Tricare

For more information on Tricare Dental Program see the following:

Tricare Dental Enrollee Information

VA rule to expand disability pay for Vietnam exposure‏ 

About 86,000 Vietnam War veterans, their surviving spouses or estates will be eligible for retroactive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs - an average of 11.4 years for veterans and 9.6 years for survivors - under a draft VA rule to expand by three the number of diseases presumed caused by herbicide exposure in the war.

The 86,000 are beneficiaries who can reopen previously denied claims for these conditions: ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease and chronic B-cell blood cancers including hairy cell leukemia. But another 29,000 claims are expected to be approved this year for Vietnam veterans suffering from these diseases but applying for benefits for the first time.

The projected cost of this dramatic expansion of claims linked to Agent Orange and other defoliants deployed four decades ago is $13.6 billion this fiscal year and $42.2 billion over 10 years. VA plans to hire 1,772 new claims processors, starting this October, to be able to handle these claims "without significantly degrading the processing of the non-presumptive workload."

In the proposed rule published March 25 in the Federal Register, VA officials explained that Secretary Eric Shinseki has cut the usual 60-day public comment period by half "to promote rapid action" on these claims.

When a final rule is published, soon after April 26, VA claim offices across the country can begin making payments. Veterans with these diseases will need to show they set foot in Vietnam during the war. Those who served aboard ship just off the coast remain ineligible.

John Maki, assistant national service director for Disabled American Veterans, said DAV was glad to see the comment period cut to 30 days. Otherwise, the draft regulation contains no surprises. "It basically is going to take those three conditions and just add them to disabilities already listed as presumptive diseases for Agent Orange," Maki said.

Of 86,000 beneficiaries eligible for retroactive claims, VA estimates that nearly 70,000 of them are living Vietnam veterans, their average age now 63. Of those, 62,200 previously were denied compensation for IHD, 5,400 were denied for B-cell leukemia and 2,300 for Parkinson's disease.

About 53,000 who previously filed claims for these diseases already are receiving VA compensation for other service-related diseases. Of those, roughly 8,350 are rated 100-percent disabled and therefore might not be eligible for retroactive pay.

VA assumes that veterans with Parkinson's disease or for B-cell leukemia will be awarded 100 percent disability ratings. The average rating for ischemic heart diseases is expected to be 60 percent.

In calculating VA costs from this change, VA assumes that 80 percent of the eligible population will apply for benefits and 100 percent of those who do will be approved. But eligible vets and survivors must file claims to get paid; nothing will happen automatically. To file claims on line visit: http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp. Veterans without a computer can call a toll-free helpline at 1-800-749-8387.

VA maintains a directory of veterans' service organizations with trained staff to help in filing claims online at www1.va.gov/vso/. Many state, county and local governments also have personnel to help. Find information on these agencies at:

www.va.gov/statedva.htm.

In total, VA expects claims volume from presumptive Agent Orange diseases to hit 159,000 this year and to exceed 270,000 by fiscal 2019.

Maki noted that entitlement to benefits only occurs with final publication of the regulation. Retroactive payments usually will be made back to the date a claim was filed for a presumptive disease.

"It is possible, since this is a liberalized law, that somebody may be able to get the retroactive date [moved back] to one year prior to the effective date in the regulation, if they can show they had the claimed condition prior to that year," Maki said.

To comment, send e-mail to milupdate@aol.com or write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111

HR 2254 Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009

 Texas ROA Members:

 HR-2254 is the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009.   It was written and filed specifically for Blue Water Sailors from Vietnam.

Tx Coalition of Veterans Organizations is taking a very active role in
supporting passage of this bill.  There are two things to notice:

(1)There's a concentration of Representatives in/around the Metroplex and West Texas that have not signed-on as sponsors. These are names you know and
 with whom you have contact.  Why have Sam Johnson (a Hanoi Hilton
veteran), Kay Granger (a normally more responsive supporter of veterans/ROA) and Joe
Barton plus others not been asked to "sign-on"???    Have they been asked?

(2) While they are not expected to sign-on to a House Bill, NEITHER TX
Senator have signed-on to the companion bill in the Senate.  S-1939 is the
partner bill.  We sure want to support S-1939 as much as H-2254!!!

Same deal we discuss frequently:  It takes three calls - YOUR representative
and YOUR two senators.   Believe me, we've been on both senators from here
 in central TX.   They must hear from other parts of the state "to get
 the picture"!!!

 Yes, there are 18/32 reps signed-on.  That is barely better than half.
 TX can do better than this.   Let's make those calls.     Let's circulate this to the MEMBERS of the TX Department!

Thanks,

Morgan Little

Chairman Legislative Affairs

ROA Department of Texas

Tricare in the Senate and House Reconciliation Bill

March 19th, 2010

From the Military CPT Blog please click on thislink for more information.

10-ways-the-new-healthcare-bill-may-affect-you:
 
by Katie Adams
Friday, March 26, 2010

provided by Investopedia

The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, more commonly referred to as the "healthcare bill", has taken over a year to craft and has been a lightning rod for political debate because it effectively reshapes major facetsof the country's healthcare industry.

Here are 10 things you need to know about how the new law may affect you:
    

1. Your Kids are Covered

Starting this year, if you have an adult child who cannot get health insurance
from his or her employer and is to some degree dependent on you financially, your child can stay on your insurance policy until he or she is 26 years old. Currently, many insurance companies do not allow adult children to remain on their parents' plan once they reach 19 or leave school.

2. You Can't be Dropped

Starting this fall, your health insurance company will no longer be allowed to
"drop" you (cancel your policy) if you get sick. In 2009, "rescission" was
revealed to be a relatively common cost-cutting practice by several insurance companies. The practice proved to be common enough to spur several lawsuits; for example, in 2008 and 2009, California's largest insurers were made to pay out more than $19 million in fines for dropping policyholders who fell ill.

3. You Can't be Denied Insurance
  
Starting this year your child (or children) cannot be denied coverage simply because they have a pre-existing health condition. Health insurance companies will also be barred from denying adults applying for coverage if they have a pre-existing condition, but not until 2014.

4. You Can Spend What You Need to

Prior to the new law, health insurance companies set a maximum limit on the
monetary amount of benefits that a policyholder could receive. This meant that those who developed expensive or long-lasting medical conditions could run out of coverage. Starting this year, companies will be barred from instituting caps on coverage.

5. You Don't Have to Wait

If you currently have pre-existing conditions that have prevented you from being able to qualify for health insurance for at least six months you will have coverage options before 2014. Starting this fall, you will be able to purchase insurance through a state-run "high-risk pool", which will cap your personal out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare. You will not be required to pay more than $5,950 of your own money for medical expenses; families will not have to pay any more than $11,900.

6. You Must be Insured

Under the new law starting in 2014, you will have to purchase health insurance
or risk being fined. If your employer does not offer health insurance as a
benefit or if you do not earn enough money to purchase a plan, you may get
assistance from the government. The fines for not purchasing insurance will be levied according to a sliding scale based on income. Starting in 2014, the
lowest fine would be $95 or 1% of a person's income (whichever is greater) and then increase to a high of $695 or 2.5% of an individual's taxable income by 2016. There will be a maximum cap on fines.

7. You'll Have More Options

Starting in 2014 (when you will be required by law to have health insurance), states will operate new insurance marketplaces - called "exchanges" - that will  provide you with more options for buying an individual policy if you can't get, or afford, insurance from your workplace and you earn too much income to qualify
for Medicaid. In addition, millions of low- and middle-income families (earning up to $88,200 annually) will be able to qualify for financial assistance from the federal government to purchase insurance through their state exchange.

8. Flexible Spending Accounts Will Become Less Flexible

Three years from now, flexible spending accounts (FSAs) will have lower contribution limits - meaning you won't be able to have as much money deducted  from your paycheck pre-tax and deposited into an FSA for medical expenses as is  currently allowed. The new maximum amount allowed will be $2,500. In addition,  fewer expenses will qualify for FSA spending. For example, you will no longer be
able to use your FSA to help defray the cost of over-the-counter drugs.

9. If You Earn More, You'll Pay More

Starting in 2018, if your combined family income exceeds $250,000 you are going to be taking less money home each pay period. That's because you will have more  money deducted from your paycheck to go toward increased Medicare payroll taxes.
In addition to higher payroll taxes you will also have to pay 3.8% tax on any
unearned income, which is currently tax-exempt.

10. Medicare May Cover More or Less of Your Expenses

Starting this year, if Medicare is your primary form of health insurance you
will no longer have to pay for preventive care such as an annual physical,
screenings for treatable conditions or routine laboratory work. In addition, you
will get a $250 check from the federal government to help pay for prescription
drugs currently not covered as a result of the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole".
However, if you are a high-income individual or couple (making more than $85,000 individually or $170,000 jointly), your prescription drug subsidy will be reduced. In addition, if you are one of the more than 10 million people
currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan you may be facing higher premiums because your insurance company's subsidy from the federal government is going to be dramatically reduced.

Conclusion:

Over the next few months you will most likely receive information in the mail
from your health insurance company about how the newly signed law will affect your coverage. Read the correspondence carefully and don't hesitate to ask questions about your policy; there may be new, more affordable options for you down the road.