quote:

Originally posted by GunnyRet03:
Not a story the media is covering but no less big news if you are a retiree or are retiring soon. I have been trying to figure how the HC bill will affect the military and mil rets.


Subject: Fw: PASS THIS TO ALL MILITARY RETIREES

To my fellow warriors as we are the younger retired Marines, this
topic is hot. I want the best for our buck.

PASS THIS TO ALL MILITARY RETIREES

This is true. It is on pages 77, 172, 218, and 434. You have to dig
to see the charges. We (retirees) would lose the Medicare for life benefit
and would have to pay.. We would lose TRICARE as a total care package. We
would not be allowed to keep TRICARE so when Obama stands and says if you
like what you have you can keep it, he lies!

Obama lies? Has he ever told the truth?

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 for "Change",
you should do it more than often!

TRICARE FOR LIFE'S 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. An 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.

For those of you who are covered by TFL you will want to pay
attention (Below) to what BG Bob Clements has surfaced about the future of
TFL. In any case, 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 is too expensive. Just another
move to slight those of us who dedicated much of our adult lives to the
defense of our country.

Strongly recommend that you contact your elected officials and
register your strong opposition to the elimination of the TFL program.
Heads-up from BG Bob Clements,USAF Ret (P38 Bob)

The following has been added to the Congressional Budget
OfficeWeb Site 'www.cbo.gov'

a. Budget, Options, Volume 1: Health Care
(www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9925)

** do a search for TFL

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 MTFs
(Military Treatment Facility) 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,



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

quote:

Originally posted by greywolfghost:
Why should OBama allow medical benefits to Veterans who might vote republican when he can give it to the indolent, indigent, and "undocumented" who are guaranteed to vote for him - ?

quote:

Originally posted by Dave_M:
This is a CBO document - the Congressional Budget Office. They are a research arm of the US Congress. They make suggestions to Congress on budget issues and tell that what they think it will cost. This is not a potential law or bill in the works. It is an internal think tank white paper that will probably never go further than the report.

quote:

Originally posted by SGTBJH:
Ok I will probable be shuffled off to the Vet's page,but,I had Tricare Basic when I retired because I thought my wife had health care from her school district. I now have Tricare Prime and already pay $115. per quarter is there a way for me to switch again to that Tricare for Life? Oh and by the way wife went to Beaumont Hospital El Paso, Tx and got treated first rate. I go tomorrow for a check up, lets see what happens.

quote:

Originally posted by Devil_Doggie:

quote:

Originally posted by Dave_M:
This is a CBO document - the Congressional Budget Office. They are a research arm of the US Congress. They make suggestions to Congress on budget issues and tell that what they think it will cost. This is not a potential law or bill in the works. It is an internal think tank white paper that will probably never go further than the report.

Thanks for your voice of reason, here, Dave. But, this gives us an issue to look at here as this health care debate continues and the legislation goes through both houses.

Thank you Gunny for posting this.

quote:

Originally posted by YN1Mike:

quote:

Originally posted by SGTBJH:
Ok I will probable be shuffled off to the Vet's page,but,I had Tricare Basic when I retired because I thought my wife had health care from her school district. I now have Tricare Prime and already pay $115. per quarter is there a way for me to switch again to that Tricare for Life? Oh and by the way wife went to Beaumont Hospital El Paso, Tx and got treated first rate. I go tomorrow for a check up, lets see what happens.

TRICARE for Life kicks in at age 65 for military retirees when they become eligible for Medicare.