Commissioned Corps BulletinOctober 22, 2019

Update on New & Revised Commissioned Corps Policies

I am pleased to announce that the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH), and the Surgeon General (SG) recently signed several new and revised Commissioned Corps Directives (CCD), Commissioned Corps Instructions (CCI), and Personnel Operations Memorandums (POM), respectively. Commissioned Corps Headquarters (CCHQ) has posted these new and revised policies to the Commissioned Corps Management Information System (CCMIS). Key changes in these policies are noted below:

Medical Policies:

• CCD 128.01, “Medical Fitness for Duty” (formerly “Medical Review Board”). This policy:
  1. Impacts Active Duty Officers and applicants;
  2. Affirms that an officer must meet the standards for deployment in order to be considered medically fit-for-duty;
  3. Delegates to the ASH the authority to establish medical accession and retention standards, as well as the authority to determine the circumstances in which these standards can be waived;
  4. Modifies the authorized composition of the Medical Review and Medical Appeals Boards; and
  5. Clarifies the administrative separation process for an officer being separated on the basis of unsuitability.
• CCI 393.01, “Medical Review Board” (formerly, “Disability Retirement”). This policy:
  1. Impacts Active Duty Officers;
  2. Specifies who may refer an officer for a fitness-for-duty (FFD) evaluation if the officer is unable to engage in the physical activities associated with deployment or if the officer cannot meet medical readiness standards;
  3. Establishes the circumstances under which the Director, CCHQ, can remove an officer from the list of officers pending a Medical Review Board (MRB);
  4. Clarifies the responsibilities of the MRB and the information they must include in their report to the SG; and
  5. Clarifies an officer’s appeal rights.
• CCI 393.02, “Medical Appeals Board”. This policy:
  1. Impacts Active Duty Officers;
  2. Clarifies the process of appealing a MRB recommendation;
  3. Specifies the timeframe for submitting new documents to the Appeals Board; and
  4. Establishes the circumstances under which an officer can withdraw his/her appeals request.
• CCI 221.01, “Medical Accession Standards”. This new policy:
  1. Impacts applicants to the Commissioned Corps;
  2. Establishes the medical accession standards setting the medical qualifications to serve in the Commissioned Corps (Appendix A); and
  3. Establishes the circumstances and processes under which the Commissioned Corps can waive a medical accession standard for an individual candidate.
• POM 821.72, “Waiver of Disqualifying Medical or Dental Condition”. This new issuance:
  1. Impacts applicants to the Commissioned Corps; and
  2. Details the procedures for the medical accession standard waiver process as established in CCI 221.01.

Pay Policies

• CCI 633.01, “Special Pays”. This revised policy:
  1. Impacts Active Duty Officers;
  2. Clarifies eligibility and limitations for certain specific health professions special pays (e.g., officers assigned to fellowship and training programs are not eligible for Accession Bonuses (AB), Critical Wartime Skills Accession Bonuses (CWSAB), and Retention Bonuses (RB).)

Benefits Policies

• CCD 157.01, “Transfer of Education Benefits”. This revised policy:
  1. Impacts Active Duty Officers;
  2. Delegates authority from the Secretary to the ASH to administer the Post 911 Transfer of Education Benefits to eligible dependents.
• CCI 671.11, “Post 911 Education Benefits”. These revised policy:
  1. Impacts Active Duty Officers;
  2. Clarifies the process for officers to use in exercising this benefit.

If you have questions, please email: CCHelpDesk@hhs.gov

Respectfully,

Susan M. Orsega
RADM, USPHS
Director, CCHQ