Rec'd email about Tricare for Life -- do you have any info?

[OneGrassRoot]

Below is a really nice version of an email that is circulating about "Obamacare" (with a derogatory subject line) and how they're proposing to impose hardship on retired military via changes to Tricare for life health coverage.

Anyone know the truth about this or anything not factually correct about the following?

Thanks. :)


TRICARE FOR LIFE

This is a "Heads Up" on a battle we are facing now and down the road with the new Administration. The
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has already drafted proposed legislation that would basically reduce
our TRICARE for Life benefits to a system whereby we pay deductibles and co-pays up to $6,301 the
first year for you and your spouse, with future years being indexed to increase with inflation.
What can we do? The article below, obtained from an Air Force Association and written by BG Bob
Clements, best describes what we can do. Please read it and check the links for CBO language and do
what Bob says-Send this email to every Military Retiree you know and write and email your
Congressman often. For those of you that might have voted or "Change", you should do it more than
often!

TRICARE FOR LIFE'S (TFL) FUTURE....

TRICARE For Life was instituted to correct the broken promise that military retirees would receive free healthcare coverage for life and it covers the Medicare co-pay. Now a heavy assault has begun on
Veterans'/Retirees' benefits to pay for other programs our President promised during the campaign. And it is a high priority of his administration. The one item of most interest to Retired Military is in Article 189.

If approved by Congress the first assault wave would hit in 2011 and would hit hard. It would initiate cost sharing to require retirees to pay the first $525 of medical cost and 50% of the next $4,725 for a first year cost of $2,888 per person. It would be indexed to increase with inflation. A reason given for this action (for PR effect) is "overuse" by Retirees.

Those of you who are covered by TFL will want to pay attention to what BG Bob Clements has surfaced
about the future of TFL. On page 189 of the Congressional Budget Office report (see the note below on
how to get to that spot) there is a strong recommendation to eventually eliminate the program as it too expensive. This is just another move to slight those of us who dedicated much of our adult lives to the defense of our country. He strongly recommends that you contact your elected officials and register your strong opposition to the elimination of the TFL program.

The following has been added to the Congressional Budget Office Web Site www.cbo.gov /
a. Budget, Options, Volume 1: Health Care (www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9925 )
For those who have never opened one of these web sites from OMB :
1. double click on the above URL
2. click on PDF
3. click on the binoculars
4. do a search for TFL

EDITORIAL (By original author):

Now here it is folks and I will guarantee if you sit around on your behind and do nothing about it as they bring these options forward this coming year, you will lose one of the best healthcare benefits that the Medicare eligible retired military have. It is short of the promises made that we fought so hard for back in the late 90s and early 2000s but it is still the best healthcare program that anyone in the United States has, bar none.

People who are professionals always look for the channel of least resistance when it comes to cutting
money out of the Federal and DOD budget. I can tell you this straight on, military retirees are one of those channels of least resistance noted for sitting around, doing nothing, and waiting for ole Joe to do it for them. You had better wake up. Your medical benefits are prime target. If you lose them, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Let me repeat that ... you have nobody to blame but yourself.

The way to secure your benefits is to write to your members of Congress and to keep writing and writing and writing. ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH!! Keep repeating the above statement until you are blue in the
face. Now I'm going to make one more statement to all of you younger people out there who are not yet
eligible for TRICARE for Life. HEALTH CARE WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME THE DOMINATING FACTOR IN YOUR LIFE.

Remember that . . . . it will impact you big time with the utmost in cruelty unless you are fortunate
enough to die from a heart attack or get run over by a truck. The service organizations will put up a fight but, they will need your help and can't do it by themselves. I hope this makes it clear as to what you can expect if you do nothing.

To show you how stupid these professionals can be at times just read the data on the noted sites closely. You will see that in spite of the Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) need to get patients back to keep their doctors busy and the hospitals from going to clinic status, these people from OMB would employ a means to keep retirees from using MTF facilities by charging them a fee for services. How dumb can you get. Even if you are an Obama fan, and believe that changeth cometh, TFL option from OMB will not go away. They need the money they spend on you for other programs for people who produce nothing but votes to keep their boss in office. If you know of anyone who is Retired Military, please forward this on to them.

Remember- TFL is an "Earned Benefit" that's been granted by a previous Congress.

[babylonsister]

1. imo, this is a bunch of hogwash. I got this

e-mail months ago and debunked it, though don't have the links now.

I am on Tricare, and we have not been told about any changes.

If I remember more or can find a previous informational post, I'll let you know.

[MADem]

3. MOAA has summed up nicely (see link below). nt

[OneGrassRoot]

4. You guys are da bomb....

smartest people in the room EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Thank you very much!

:hi:

[Captain Hilts]

17. I miss reading my folks' MOAA magazine. I might have to resubscribe.

I get Navy Times and US Naval Institute Proceedings sometimes.

[Captain Hilts]

18. I'm surprised I haven't gotten this one. I'm feeling a little left out. nt

[MADem]

2. It is loud and honking bullshit. Go to MOAA whenever you have a question like t his

--they're the military 'lobbyists' for active and retired personnel (they used to be just 'retired,' but they wisely expanded their focus).

This link is salient: http://www.moaablogs.org/healthcare/2009/06/tricare-for-life-important/

We’ve received a ton of inquiries from members who received a chain message with this subject line that talks about a Congressional Budget Office idea to jack up fees for TRICARE for Life beneficiaries.

The content is based on truth, but it’s about 6 months out of date and is no longer relevant. If you receive the message from someone, please DON’T forward it on, but refer them to this answer about it.

Unfortunately, things sent out on the internet acquire lives of their own that go on long after the origin has been overcome by events.

The message refers to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) options list that was prepared last year. It provided a list of options (not recommendations) that government leaders might consider if they wanted to increase or cut spending in various areas of government – health care in this case.

The CBO puts out this kind of list after every congressional election. In most cases, nothing comes of the recommendations – at least those on military health care.

Worries that such initiatives would show up in President Obama’s budget proved unfounded. The new budget proposes fully funding TRICARE for the first time in four years – with no proposed benefit reductions or fee increases.

That said, we do think it’s only a matter of time before there are new efforts to cut back on military health care spending – including TRICARE For Life.

The most likely immediate challenge will come on Medicare, which is costing significantly more than current payroll taxes can sustain. We expect that fixing this situation will be a major focus of the Administration and Congress in the coming few years. MOAA will be tracking that issue closely to ensure any changes reflect fairness for all.

In the longer term, we believe Congress will eventually try to shift more costs to beneficiaries for TFL, most likely in the form of an enrollment fee, which MOAA doesn’t support. We believe strongly that Congress did the right thing in enacting TFL in 2001, and that nothing has changed during the last 7 years of war to make military retirees any less deserving of this crucial health coverage. If and when any such proposals arise, MOAA and our members will lead the charge to ensure it’s protected.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to remind the administration that TFL is an earned benefit and an important retention tool. And when the time comes, we’ll be asking for your support in writing your legislators to help preserve these important earned benefits.

[babylonsister]

5. Thanks, MADem. Great debunker!

:thumbsup:

[MADem]

6. You know how it is....

All Politics is LOCAL!

And so's all medical care, these days! TRICARE is our benefit, we've earned it!

[OneGrassRoot]

9. I forgot how that site helped me debunk something a couple of months ago....

about weapons inventory at all VFW centers. It was being passed around as one of those "they're coming for our guns!!!!!" alarms. The email circulating quoted a Sgt. Dan West, so I tracked him down via the MOAA site.

I called him and lo and behold, he called me back and followed up with this email. NONE of my right-wing retired military family responded whatsoever when I forwarded this to them. LOL.



Ms. Patrick,

Please feel free to distribute as far and as wide as you can.

In response to the article “Government Demands Inventory of All VFW Weapons” by Kurt Nimmo posted on the Alex Jones’ infowars.com website on June 9, 2009. Let me confirm that I did send out the email to VFW District Commanders in Texas so they would pass the request on to the VFW Posts they have oversight of. I have never been contacted by Kurt Nimmo or Alex Jones as to the veracity or authentication of my email. I find this to be extremely irresponsible journalism.

Let me also add that to my knowledge the U.S. Government is not trying to take away any weapons or equipment from any VFW Post nor is this an attempt by the government to register or list which VFW Post has what, they already know, they sent me the list, the weapons and equipment although demilitarized belong to the U.S. Government. Demilitarized is not the same as decommissioned.

Representatives from U.S. Army TACOM contacted me in regards to non-existent VFW Posts as Texas VFW has had several dozen VFW Posts close in the last several years that had weapons/equipment ISSUED (Not donated) from U.S. Army TACOM. Before these missing weapons/equipment are reported as stolen, U.S. Army TACOM has asked that we assist in accounting for them as they may have been transferred to another VFW Post without proper documentation. If they have been transferred to another VFW Post that is fine it just needs to be documented per long standing and established TACOM guidelines.

Accounting for weapons/equipment issued from U.S. Army TACOM on a routine basis is nothing new and has been done for several decades. Any one who has served in the military is familiar with accountability for government issued weapons and equipment.

I would mention the Civilian Marksmanship Program is a program where the U.S. Government takes refurbished military rifles (M1 Garand’s & 1903 Springfield Rifles) and encourages civilians to purchase them for a fraction of their cost for the purpose of learning marksmanship. This is a program where the government is actually encouraging its citizens to purchase and posses a military firearm and learn how to use it.

It is unfortunate that some have decided to use this request to account for demilitarized (Not decommissioned) U.S. Government owned weapons/equipment as something it is not in order to press their own agenda without first verifying the information.

Thank you for contacting me directly on this matter I appreciate your concern.

My response to this fear mongering is also available at the following websites.


http://brainshavings.com/2009/06/the-army-is-not-hassling-the-vfw.html


http://www.moaablogs.org/battleofthebilge/2009/06/texas_vf/



Dan West
Sgt. USMC (Ret.)
Assistant Adjutant
Department of Texas
Veterans of Foreign Wars
www.texasvfw.org

[MADem]

10. It's the first place I go nowadays. Way back when, I had pals who

worked the HASC and SASC issues and could get the scoop from the horse's mouth, but tempis fugit! Everyone's retiring! A few of 'em have ambled over to MOAA and are working there!

[jody]

16. Thanks for posting MOAA's information. n/t

[D-Lee]

7. email [e-mail] with anti-healthcare emails nt

[OneGrassRoot]

8. Yep, I did that first thing! Love that they're doing that! :) n/t

[babylonsister]

11. White House Reassures Veterans on Healthcare

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3024

White House Reassures Veterans on Healthcare
by: Richard Smith
Tue Aug 04, 2009 at 11:16:10 AM EDT


I don't want to wade into the debate on universal healthcare. There are plenty of other talking heads, blogs and barber shops you can go to if you are concerned with that discussion. I have my opinions on it, as I'm sure everyone here does, but I don't like to get into debates that don't directly involve Veterans, the military or national security.

Some Veterans' groups are concerned about how the healthcare sausage being made in Congress might effect Veterans' care, specifically as the legislation relates to individual mandates:

Six high-profile veterans groups are raising objections to the House healthcare reform bill, warning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that it could jeopardize the care of millions of veterans.
<...>
In a letter to Pelosi that was obtained by The Hill, the groups state "the legislation could limit the health care choices for veterans, increase the cost of health care for veterans, deny coverage to dependent family members of veterans, and threaten the quality of health care offered to veterans through the VA health care system."

The groups that signed the letter are the Disabled American Veterans, Blinded Veterans Association, Vietnam Veterans of America, Jewish War Veterans of the USA, American Veterans (AMVETS) and the Military Order of the Purple Heart of the USA.

The letter notes that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides medical services to millions of veterans and the quality of care "has risen to amongst the finest health care systems in the nation."
<...>
The groups also want the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to continue running the healthcare system offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs and not be "infringed" upon by any other healthcare organizations or administration departments.

I haven't read any of the bills being circulated through the various committees of both houses of Congress. However, if the language is vague on the topic of Veterans' healthcare, that is a legitimate concern. As a result of the concern of Veterans' group, the White House released a statement on the issue:

The President is committed to ensuring that the Department of Veterans Affairs provides America's veterans the highest-quality health care possible. His budget requests the largest single-year increase in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs in three decades, and significantly expands coverage, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously excluded.

Health reform will only build on the President's commitment to veterans' health care. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for all eligible veterans. Also, veterans and their families will have additional choices for high-quality, affordable health care, with consumer protections that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage or setting a limit on the coverage they will provide.

The health reform legislation that the House of Representatives is considering would enable those who are covered by VA care, including dependents of certain veterans enrolled in the CHAMPVA program, to meet the individual responsibility mandate; thereby exempting such veterans and dependants from being assessed penalties. If enacted, the President will ensure that this exemption is implemented aggressively. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs would continue to maintain sole authority over the system and for enhancing the quality and access for all eligible veterans.

Assuming that's how the final legislation looks when it lands on the President's desk, which I have no reason to believe it won't or that the President will sign it if it doesn't, that all sounds good to me.

Veterans' healthcare is one of the most important benefits we receive after separation from military service. The President's commitment to preserving the system while giving Veterans additional options but not penalizing them for choosing to continue their VHA care is exactly what we should be expecting from this Administration. It's always good to see the President standing with Veterans on any issue, especially on one as important as healthcare.

[OneGrassRoot]

12. Sweet. Thank you. :) n/t

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Actually have you found that things like this have ever changed....

any Republican veteran's mind?

Facts are so inconvenient and, if there's a Democrat or Democratic Administration involved, they don't trust anything that's said or written.

One thing I've come to realize in the last year: People absolutely see and hear what they want to see and hear.

I'm just wondering if it's useless to refute things -- unless we're engaging people who are on the fence.

I don't have any fence-sitting peeps in my family circle. Most are racist, old South Republicans.

'nuf said.

Obama really can't do anything right in their book; if he does, they'll find a way to vilify it rather than admit that he did something right, even if it's in their own best interest.

[babylonsister]

14. No, I agree 'people absolutely see and hear what they want to see and hear.'

I'd send this anyway. Might make someone with a shred of common sense see the light.

[OneGrassRoot]

15. :) n/t