Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) noted that there are only two MTFs in his state, both Coast Guard clinics located on the Pacific coast.
“I also fear that, with the elimination of the Prime option, the network of providers who support this option may no longer be able or willing to provide services to TRICARE beneficiaries,” Walden wrote to Woodson last week. “My constituents have informed me that they prefer the caliber of care and ease of obtaining in-network services provided by their TRICARE Prime primary care managers over the services offered by the TRICARE Standard option.”
Walden said he’s dismayed by an impending reduction to active duty service members, reservists, Guardsmen, retirees, and their families, but is concerned about when the Department of Defense plans to let beneficiaries know about the changes.
“If you are planning to make these changes, but are waiting to inform the TRICARE beneficiaries for whatever reason, I encourage you to make the announcement immediately,” he said, as the changes could have a “significant impact on the lives” of those who have served this country.
Walden also joined in a letter this week to Woodson penned by the greater Oregon delegation, including Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).
“While this might not have a significant impact in a smaller state, or one with more active-duty military installations, this will have a major impact on Oregon TRICARE users,” the delegation wrote. “The only 2 MTFs in Oregon are both located on the coast, leaving tens of thousands of retirees and others with the more expensive TRICARE Standard as their only choice.”
The delegation asked for a meeting with Woodson to discuss proposed changes and explore possible alternatives.
“We understand that there is concern about the costs associated with medical care for military members and retirees, but this proposal unfairly penalizes residents of select states and areas,” they wrote. “In addition, imposing these changes without significant prior notice is simply wrong.”
TRICARE Prime users already saw a 17 percent increase in the cost for most retirees on the plan as of Oct. 1, only the second hike since the program’s inception in 1995.
The Obama administration had pressed for even greater fees, but bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate Armed Services Committees struck down that attempt.
looks like the kenyan has a lot of bad things showing up after the election. the illegal delayed notification of layoffs to lockheed workers (and many others), healthcare premium increases, veterans cut off, and probably dozens of others. as transparent as he is, there is just no telling.
now, the donald is proving beyond a doubt that the kenyan has forged some documents. 5 mil to the carity of choice? and no takers? nobody even expecting anything from the kenyan? you know what that is saying? it says that everybody voting for the fraud knows he is a fraud, including the high ranking criminals who allowed a known fraud to take office. isn’t that called treason?
Well, the Islamist-in-Chief has given the finger to the military for the past 4 yrs, so why stop now. In fact, it is a lot worse than most realize. What is especially egregious, is the fact that he has poisoned the well within the DOD and the Pentagon. Its stingers may well be irreversible.
http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/10/16/gunning-for-tea-party-activists-enlisting-u-s-army-to-huntidentify-them-addendum-to-warning-all-patriotic-americans-the-enemy-is-you-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
These are the truths which must be shouted from the rooftops. Faster…
REZKO, OBAMA, AND THE NADHMI AUCHI RAILROAD LINKING CHICAGO, WASHINGTON, AND BAGHDAD (Part 3 of 3)
http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2012/10/26/rezko-obama-and-the-nadhmi-auchi-railroad-linking-chicago-washington-and-baghdad-part-3-of-3/
Pretty funny that United Healthcare is the outfit that AARP tries to jam you into if you join that Uber Liberal outfit. These companies are Obama friends, and I just cant wait until after the election, when all of the crap that he and his cronies have hidden come sliding out of the closets. The only thing that wont come out is all of his graft and corruption.
Where the hell is our Congress on this stuff. If Levin goes with this the people of Michigan should string him up by his heels.
Where is the “competitive bid” process on this, or the transparency etc, all lies well once the folks start to realize what these people have done these traitors will have more to worry about than how they screwed us.
All of these cutbacks are all sitting on someones desk for after the election because they know the votes will not go to OB. This is just wrong for our troops and veterans nationwide. Sick of all the lies, underhanded games, blatant coverups and the cheating and under the desk deals. We need honesty and for the people and upfront show your hand and stop the deal making that is destoying this nation and this country. I do not understand why this is allowed to go on in such a slap you in the face USA that is being done. This man believes that we a re a stupid nation and he certainly has many fooled.
You are being “transformed”.
It’s simple. Make all the other options – private insurance, group health, TriCare, etc. – more expensive and less beneficial, then people will want a universal plan. Hey, look everybody – a universal health plan… Obummercare!
Hmm… seems like Obama may be able to play “knight in shining armor” by granting a waiver to “swing” states.
I’m so glad that there are less than two weeks to the election. At that point we’ll know whether we can breathe again or make other plans. It seems that everyday comes a new weight that’s added to the scale of justice and somehow it’s always in favor of the government. How perverse is it that veterans are being asked to sacrifice their benefits and the the leadership of both parties is sitting fat and happy with theirs. And please, don’t tell me that a few have protested and have voted down these measures. Not one of these political parasites has the decency to refuse their benefits in an attempt to shame the other pigs at the trough. But everyone of them will say “thank you for your service” without meaning and with less effort than passing gas.
If the expansion of government and its HUGE associated costs were revealed prior to any implementation people would be shocked. Especially if a current program had to be cut to accommodate the new expenditure. One wonders whether ANY new administration can make or be willing to make any headway.
Does anyone remember when Obama took office and wanted the military to get their own health insurance? He said that since they volunteered, the Government should not have to pay for healthcare, even for those wounded in combat. I guess his cronies talked him out of it.. He is no friend to our wonderful troops.
you hit the nail right on the head. Obama and Biden, Clinton and McCain that great viet hero (sic,sic) are Traitors to the Amrmed forces and the pople of the USA.
Maybe if enough people yell NO about it, it would help. Unfortunately there are fewer military families (& related families) than there are other tax payers who will say “well if it keeps government spending down we should do it”. Because they don’t have, or know a loved one who serves or served, they don’t consider what the military members, AND their families, sacrifice to keep them “free” to speak their minds.
The thrust of this article, as well as many others on these pages and elsewhere, amply illustrate the difference between a “liberal”, even as that term has been redefined in recent times, and a “progressive”. Progressives are not particularly concerned about the have-nots in society, or about taking care of those who have been promised help. They are all about “transformation” –alternative energy, same sex marriage, racial and gender quotas, de-militarizing the country, and so on, without much regard for who gets hurt in the process. In my adult lifetime spanning 50 years now I have never seen implementation of so many major policy initiatives deferred until after the administration’s mid term election. They are fully aware that the new health care law, the clean air rules coming out of EPA, the tax increases they have enacted as well as the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, are going to hurt people — many ordinary working joes the Democrats profess to care about — but they value their “transformed” society so greatly they can’t be bothered and simply have to hide the effects until it is too late for the electorate to realize what is happening and do something to head it off. It also shows the danger in the administrative state — so many regulatory agencies with broad mandates that can act when the Congress is deadlocked and can’t undo it.
And those with the power to sound the alarm, the MSM for the most part, are complicit with the whole power grab. Isn’t there somebody out there except Fox news who is concerned about the President’s promise to “bankrupt the coal companies” so that “energy prices will necessarily skyrocket”? Have they no concept of what that would mean for the economy and our standard of living? Do they believe, as I suspect, that they in their imagined sinecures, won’t be affected?
How have we come to this pass in just a couple of decades after the Reagan administration, when it appeared that almost everyone had accepted the necessity for controlling the federal government and keeping it more or less constitutionally confined, to this mes when there are no restraints and the government is running wild pursuing its own objectives rather than those of the governed?
Obama and Team care nothing about “we the people” as they consider themselves the elite, living on the money earned by middle class America. Pres Obama always flys on Air Force One all over the country for campaigns, to celebrity shows and ‘his’ news organizations.
Obama is the king of celebrity, runs with the mega rich stars, while his team literally destroy this country. He implements green energy with no alternative, and reduces oil production so this country will come to a standstill. Environmentalists are reducing our food and water resources, and they have already hijaked our healthcare, and making HUGE cuts to our Defense.
Four Americans have been needlessly murdered by terrorists and .gov still hasn’t said why they were not airlifted to safety long before the attack, instead clinging to their reason of not having had adequate intelligence before hand.
Four more years?? I hate to wonder what living in the US would be like then. Without a doubt or hesitation, Vote for the Man who Loves this country, Mitt Romney.
Retired military health plans can be complicated.
I much prefer Tricare Standard (it’s free) paired with a third party (MOAA) Tricare Standard supplemetal plan ($500 or so a year). This combination allows me to pick my health-care provider with having to go through the Tricare Prime referral process to network providers only. The supplemental plan takes care of any out-of-pocket expenses.
Further, Tricare Prime (it’s run like a HMO) is actually cheaper for a government contractor (Humana in the south Tricare region) to administer than Tricare Standard (which is run like a POS plan). So I don’t understand why United Health would seek to eliminate it. Seems they would want to force miltary retirees into Tricare Prime instead of forcing them into Tricare Standard.
So I don’t really get what point the author is making. Tricare Standard is superior to Tricare Prime because the retiree has more control over who the provider is.
TommyTee,
They are complicated, and a little more complicated than you have indicated.
Tricare Standard is POS, but only pays up to the agreed upon rate less a certain cost share. MOAA supplemental pays the cost share. MOAA supplemental does not pay the amount which is outside of the agreed upon rate.
Example:
- Procedure costs $100
- Tricare Standard rate (based on Medicare rate) is $80.
– Tricare Standard pays the provider ($80 minus $15 co-pay) = $65
(I forget the co-pay amount, so I am using $15 as an example)
- MOAA mediplus pays the provider the co-pay, or $15.
- The remaining $20 is paid for by the consumer.
In short, you pay the MOAA Mediplus supplement cost, AND the overage costs. In your case you probably have been using providers who only charge the agreed upon rate.
Your point is well taken however that TRICARE Prime is encouraged by the gov’t to the military families and retirees. It is supposedly lower cost overall to the gov’t, so it is curious why they would eliminate it in certain areas. Perhaps that is because they intend to force people to use the local Military Treatment Facility (MTF) rather than choose their own Primary Care Physician.
You are fortunate that you still have Tricare Standard that allows you to pick your provider. Tricare has decided to modify our Standard by limiting us to a few providers and maybe one hospital. If we fail to use them they will refuse to pay for any of the cost of our care, but then they pay for almost nothing for us now as their data shows they pay only about 13% in our area. When we asked about access issues like travel and wait times for appointments they said there are no requirements for Standard so if we have to drive for 2-3 hours to see a doctor or 4 hours to get to the hospital it is not their problem. The issue for us is we have to pass by 10 or more high quality providers to see the one questionable one they mandate we new see. So much for freedom of choice under Standard. This applies to all military retirees and their families in the Philippines while the plan remains the same everywhere else in the world, at least for now.
If NOmo’ is reelected, I expect all VA Hospitals to be opened to everyone in the area.
Seven hour wait to see a doctor.
‘Moderate Mitt’: Neocon Trojan Horse Mitt Romney’s peculiar sense of geography – thinking Iran was some landlocked country that needed Syria as a “route to the sea” By Robert Parry Global Research, October 24, 2012
http://www.globalresearch.ca/moderate-mitt-neocon-trojan-horse/5309414
Too trivial to matter and I wonder what Obama’s answer would be.
Wrong, genius. Romney referred to Syria as Iran’s route to the sea because that’s the route Iran uses to get around international sanctions and engage in illicit trade. Buy a clue before you come in here spouting off next time.
The Military Times article, cited above, is at http://militarytimes.com/news/2012/10/military-tricare-prime-changes-west-region-101812w/
“But the move would save big money for the Pentagon because it cuts contract administration overhead in these Prime areas and shifts more of the costs of care to beneficiaries.”
My Senator asks for more information:
http://heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=5a3357a6-5e58-4bed-ab8a-ba6e64dc2b20
In order to better understand the timeline regarding these changes, I would like to know the following:
Has the Pentagon reached a decision to cut TRICARE Prime providers in Northern Nevada?
If so, is the Pentagon waiting to announce this decision? Why? Do you agree that such cuts will cost more money and/or result in longer drives for care to those currently enrolled in TRICARE Prime?
Active duty service members, guardsmen, retirees, reservists, and their families rely on these benefits that they’ve earned. If the Pentagon is moving to cut these benefits, I am requesting that you explain these changes without delay.
I need some help & clarification about this please. When I posted this on facebook, a very liberal friend posted a comment that this is the idea of Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma, from July, 2011. She asked if he was up for re-election, as if HE is the one to be replaced, rather than Obama. She referred to an article in the Washington Post. This link may take you to it. I really hope she is mistaken, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to interpret all of this.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tom-coburns-cuts-militarys-tricare-prime-health-care-program-targeted/2011/07/20/gIQAtZl6WI_story.html
United Healthcare gladly took my money for renewal back in Sept.. What wasn’t mentioned was that they were ceasing to cover a drug my wife needs in order to keep breathing without asthma attacks. I am not impressed with UHC. They can’t answer simple questions accurately when you call them. Each time you get a different response. Look out veterans and families.
Make sure all of you in the military that this will affect thank personally the AARP for their help in passing this Obamanation. There are other groups you should thank by closing your accounts and promising never to do business there again. After all people and businesses should be held responsible for their decisions……
we are.
Perfect for Team Obama. If Obama wins, they don’t care since the vote is over. If Romney wins, they’ll all say: see, you should have voted for Obama, Romney cut your benefits like we said he would.
2014 is when most of the health care package will kick in.
I have picked up enough shells to arm an army. Most of them have been reloaded and are ready for the riots promised if 0 loses. After everything settles down I think it is time to implement the Declaration of Independence and start throwing out the elected elite who are better than us. We need people to march up to the office door, grab the fool by the nape of his or her neck, stop by the tar pot, sprinkle on the feathers and lead them out of town. We then need to confiscate their bank accounts and use the monies to pay down the debt. If by the slimmest chance 0 sneaks another win then we start with him then Harry then Pelosi and the grin of death Smiling Joseph. We could start by water boarding 0 until he tells us why he wanted the embassy staff dead.