Verterans& Retirees benifits

LarryJM wrote:

AprilWhine wrote:

calewjohnson wrote:
I will say this, I am currently active duty, and have been for 18 years. While I believe that the benefits I was promised when I joined should be honored, I also believe that something has to be done to offset the costs of people and operations. Today, 60 cents of every dollar in our budget goes to personnel (retired and active duty). As we move into the future, that will not be sustainable. We (US Navy) currently have 285 ships, short of the 300 goal we would like to have, I doubt we will ever get back to that number since we do not have a conflict to support that size of a fleet.

From what I can say, there will be a change to retirement coming down the pipe. More of a 401k approach and not needing to stay for a full 20. Is it right? Sure, I know of a lot of folks who cut and run before the 10 year mark because anything more than 10, you may as well do 20. That kind of thinking has kept a lot of mediocre folks in, instead of the knowledgeable technicians I have seen get out.

Next thing, Tri-Care for Life….I may get blasted for saying this, but I think that the premiums should be increased for that benefit. Two really good friends of mine, both retired LtCOL types, pay only $200 or so a year for the benefit. A real steal for such a benefit.

There are many hard questions that need to be asked when looking at our benefits. A pragmatic approach will ensure we do not end up with the failing pensions like some large companies. We can stay on this course of spending and end up with nothing in the end, or we can start trying to fix the problem before it become unrecoverable.

Just my 2 cents.

Cale

Your friends are not being straight with you. ;)

Tricare for life does not cost extra, but you do have to have Medicare Part B. My hubby is enrolled and has been since he became eligible for Medicare.

Yep calewjohnson doesn't understand TCFL as his erronous statement about the $200/yr clearly demonstrates. Nor does he seem to understand the Tricare and TCFL programs in general. I was paying the standard ~$540/yr for Tricare Prime for me and DW and this year with DW still on Tricare Prime and me on TCFL my premiums between her Tricare Prime and my TCFL are effectively $1500+ (270 for her and 1260 for me).

I am one of those that served and retired when we believed that one of the benefits for our sacrifices was free medical for life which was a broken promise when Tricare was started some 5 years after I retired and then Tricare for Life was piled on in 2001. I have up to now seen a zero benefit in TCFL except increased costs, but that could change in the future, but I'm still paying with increasing premiums now for something I thought was not going to cost me anything when I joined back in the 60s.

Larry

Yep, I choose not to mess with Tri-Care, that is my DW's job. My family is Tri-Care Standard, as we refuse to utilize MTFs, mainly because of the continuity of care. I know we pay quite a bit until we hit our caps....unfortunately, last year we hit our cap in DEC....hopefully this year we won't get there so fast.

When I do look to retire, I know I will have to get smart on it, Looking at your numbers though, you are paying close to $130/month, I will check with my buddies, maybe they had said 200/month, which is still a deal... I know the one painful thing about Tri-Care, they will always take second to another insurance, which sounds like why it was mentioned you had above about having to have Medicare.

My wife has insurance for her through her work, however, she is still able to see a couple of doctors that are paid for by Tri-Care...they are not part of her work's network...can you do the same, or does every doctor take Medicare B?

I apologize for the misunderstanding of Tri-Care, but the rest does hold true...

Cale

calewjohnson wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

AprilWhine wrote:

calewjohnson wrote:
I will say this, I am currently active duty, and have been for 18 years. While I believe that the benefits I was promised when I joined should be honored, I also believe that something has to be done to offset the costs of people and operations. Today, 60 cents of every dollar in our budget goes to personnel (retired and active duty). As we move into the future, that will not be sustainable. We (US Navy) currently have 285 ships, short of the 300 goal we would like to have, I doubt we will ever get back to that number since we do not have a conflict to support that size of a fleet.

From what I can say, there will be a change to retirement coming down the pipe. More of a 401k approach and not needing to stay for a full 20. Is it right? Sure, I know of a lot of folks who cut and run before the 10 year mark because anything more than 10, you may as well do 20. That kind of thinking has kept a lot of mediocre folks in, instead of the knowledgeable technicians I have seen get out.

Next thing, Tri-Care for Life….I may get blasted for saying this, but I think that the premiums should be increased for that benefit. Two really good friends of mine, both retired LtCOL types, pay only $200 or so a year for the benefit. A real steal for such a benefit.

There are many hard questions that need to be asked when looking at our benefits. A pragmatic approach will ensure we do not end up with the failing pensions like some large companies. We can stay on this course of spending and end up with nothing in the end, or we can start trying to fix the problem before it become unrecoverable.

Just my 2 cents.

Cale

Your friends are not being straight with you. ;)

Tricare for life does not cost extra, but you do have to have Medicare Part B. My hubby is enrolled and has been since he became eligible for Medicare.

Yep calewjohnson doesn't understand TCFL as his erronous statement about the $200/yr clearly demonstrates. Nor does he seem to understand the Tricare and TCFL programs in general. I was paying the standard ~$540/yr for Tricare Prime for me and DW and this year with DW still on Tricare Prime and me on TCFL my premiums between her Tricare Prime and my TCFL are effectively $1500+ (270 for her and 1260 for me).

I am one of those that served and retired when we believed that one of the benefits for our sacrifices was free medical for life which was a broken promise when Tricare was started some 5 years after I retired and then Tricare for Life was piled on in 2001. I have up to now seen a zero benefit in TCFL except increased costs, but that could change in the future, but I'm still paying with increasing premiums now for something I thought was not going to cost me anything when I joined back in the 60s.

Larry

Yep, I choose not to mess with Tri-Care, that is my DW's job. My family is Tri-Care Standard, as we refuse to utilize MTFs, mainly because of the continuity of care. I know we pay quite a bit until we hit our caps....unfortunately, last year we hit our cap in DEC....hopefully this year we won't get there so fast.

When I do look to retire, I know I will have to get smart on it, Looking at your numbers though, you are paying close to $130/month, I will check with my buddies, maybe they had said 200/month, which is still a deal... I know the one painful thing about Tri-Care, they will always take second to another insurance, which sounds like why it was mentioned you had above about having to have Medicare.

My wife has insurance for her through her work, however, she is still able to see a couple of doctors that are paid for by Tri-Care...they are not part of her work's network...can you do the same, or does every doctor take Medicare B?

I apologize for the misunderstanding of Tri-Care, but the rest does hold true...

Cale

I'm not going to try and get into all the nitty gritty since I could make a mistake, but in a nut shell when you reach 65 TCFL requires you to apply for Medicare Part B which is the outpatient portion and then basically at no cost Tricare becomes your Medicare supplemental similar to MediGap insurance that many retirees pay for. In general you go to a doctor that takes Medicare and once the cost exceeds the Medicare coverage then Tricare picks up the TAB just like they would with Tricare Prime. For a long, long time Tricare will charge whatever insurance you have to keep the goverment costs down. Now something I'm not sure about is if one can get TCFL once they reach 65 if they haven't been a Tricare Prime enrollee. Furthermore those with insurance provided by their employer they are failing IMO to realize that that option will go away once their employement ends and they will be faced with a MAJOR CHANGE from what I know is how they have to now satisfy their health needs. Also, I have often heard this "continuity" or choice of care being thought of as an issue with Tricare, but I have in my almost 66 years have never known anything, but Military Medicine and the same goes for my DW for almost the last 45years and both our sons who are now in their 30's and 40's and in all our opinions the level of care has be bar none the best available. One issue with many is they don't understand or are not willing to work within the confines of Military or government supported Medicine and IMO that is just a lack of understanding and willingness to truly take charge of their health needs.

In the end it's all about choices and most will agree as you reach Medicare age health costs is a MAJOR CONSIDERATION. When I retired we made a decision to remain in the area of what now are two of the FINEST Military Hospitals (MTFs) ... Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (where the Pres goes along with a lot of members of Congress) and the new state of the art Fort Belvoir Community Family Hospital and get all our medical needs met at those two facilities. If one is eligible to use a MTF being close to one should IMO be just as important as where you want to retire because of weather/taxes/COL, etc. Both myself and DW have had the same Primary Care Doctor for almost the last 15 years and getting things done/approved is as simple as asking ... try that with any other health insurance when you want something like a routine EKG just because it makes you feel better or say a MRI/CAT scan where an X-ray might suffice. No problem since those are basically sunk costs at both MTFs we utilize. In fact our PCM has an EKG for just their use in Internal Medicine Clinic that she is attached to.

Now with all that being said I will say I'm no expert in all the ins and outs of Military Medicine, Medicare and obviously know less than a "ROCK" about the civilian world so my view is obviously slanted in one direction.

Larry

I retired from active duty in 2006. Since then have
seen a steady erosion of my "promised" retirement benefits.
I do not live close enough to a commissary or PX to take
advantage of any perceived bargain in shopping there...

I was of the post Vietnam service group that was promised
(on enlistment) free medical and dental care "for life". I passed many of
the "critical decision" mile markers ("stay-in or
get out" ) at a pay rate / benefit plan no where near what my
contemporaries in the civilian workforce were drawing ... with
the understanding that the "retirement package" would somewhat
offset any deficits in my earnings. Now that I am out (still working)
I feel I was duped in the "value" of the retirement plan I was assured
would be mine for the remainder of my life (see the inflated "calculators" on
line for the "monetary value" of a "military retirement"). Any new political
entity feels free to carve away at my retirement plan for the "greater good".
I feel 28 years of service in uniform allows me to say I already
paid my share of the lifetime dues for the "greater good".

I am ashamed at the treatment the political parties seem "o.k. with"
aimed at Veteran's of any era...especially the most current. I will continue
to fight the good fight ( man, I hate having to say that) to
protect any remaining retirement package "benefits" that come under
attack... thru the only means I have, the ballot.

My oldest son is coming up on the end of his initial 4 year enlistment...
I need to carefully consider what advice I will provide (if he asks) on whether
to continue to serve his country. I never thought that would be the case.

Charles

Any body read the book ANIMAL FARM ?

johnrbd wrote:
Until the two political parties quit being afraid of extremist in their parties, NO negotiations and NO budgets will be approved. So, sequestration will continue to cause problems, especially for us in the middle trying to survive financially.

Off my box!

Guess maybe I'm an extremist then because like the Tea Party,I think we are spending too much and passing the bill to our kids and grandkids.It seems when the 2 sides do come together,it isn't for us,it's for them to get more votes by spending more money.On Veterans Day,I read the story of an Iraq vet whose tank was hit.He was burned,lost one arm,is paralized from the waist down.His wife left him with 2 kids.His handicapped van broke down and his parents couldn't get him to the VA Hospital 60 miles away.His house wasn't handicapped accessible.A local vet got the DVA to allow doctors to treat him at home and another vet got his high school students to raise money to build him a new house.If we have money for "FREE" birth control and "FREE" cell phones,we should have enough money to help a guy like this.It's time to point this stuff out and shame our reps into putting more money into helping guys like him.Personally,I have never taken adavantage of any of my veterans benefits.But I do hope they will be there if I need them.That's why we have to keep fighting,not for us,but for our fellow vets who really need help.

. . .What bothers me most is the fact that Government worker?s are able to retire at age 52 (after 30 years of work?) while the private sector has to wait until 66 1/2; something very unfair about that. . .

Why is it (when the subject of cuts comes up) that no one mentions the Billions of dollars given other countries? Always our own people take the brunt of the cuts and mostly the sick and poor?

Rome didn't fall due to helping their sick and poor, it was because of the military strung across other countries. I'm for shrinking the military which uses most of the money for useless wars.

Originally- as promised- medical care for retired military was Tricare, (an earned benefit, paid for by DOD) we were not eligible for Medicare. Medicare needed money- so Congress changed the law so that at age 65 retired miltary went under Medicare and now they pay for Medicare Part B. Tricare became the second payer as Tricare for Life.

Most of what is on this page contradicts other info on this page, and mostly all of it is inaccurate - a few accurate statements in each post, but none tell it like it really is. An exception is the fact that military benefits erode constantly over the years.

We veterans did our time according to the benefits in place, earned them, and regardless of what reason congress sticks forward, it's unacceptable and inexcusable to take those benefits away. Civilian workers were making two hundred a week and military were making seventy nine dollars A MONTH plus lifetime medical care (among other benefits) ... We paid for the health care, we earned it.

OK - beyond that, Tricare has always been in existence for Military, it was called CHAMPUS prior to the Tricare model, and provided similar care as Tricare now - it just changed names.

Tricare For Life continues coverage at Age 65 and acts as a secondary policy after Medicare B ... AND, covers prescriptions with a co-pay. NO COST for TFL.

How do I know this: I've been on Medicare and TFL for over four years, not once have I paid a medical bill - and have had numerous clinic visits, several ER trips, and three surgeries. NOT one cent ... except for scripts co-pays.

Some of you guys imagine things to be true, but unless you actually do it, you're guessing. I'm not guessing - TFL costs nothing.

To end this: Once again, we earned the benefits, medical and commissary, and no amount of compromising "we have to do this to make the budget work" is acceptable - we depend on people keeping their word, and that problem with that 'meek acceptance' some folks here generate, at this age, we can't simply "do it over" ... we're here, we earned it, and what congress really needs to do is cut the waste it dumps into the civilian contractors trough and get a handle on giving itself and other federal workers raises while cutting benefits it promised. Cutting veterans and retired military benefits and giving raises to federal employees in the same breath is and always will be an insult to veterans.

The true irony of all this mess: VOTE OVERNIGHT to PAY itself and the Federal workers on furlough (National parks for example) while no one actually worked. This is an example of the mindset that got us here - and it needs to change or we'll continue down the path to 'broke and crying about it.'

LarryJM wrote:

I'm not going to try and get into all the nitty gritty since I could make a mistake, but in a nut shell when you reach 65 TCFL requires you to apply for Medicare Part B which is the outpatient portion and then basically at no cost Tricare becomes your Medicare supplemental similar to MediGap insurance that many retirees pay for. In general you go to a doctor that takes Medicare and once the cost exceeds the Medicare coverage then Tricare picks up the TAB just like they would with Tricare Prime. For a long, long time Tricare will charge whatever insurance you have to keep the goverment costs down. Now something I'm not sure about is if one can get TCFL once they reach 65 if they haven't been a Tricare Prime enrollee. Furthermore those with insurance provided by their employer they are failing IMO to realize that that option will go away once their employement ends and they will be faced with a MAJOR CHANGE from what I know is how they have to now satisfy their health needs. Also, I have often heard this "continuity" or choice of care being thought of as an issue with Tricare, but I have in my almost 66 years have never known anything, but Military Medicine and the same goes for my DW for almost the last 45years and both our sons who are now in their 30's and 40's and in all our opinions the level of care has be bar none the best available. One issue with many is they don't understand or are not willing to work within the confines of Military or government supported Medicine and IMO that is just a lack of understanding and willingness to truly take charge of their health needs.

In the end it's all about choices and most will agree as you reach Medicare age health costs is a MAJOR CONSIDERATION. When I retired we made a decision to remain in the area of what now are two of the FINEST Military Hospitals (MTFs) ... Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (where the Pres goes along with a lot of members of Congress) and the new state of the art Fort Belvoir Community Family Hospital and get all our medical needs met at those two facilities. If one is eligible to use a MTF being close to one should IMO be just as important as where you want to retire because of weather/taxes/COL, etc. Both myself and DW have had the same Primary Care Doctor for almost the last 15 years and getting things done/approved is as simple as asking ... try that with any other health insurance when you want something like a routine EKG just because it makes you feel better or say a MRI/CAT scan where an X-ray might suffice. No problem since those are basically sunk costs at both MTFs we utilize. In fact our PCM has an EKG for just their use in Internal Medicine Clinic that she is attached to.

Now with all that being said I will say I'm no expert in all the ins and outs of Military Medicine, Medicare and obviously know less than a "ROCK" about the civilian world so my view is obviously slanted in one direction.

Larry

Good info! With my DW being a nurse, and even working at the MTF in Naples, Italy, she definitely knows the ins/outs of the system. I am sure I will get a lot more info when I take TAPS class, but as we all know, there will be many more iterations to the current set-up before I depart the pattern.

Copy the comment about the the employer insurance going away once she quits, but we have moved so many times in the last 10 years (since we have been married), it is second nature. What we have found, and is a great deal, some employers offer a Tri-Care rider, which covers everything that Standard doesn't pay. That is an over simplification, but the combination of those plans are just as good as having Prime, and you get to have the doctor of your choice.

As far as continuity of care, at normal base MTF's we were having problems with going in for an appointment, then going back for a follow-up, the last doctor was deployed, so we basically had to start over.

For my care, it is easy. I am a flier, so I have a flight doc, we are assigned to them they deploy with us and what not. We get specialized care, b/c we are an asset, so I believe the care is better and faster.

Cale