FYI - There's some crap going around in the military about Health Care

[maxrandb]

This is two times I've gotten this e-mail today.

"There goes TRICARE for Life!!!"

"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.

This is a "Heads Up" on a battle we are facing now. 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. 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 11 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"

[ShortnFiery]

1. Oh, this is horrible news. How do we ascertain ...

anything of veracity with regard to either Tri-Care or Tri-Care for Life?

Do the page numbers referenced refer to The Bill? I'm confused. :shrug:

[babylonsister]

2. Debunked here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=259x26296

[ShortnFiery]

4. No, not fully debunked. These are viable OPTIONS. eom

[maxrandb]

8. Thanks! I cut and pasted the article from MOAA

and hit "reply to all"

This should be fun!

[ShortnFiery]

10. But they are still options and could POSSIBLY be implemented? eom

[lamp_shade]

3. Oh my.....

[ShortnFiery]

Wait till it happens to YOUR INSURANCE, then you can make light of this bullshit?

It may very well happen to us. Watch out, you're getting the CHANGE ... but it may not be what you wished for. :grr:

[lamp_shade]

16. I have none... nor do I have a job.

[Winterblues]

5. Bunk

http://www.moaablogs.org/healthcare/2009/06/tricare-for-life-important

[FSogol]

6. Why not make the text red? It would make it seem even more angry.

:eyes:

[3324SS]

7. Most Likely Pub Lies Making the Rounds Again

I checked a few vet sites and not a single story on this.

Typical Puke nonsense to try and scare people.

[ShortnFiery]

9. NO, read the link? These are viable OPTIONs. I read in my AARP magazine that

Webb mentioned that Tri-Care charges haven't gone up since 1995, so that, at least will rise.

[3324SS]

11. From the link

"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."

It is a free country believe the nonsense if you want.

[ShortnFiery]

13. If it is an option, then it will happen under these bullshit reforms. Most everything

else benefits the Insurance Cartel, why not this too? :thumbsdown:

[DemoTex]

12. Wing-nuts getting an email like this are spring-loaded to the "FORWARD" button.

Then everyone on their Freep list gets it, and everyone on their recipients' mail lists, etc., etc. They seldom, if ever, bother to verify the contents of the email.

Like the old J-school 101 dictum goes: "Your mother might tell you that she loves you, but check it out!" Fact checking and critical thinking are lost on these people. Thus the popularity of Fox News.

[ShortnFiery]

14. If you trust our legislators to do the right thing for "people" instead of the "insurance cartel"

then you are the one who's NAIVE. I hope this bill FAILS! :grr:

[DemoTex]

15. How in the hell did you come up with THAT response from my post?

:shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7927788

[lamp_shade]

17. You need to calm down, Short, before you make yourself sick.

[Zomby Woof]

18. My Dad has Tricare

And he got that email. Debunked it with some info from military.com

The idiot who sent it to him never did reply.