Health Care Happenings

Like me, most military retirees have gone on to second careers. Most employers offer some type of health care coverage. Military retirees must choose between paying premiums or just using our earned TRICARE benefit and paying the fees or copays out of pocket, or buying a TRICARE supplement.

DoD claims that many retirees are choosing not to buy into an employer health plan because of the cost, and that many who previously bought in are dropping coverage and returning to TRICARE as their primary health insurance. The increased claims and associated cost is one of the chief reasons that DoD uses to justify TRICARE fee increases.

When TRICARE began it would in most cases pay for your copays if you used other health insurance (OHI) as the primary payer. This was seen as an incentive to use OHI as it resulted in very little out of pocket cost to the beneficiary. Years ago, in an effort to save money, DoD changed the rules and now in most cases TRICARE does not even cover OHI copays. That emphasis on short term savings helped create a bigger long term TRICARE bill as retirees saw less benefit to buying into their employer plan.

I often wonder what positive incentives DoD might offer retirees to help persuade them to buy into an employer plan.

It’s that time of year – College Graduation!   While we celebrate the completion of four or more years and the impending independence of our offspring, they may not yet have landed that job with benefits. So what are their options for health care coverage?

First, you can continue their TRICARE benefits under the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP), a COBRA like benefit that mirrors TRICARE Standard to provide interim coverage for up to 36 months. This currently runs at a cost of $933/quarter for single coverage. Next, you may want to pick up a Short Term Medical Plan (STM) primarily used for catastrophic coverage but it also can provide comprehensive temporary medical coverage. The above STM links to the MOAA’s endorsed plan. And finally, you can purchase a health plan in their state of residence. For these you’ll want to do your own comparison search of policies and benefits. Good Luck!

Wow, this past Memorial Day really brought back a lot of memories for me. I bet for you too.

In fact, last Wednesday I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a House Veterans Affairs Committee roundtable discussion with about 19 other women veterans just before the holiday weekend. Women from all services and generations came together on Capitol Hill to share their concerns and offer recommendations on how to improve care and services in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

I was really touched by one very young woman in her 90s who came all the way from Florida to tell Congress just how grateful she was for her VA health care. She asked only that the VA be a little faster on claims processing, citing a claim she filed almost 9 months ago. She was inspiring! I want to be just like her when I grow up.

The experience got me to thinking.

I bet you’ve got some great stories too. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the VA. Looking forward to hearing from you.

On May 20, I had the opportunity to represent MOAA and The Military Coalition testifying on health care before the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee.

That’s always a little frustrating, because we’re asked to condense our 40+ pages of written testimony into a 3-minute oral statement.   In my case, I was asked to cover both health care and retired pay issues.  Try summing those up in 3 minutes!

You can check out my 3-minute statement on MOAA’s Web site or view the video of the whole hearing (I was the next to last witness), including the question and answer session after the formal statements, on the Senate Web site.

Welcome to MOAA’s new Health Care Happenings blog. This first post regards a recent announcement by the Office of Personnel Management that enrollees in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) premiums will soon see a premium increase. Under a new contract, awarded to John Hancock, premiums for current enrollees with the automatic compound inflation (ACI) protection will increase between 5 and 25 percent for current enrollees, based on their age when they purchased their coverage, who choose to retain the same coverage they have now.

Increases are effective about January 1, 2010. The new premium rate chart (below) and answers to common FLTCIP questions appear on the OPM web site. The same site about efforts by OPM and Long Term Care Partners to create options that will keep FLTCIP premiums level by adjusting (i.e. reducing) benefits.

Although stable premiums were never guaranteed under the old contract with LTC Partners, FLTCIP subscribers who elected the ACI option may have expected to be immune from future premium increases. While MOAA has not endorsed FLTCIP, we knew it held some appeal to our members, especially during the initial enrollment period. It has been used by buyers as a comparison to MOAA’s endorsed LTC provider.

Keep in mind that neither Medicare nor Tricare covers long term care costs. Although Long Term Care insurance written by any provider can be pricey, bearing the costs of LTC without LTC insurance protection can devastate a family’s finances. Think long and hard before assuming this potential risk.

For information about MOAA endorsed long term care products, contact MOAA’s LTC provider.