Verterans& Retirees benifits

[southbound]

To all my fellow camping vererans and military retirees, Noticed about the closing of commissaries. That not all the Congressional Budget Office wants to cut. Defense Department and the COB want tocut Concurrent receipt pay and other veterans benefits. Increase Tri care
Read, all the cuts they want to do in last weeks Navy Times. At this rate it will be the 70's all over again, when ships could not go out to sea due to not enough money. Yet the Congressional Budget Office keeps all their benifits, good salaries, which come from us and outside companies.:(
Sorry for ranting about this but have no where else to vent and I know there are a lot of military out there in the camping world.

[Mont_G_J]

Ours is not to reason why Ours is but to do and die.
USAF Retired

[n7bsn]

#1Flyboy wrote:
. . .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. . .

The only Federal (civ) workers that can retire at 52 are Law Enforcement (FBI, Marshall, etc), Air Traffic controllers and Fire Fighters. I think (?) 25 years is the actual number.

The general workforce has to wait to 55 or more (depending on actual age, it's being ramped up over the next few years)

[calewjohnson]

handye9 wrote:
cdlaine said it well. I too, received the same promises and low wages. I was also in that goup who enlisted in the 70's. A time when military members didn't get the welcome, that they get today. Walking through L.A. international airport, 1974, in dress uniform, some upstanding citizen thought it would be appropriate to spit on me. We held up our end of the deal, they should do the same.

Since retiring in 1995 (with 20% service connected disability), I too, have experienced the increased premiums for that "free" medical and dental care. I just received my info package for next years dental coverage. Higher premiums and lower benefits. This past July, I was on a trip and needed to visit a clinic for some stiches. I found out, stiches cost about 100.00 each. I had to have five of them. Tricare paid 40.00 out of 500.00.

Washington needs to cut spending, but, not on promises made to those who paid (and continue to pay) to keep them in the cushy life style they've become accustomed to. DOD is not the only budget item subject to cutting. It's been cutting for several years. Every squadron, every aircraft carrier, and every Naval Air Station that I served on or with, have been decommisioned, realigned, or closed, and the associated personnel costs went away with them. This downsizing was done to all services. Where did those savings go?

When was the last time we heard about downsizing welfare (that continues to rise), foriegn aid (that continues to rise), congressional pay and benefits (that continues to rise), the IRS (they just got 10,000 more agents to help with affordable health care), and multimillion dollar vacations for white house residents?

There was a recent change to secret service protection for former presidents. Used to be ten years after they left office, that was good enough for everyone prior to the current one, now it is lifetime. How many former presidents have needed secret service protection? How many closed commisaries and retiree benefit cuts, will it take to pay for that?

Yep, with all being said, they need to change the military benefits for new accessions and allow the current benefits to go away by attrition…I know the whole attrition thing makes it sound dark, but that is what should happen.

On an interesting note, Tri-Care is one of the few government programs that doesn't loose money, yet still provides a decent service (though not everyone will be happy all the time).

I agree that there are many other things that can be cut, but quite frankly, the military is a very small percentage of people nationwide (maybe 1%), but the amount of people receiving government assistance is much greater, loosely translated, real reform (entitlements) means loss of votes.

As CDLAINE stated, I am proud to have served. I do not do it for the money, I definetly don't do it for the time off, but I do it because I love leading sailors and I love flying. There will come a time (which I am looking forward to) that I can spend time with my kids everyday without the threat of an upcoming deployment.

Cale

[cdlaine]

all said..still proud to have served.

Charles

[handye9]

cdlaine said it well. I too, received the same promises and low wages. I was also in that goup who enlisted in the 70's. A time when military members didn't get the welcome, that they get today. Walking through L.A. international airport, 1974, in dress uniform, some upstanding citizen thought it would be appropriate to spit on me. We held up our end of the deal, they should do the same.

Since retiring in 1995 (with 20% service connected disability), I too, have experienced the increased premiums for that "free" medical and dental care. I just received my info package for next years dental coverage. Higher premiums and lower benefits. This past July, I was on a trip and needed to visit a clinic for some stiches. I found out, stiches cost about 100.00 each. I had to have five of them. Tricare paid 40.00 out of 500.00.

Washington needs to cut spending, but, not on promises made to those who paid (and continue to pay) to keep them in the cushy life style they've become accustomed to. DOD is not the only budget item subject to cutting. It's been cutting for several years. Every squadron, every aircraft carrier, and every Naval Air Station that I served on or with, have been decommisioned, realigned, or closed, and the associated personnel costs went away with them. This downsizing was done to all services. Where did those savings go?

When was the last time we heard about downsizing welfare (that continues to rise), foriegn aid (that continues to rise), congressional pay and benefits (that continues to rise), the IRS (they just got 10,000 more agents to help with affordable health care), and multimillion dollar vacations for white house residents?

There was a recent change to secret service protection for former presidents. Used to be ten years after they left office, that was good enough for everyone prior to the current one, now it is lifetime. How many former presidents have needed secret service protection? How many closed commisaries and retiree benefit cuts, will it take to pay for that?

There are many, who are clueless as to what some military benefits really are. My mother in law, at one point thought, due to low pay, base exchanges and commissaries were where we went to pick up our free groceries and clothing and such. No doubt, there are policy makers in Washington, who have never served, don't know anybody who has served, and think the same as mother in law used to.

Am I proud of mine or other peoples service -- Yes

Am I proud of our self serving elected officials -- None come to mind.

[cdlaine]

From the Tricare 4 u webpage....

"Many TRICARE beneficiaries may be wondering how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will affect them and their families. Simply speaking, the ACA will have very little impact on TRICARE beneficiaries. The biggest change they will notice may be an extra letter in their mailbox every January, and an extra box to check on their tax forms every April."

Ha! Anybody here believe this to be truth ???? The entire health
care industry is co-dependent Private Insurance-Medicare-Tricare...
funding the "health care coverage for all" ...hmmm... where is that
dollar going to come from.... what is the over/under on how long
before "cuts" er "additional funding needs" trickle down to the
Veteran retiree ?

Just watch.

Charles

[calewjohnson]

USARMYCW wrote:
...I'm for shrinking the military which uses most of the money for useless wars.

That is coming down the pipe. We had two Guest speakers (Army G-1 (actual) and Navy N-1 (actual)). That is what is happening, the problem is sliming down the size of the force, while not forcing shortfalls in some areas (leadership and technical expertise). Interesting fact though, the Navy is the only service that has decreased since 9/11. Though, I can attest to that not being a good thing. The way we downsized was not taking care of our sailors.

We are also facing a shift in the type of warfare we need to execute. Cyber security is where it is at now. Unfortunately, any savings realized in personnel will be quickly used for Cyber warfare.

[calewjohnson]

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

[monkey44]

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.'

[hooligan]

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.

[USARMYCW]

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.

[_1Flyboy]

. . .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. . .

[RGar974417]

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.

[okoboji_fan]

Any body read the book ANIMAL FARM ?

[cdlaine]

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