because of his long-standing support for the government to honor its promise of lifetime health care to Uniformed Services, retirees and eligible family members.

Currently, Phil is the Legislative Director for Representative Chris Van Hollen, a freshman Democrat from the 8th District of Maryland, which is adjacent to the Nation's Capitol. As his Legislative Director, in addition to military health care, Phil handles a number of issues including federal worker and retiree issues, tax and budget issues, and transportation and economic development in Rep. Van Hollen's district.

NAUS' relationship with Phil started when he was the Legislative Director for Rep. Ronnie Shows (D-MS) who served in Congress from January 1999 through December 2002. In the Spring of 1999, Jim Whittington and Floyd Sears hosted a military retiree summit in Laurel, Mississippi. Because Rep. Shows had never served in a federal office before his election, Jim invited his new Member of the House of Representative to the summit at which Jay Bapple represented NAUS. The retirees attending the summit gave Rep. Shows an education concerning the "broken military health care promise" and upon his return to Washington, instructed Phil, "do something about it."

Doing something about it is exactly what Phil did. He called upon representatives from several military associations, including NAUS, and their input was instrumental in drafting H.R. 2966, the original "Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act", which Rep. Shows introduced in the 106th Congress in September 2000. After introducing the bill, Rep. Shows made working H.R. 2966 Phil's top priority. In February 2000, the refined versions of the Keep Our Promise Act - H. R. 3573 and S. 2003 in the Senate were introduced.

The Keep Our Promise Act was the first and only legislation ever introduced that would have allowed Medicare-eligible military retirees to qualify for Medicare and keep their TRICARE coverage, just like civilian federal retirees who have both Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).

As a result of strong lobbying at the national and grassroots levels the Keep Our Promise Act gained well over 300 cosponsors in the House and forced Congress to address military retiree health care as the number one issue in the defense authorization bill for that year. The bills' concept became law as part of the FY 2001 Defense Authorization bill and is now known as TRICARE for Life (TFL), which provides extensive health care coverage, including a comprehensive pharmacy benefit for the cost of Medicare Part B coverage.

However, the entire Keep Our Promise Act did not become law, which was why it was introduced again in the 107th and 108th Congresses. When Ronnie Shows left Congress, Rep. Van Hollen recognized the need to keep up the fight and in the 108th Congress introduced the current version of the Keep Our Promise Act, H.R. 3474, which has been refined to reflect recent developments in the Federal courts that defined the scope of the health care promise. Rep. Van Hollen also made Phil responsible for working it as a priority issue.

After having served 26-years on Capitol Hill, Phil's greatest accomplishment is his role in the in the creation of TFL. He is also proud that NAUS has honored him for his work on behalf of military retirees, when he was presented the NAUS Outstanding Service Award in September 2000 and the Distinguished Service Award in November 2000.

An accomplished singer, Phil was once a member of The Capitol Steps, a nationally known troupe of congressional staffers and former staffers that create song parodies and skits about members of Congress and other political figures.