BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOURS FROM ALL OF US AT ACA FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND FOR 2010

 
Issue 182 ● December 2009    ACA NEWS UPDATE    Page 1     



 
BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOURS FROM ALL OF US AT ACA
FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND FOR 2010
Health Care Legislation – No Fines For Americans Abroad
Of the numerous bills proposed in the 111th Congress related to health care reform, two have emerged as the front-runners:
H.R. 3962 “Affordable Health Care for America Act” was passed in the House on 7 November, and has been put on the Senate legislative calendar.
H.R. 3590 “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” is the Senate version of the health care package (it was grafted on, as “an amendment in the nature of a substitute”, to a House bill on another subject, hence the H.R. notation).

In their present formulations, both bills specifically exclude overseas Americans from proposed mandatory US health insurance coverage. Language in the initial Senate health plan that would have imposed an excise tax on Americans residing abroad has been removed, and a specific exclusion has been added. The House health care package excluded overseas Americans from its inception.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an interesting comparative chart on various provisions of the two health care proposals (as well as on President Obama’s stances, to the extent known).

ACA continues to follow the evolution of the health bills carefully. It is very pleased to see that both the House and Senate bills now consider bona fide residents overseas to have medical coverage, so that they will not be subject to penalties for not having a US health plan.  ACA actively advocated with the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee as well as with the Senate Finance Committee to obtain this. Provisions for funding the legislation are also likely to affect Americans overseas, whether they be additional taxes on high incomes, or increased deductions for Medicare and Social Security (which would affect American-owned businesses abroad).

Current expectations are that the final Senate version of its bill should be passed before Christmas, after which there will be negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions, with a joint House-Senate bill passed in January 2010.
Vets Protest Losing APO, FPO Privileges at Embassies/Consulates
As of 31 December 2009, close to five thousand American veterans living abroad will no longer be able to use their APO and FPO addresses at US embassies and consulates. Those veterans fortunate enough to have APO or FPO addresses at military installations, and Defense Department personnel officially assigned to embassies and consulates, will not be affected.

For many who rely on these addresses for Tricare Mail-Order Pharmacy deliveries and other vital mail (bank, Social Security, IRS, absentee ballots, etc.), and particularly those who live in areas where local mail service is not reliable, this will cause real hardship.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the American Legion and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), the National Association of Uniformed Services and other military fraternal organizations have all been alerted to the situation.

Representative Timothy Walz (D-MN), member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, is attempting to find a solution to this quandary, which is based on the State Department’s inability to assume costs related to mail forwarding for military retirees, and the Department of Defense’s inability to transfer funds to the State Department to underwrite the costs. Walz, the highest ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress, has both served overseas and worked abroad.

Readers are encouraged to contact their senators and representatives, asking them to remedy this inequitable treatment of American veterans overseas. On ACA’s home page – www.americansabroad.org – click on “About Bills in Congress”, then on “Guidelines and sample letter”. Always remember that every message you send to your elected representatives in Washington speaks not only about the issue at hand, but reminds them that overseas Americans exist and are concerned voters.

Gilbert Wells, military retiree and ACA Country Contact in Portugal, is serving as ACA focal point on this issue.
“The Power to MOVE”
The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) has recently launched a joint initiative with Scytl Secure Electronic Voting (Scytl), worldwide leader in secure election modernization technologies, to offer new Internet-based services to overseas and military voters, helping states to comply with the gamut of new technology requirements required by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, signed into law in October 2009 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2010.

“The Power to MOVE” initiative is designed to reduce the timeframe of the voting process without deviating from the model of auditable paper balloting. The OVF-established State Hosted System (SHS) program offers specialized voter service websites to the states. Each SHS provides the complete suite of OVF voter tools customized for the state, including registration and ballot request, write-in ballots, help desk support, election information and express ballot return through FedEx. Scytl’s ballot administration system, Pnyx.SB, offers secure blank ballot delivery and voter status tracking information.
Other Voting Site News
Issue 4 of the Overseas Vote Foundation’s OVF Research Newsletter features a critical analysis of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) 2008 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Survey Report in the article entitled Reviewing the EAC’s 2008 UOCAVA Survey Report. (EAC is an independent, bipartisan commission which serves as a national clearinghouse of information about election administration. www.eac.gov.)

It was concluded that, although information from individual voting districts regarding absentee overseas voters is increasing, “quite a bit of data may be missing”, and there are many points which should be the subject of future academic research. The OVF Research Newsletter is available at www.overseasvotefoundation.org; check on the category “research”.

The Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights (AMOVR), of which ACA is a founding member, now has its own website, provided by the Pew Center on the States. Check out www.amovr.org. AMOVR is a coalition of over 30 military associations, non-profit organizations, elected officials and other key stakeholders dedicated to ensuring that Americans abroad have an equal right and opportunity to vote.

Congratulations to the Federal Voting Assistance Program for their revamped, “clean” and more user-friendly web pages.
Estate Tax Legislation Passed by House
On 3 December the House passed H.R. 4154, “Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009”. It has now been received in the Senate for consideration.

The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to establish a permanent $3.5 million exclusion amount and a maximum tax rate of 45% for decedents dying, and gifts made, after December 31, 2009. Since the exclusion amount is not indexed for inflation, it would in principle affect an increasing percentage of estates over time.

If Congress does not act prior to the end of the year, the estate tax will disappear in 2010, then return in 2011 under the higher rates – 55 percent and a $1 million exemption – that existed before President George W. Bush took office.
-- The Washington Post


ACA Gala Fundraising Dinner
On 30 January 2010, ACA will be holding a gala dinner at the prestigious Hotel d’Angleterre, lakeside in Geneva.  Cocktails start at 19:00, and will be followed by a three-course meal with wine.

Guest speaker is Paris-based tax lawyer John Fredenberger, who will speak on “The IQ of QI – Is the IRS Qualified Intermediary program as smart as they think?”. Lighter entertainment will be provided by Tom Smith and his daughter Alexandra, who will sing selections from musicals.

The cost is Swiss francs 180 per person, with seating limited to 80 people. Sign up soon by contacting ACA at info.aca@gmail. Payment can be made online or via Swiss postal transfer.
We look forward to seeing you there!
ACA Directors Speak Out
Florida-based ACA Board member Roger Conklin has written to his member of congress, and to others in key posts in Washington, pointing out that elimination of citizenship-based (as opposed to residence-based) taxation would encourage Americans to work overseas, and would ultimately stimulate exports and thus create jobs in the States..

He writes, “The U.S. is the only country in the world that practices extra-territorial taxation. In a counterproductive effort to increase tax revenues it reduces them. The $4 billion in revenue produced by this double taxation of Americans abroad represents about 2.5% of the Federal tax revenue that would be generated by producing, marketing and exporting $821 billion in goods to zero out our trade deficit.”

Stay tuned for more on this subject in the coming issues.
ACA Country Contacts’ Corner
American Citizens Abroad is proud of its network of 50+ representatives on six continents, active in their countries of residence on behalf of ACA, and increasingly active on the global front, as well.

ACA warmly welcomes on board new Country Contacts in Guangzhou, China and in Medellin, Colombia.

ACA co-founder and Country Contact Roberta Enschede, once again coordinated a nondenominational Thanksgiving day service in the famous Peterskerk in Leiden, Holland, the city where the Pilgrims lived for 11 years prior to sailing to the new world, 400 years ago this year. This is one among various annual events sponsored in The Netherlands by the association AOR (Americans Overseas Remember).

ACA was represented at the end-October Expat Expo in Prague, Czech Republic. ACA’s Country Contact teamed up for the event with Junior Chamber International, a St. Louis, MO-based worldwide federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs.

An increasing number of country reps are becoming involved with work on ACA’s teams focusing on global issues affecting overseas Americans: taxation, banking, trade, citizenship, voting. Several of them will be participating in the annual Overseas Americans Week in Washington, DC scheduled for the week of 19 April 2010.

Alexandros Costopoulos, ACA Country Contact for Greece, has written, in association with Mary Costopoulou, a book called, Bridges of Liberty: American Philhellenism in the 18th and 19th centuries.  He explains: “We wanted to bring to the surface the history of both countries that is often forgotten and to highlight the profound ties that have united the two nations from the very first years of American history.”
Upcoming Events
30 January 2010, 19:00: ACA Gala Fundraising Dinner, Hotel D’Angleterre, Geneva
17-19 March 2010: Overseas Vote Foundation Summit 2010, Munich, Germany.
19 March 2010: ACA annual super fundraising auction, Ramada Park Hotel, Geneva. donations of auctionable goods and services welcomed!
19-23 April 2010: ACA will participate in Overseas Americans Week in Washington, DC.
Will we be seeing you there? Links to all the above can be found on the ACA website.
By Any Means, Contact ACA!
ACA Headquarters in Geneva
E-mail – Website: www.americansabroad.org
Facebook – American Citizens Abroad group
XING
Twitter
Canada and The Czech Republic websites

Your input is important to us.
Let ACA know what you feel strongly about, how you can help, what you feel we can do better, by whichever means is best for you.
while you’re surfing …
In this holiday season of gifts and renewal, why not do good by giving charitable gifts at no cost to yourself?  Various charitable sites get donations just for your accessing them online.
 
www.freerice.com is among the best of these, as you play a game to strengthen your word power, and donate 10 grains of free rice per correct answer. Your daily limit is five thousand grains = five hundred correct answers!

Via www.thenonprofits.com you can access 70 click-to-give sites. Your generosity can know no bounds!


JOIN US!
If you would like to become part of the dynamic volunteer team that powers ACA, there is a constant need for additional staff – especially if you can work from your home.

Especially needed are:
research assistants, database managers, event planners and coordinators,
tax specialists, and lawyers.

Interested parties may contact ACA's Geneva office:

American Citizens Abroad
5 rue Liotard
CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Phone and fax: +41 22 340 0233
Or send us an E-mail

Articles from this edition can be read on the ACA Website


 
The ACA News Update Editing and Publishing team
Editor-in-Chief: Dorothy van Schooneveld – Senior and Web Editor: Karl Jauch –
Editorial Assistant: Lori Hakulinen

This News Update is, like ACA itself, of, by, and for Americans abroad. ACA is staffed entirely through the efforts of volunteers, with its primary income source being membership fees and donations from concerned individuals.
Disclaimer: While ACA makes every effort to be accurate in the information it transmits, such information is not to be considered a substitute for specific and qualified professional advice.