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Positive feedback and cost savings means TRICARE’s over-the-counter medication
demonstration continues without copayments.
The demonstration allows TRICARE beneficiaries to substitute over-the-counter versions for selected prescription drugs.
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications available through the program include allergy medications cetirizine and loratadine, and heartburn medications (proton-pump inhibitors)
Prilosec OTC and its generic form omeprazole.
The two-year OTC demonstration did not require a copay for covered OTC medications when it began at TRICARE retail pharmacies in October 2007. When the demonstration was extended in November 2009, it coincided with the start of a new pharmacy contract. A $3 copay was required until systems changes could be made and that work is now complete.
“This is a very positive program and we’re excited to return to a zero copay,” said Rear Adm. Thomas McGinnis, chief of the TRICARE Pharmaceutical Operations Directorate. “This is one way we are working hard to keep costs lower – for our beneficiaries and for the Department of Defense.”
OTC medications are generally less expensive than their prescription versions, by as much as 400 percent in some cases.
To receive covered OTC medications with no out-of-pocket costs, beneficiaries still need a prescription from their health care provider specifically for the OTC drug. After submitting the prescription at any TRICARE retail network pharmacy or the TRICARE mail-order pharmacy, the prescription for the OTC medication is filled at no cost.
For more information about the TRICARE Pharmacy Program, go to http://www.tricare.mil/pharmacy.
As we enter the spring of 2010, which is also the second and last session of the 111th Congress, we need to keep in mind that all of the bills introduced last year and which have not been enacted into law will expire at the end of the session, probably somewhere between Oct. and Dec. Until that time all of the bills introduced last year and this year will be in play.
Benefits Issues
We have champions in the House and Senate who have kept alive issues such as Concurrent Receipt, veterans benefits upgrades, veterans disability compensation and pension improvements including COLAs each year. Others are leading the effort to end the offset of Survivor Benefit Plan annuities for survivors who draw Dependency and Indemnity Compensation from the Veterans Administration. The current law is an attack on the estate of military retirees and Congress has failed to correct this injustice just as it has failed to correct the Concurrent Receipt problem. We will continue to seek full enactment of Concurrent Receipt as well as the end of the SBP/DIC offset.
The Congressman who has kept SBP/DIC alive in the House is Representative Henry Brown (R-SC). He will be retiring at the end of this session of Congress. He has been a true champion of the issue and we will miss him. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has been our champion on this initiative in the Senate and is expected to continue to serve.
As you can see, these efforts are not partisan, so Democrats and Republicans can work together. Unfortunately, this year the major problems facing our friends in Congress are the deficit and the national debt which are being used to deny and delay fixing these serious injustices. We cannot accept these excuses and will continue to press the resolution of these longstanding and unfair laws.
Defense Budget
We are also continuing to support full funding of the Department of Defense. Field commanders cannot operate at peak effectiveness and safety unless adequate funds are provided on time. We believe that there will be additional efforts to reduce Defense funding this year and all of us must vigorously oppose this action.
Military Health System
We also urge the Administration and Congress to fully fund the Defense Health Program budget. We urge them to continue the moratorium on reductions in the number of uniformed health care professionals and to begin rebuilding the direct care system. Study after study has shown that savings of 25 to 40 percent can be achieved by treating more patients in the Military Treatment Facilities and reducing the number that must be sent to the private sector.
DoD must stop penalizing retired military personnel who are now barred from having private sector employers use pre-tax payroll deductions to pay for their TRICARE premiums and supplements. If they want to retain their TRICARE plans they must pay separately and thereby lose their tax deduction. This discriminatory provision is aimed only at TRICARE and applies only to military beneficiaries, retirees, reservists and National Guardsmen. Retired federal employees and retired postal workers and their health plans are not affected. This is a disgraceful way to treat the nation’s warriors.
Military Medical Cost Issues
Last fall, we wrote the Chairmen of the Armed Services Committees to review methods of controlling military health care costs other than imposing additional fees and other assessments on military beneficiaries. We have renewed that request. We also want full funding and disclosure of the costs of medical care provided in combat zones and other associated medical costs.
Medical Innovation
This nation must provide the best possible care for wounded and injured service members. Further, it must maintain a robust research program to improve the state of the art and rush these innovations to the battlefield. This requires single minded focus from the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and other Federal agencies as well as cooperation of the states to insure nothing stands in the way of expediting research, development and fielding these medical advances. This effort should extend to medicine and medical devices from the battlefield to the DoD and VA hospitals. Anything less than our nation’s full attention and focus on this is a serious disservice to the brave men and women wounded in service to our country and their families who care for them.
Cost of Living Adjustment
Indications are that there will not be a COLA paid for 2010. This doesn’t mean that there has not been an increase in the cost of living for senior Americans. It means that the system does not measure or assign a sufficient weight to the market basket items, including health care, that impact most heavily on older American's quality of life. There are several members of Congress interested in this and we expect legislation to be introduced soon to begin the process of examining this issue. We’ll keep you posted.
There are some things that I will never understand. The decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and four others accused in the plot in New York City has produced a heated and important debate.
This is completely unnecessary since there is no reason or precedent to try these enemy combatants captured overseas in American Federal Courts. I believe that the only reason for this is a futile gesture to play to world opinion.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is no ordinary criminal. He is a bloodthirsty terrorist who happily took responsibility for the deaths of more than 2,700 people, and who surely is disappointed that the death toll wasn’t higher.
To treat this as an act like an ordinary murder is a mistake. It should be treated as an act of war.
The Obama administration’s decision to bring these terrorists to New York to stand trial is opposed by New York Governor David Paterson and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Many New Yorkers believe the trial will pose an “encumbrance” on their city, and that they ought to be tried by a military tribunal because their crime was an act of war.
Two-thirds of Americans disagree with the Obama administration’s decision to try these terrorists in a civilian court rather than a military court, according to a new national poll. Trial in a civilian court in Manhattan would unnecessarily cost millions of dollars for security, create legal advantages for the defense, and symbolically deny that the United States is at war with terrorism.
These terrorists have gratuitously been presented with the greatest propaganda platform imaginable -- a civilian trial in the media capital of the world -- from which to
proclaim the glory of jihad and the criminality of infidel America.
So why is the Obama Administration doing this? Ostensibly, to demonstrate to the world the superiority of our system, where the rule of law and the fair trial reign.
We are now going to have a trial that never had to happen for defendants who have no defense. And when defendants have no defense for their own actions, there is only one thing for their lawyers to do: put the government on trial in hopes of getting the jury (and the media) spun up over the government errors, abuses and incompetence.
That is what is going to happen in the trial of these terrorists. It will be a soapbox for al-Qaeda’s case against America. Since that will be their “defense,” the defendants will demand every bit of information they can get about interrogations, renditions, secret prisons, undercover operations and -- depending on what judge catches the case -- they are likely to be given a lot of it.
The administration will be able to claim that the judge, not the administration, is responsible for the exposure of our defense secrets. And the circus will be played out for all to see -- in the middle of the war.
I believe that these terrorists’ barbarity deserves summary justice, not the legalistic procedures that civilized nations use to protect the rights of the innocent and the guilty. Their very presence in a city they sought to destroy is revolting.
Whenever a jihadist volunteers for martyrdom, we should grant his wish. Instead, this one, the most murderous and unrepentant of all, gets to dance and declaim at the scene of his crime.
Make your plans now to attend the AFTEA 2010 Convention in Orlando, Florida, October 21 - 23, at the Regal Sun Resort.
Make your individual room reservation as early as possible to receive the special rate. Make sure that the hotel knows you are with AFTEA. Ask the hotel to send you an information packet that tells you about the hotel and the amenities that are available. You may also visit their website at http://www.regalsunresort.com to get hotel information.
Use the Convention Registration Form that is on page 5 of this newsletter to register yourself and your guests for the convention and events. Mail your registration form along with payment to AFTEA at the address listed.
For more information, contact 1st Vice President D.C. Dela Cruz at (719) 392-1904, or Email: bpdelacruz2@aol.com. Mailing address: 5220 Clavelito Lane, Colorado Springs, CO 80911.
The TRICARE Dental Program’s 1.9 million enrollees will see a slight increase in their monthly premiums, beginning Feb. 1, 2010. The new annual rates are effective for one year through Jan. 31, 2011.
TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) premiums are determined by the plan (single or family) and the duty status (active or reserve) of the sponsor. If and when the sponsor’s duty status changes, his or her premiums also change to reflect the new duty status.
The monthly premium for an active duty family member single plan will increase from $12.12 to $12.69 and the monthly family plan premium will increase from $30.29 to $31.72.
The National Guard and Reserve monthly sponsor premium will increase from $12.12 to $12.69. For National Guard and Reserve family members, the monthly single family member plan goes from $30.29 to $31.72 and the family plan premium will increase from $75.73 to $79.29.
The monthly single premium rate for an Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) sponsor plan and the separate IRR single family member plan will increase from $30.29 to $31.72. The monthly IRR family member premium will increase from $75.73 to $79.29.
To learn more about TRICARE dental options and
premium rates visit: http://www.TRICAREdentalprogram.com.
This is a call for resumes from all members interested in serving on AFTEA’s National Board of Directors.
Elections will be held by “mail-in” ballot later this year but resumes must be received by May 15 in order to prepare and publish a ballot and resumes in the July/August issue of the Alliance. This schedule will allow for the return of ballots by September 15. The new Board of Directors will be installed at the 2010 National Convention in Orlando, Florida in October, and their terms of office shall begin upon adjournment of the convention.
Election information and qualifications are contained in AFTEA Bylaws, Article XI, and is available at http://www.aftea.us. Candidate Resume Forms are also available from this AFTEA website.
The following officer positions shall be filled without regard to branch of service, and members are encouraged to apply for one or more of these positions: (a) President; (b) 1st Vice-President; (c) 2nd Vice-President; (d) Secretary; and (e) Treasurer.
Director positions to be filled in 2010 are one each from the Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. If a branch of service has no candidate, the Board of Directors may appoint a member to fill the vacancy (as prescribed in Bylaws Article XI, Section 4) without regard to branch of service.
Titled officers serve one year terms while directors serve two years, except when elected or appointed to complete the unfulfilled term of another board member.
Members who wish to place their names in nomination for a position on the Board of Directors must submit a Resume of Candidate for Elective Office. Resume forms may be downloaded from the AFTEA web-site, or requested from Member Services at 800-808-4517, ext 1010. Resumes must be mailed to: Armed Forces Top Enlisted Association, ATTN: Nominating Committee, P.O. Box 16848, Colorado Springs, CO 80935, no later than May 15, 2010.
For more than 30 years, VA has been a leader in conducting
comparative effectiveness research (CER) — head-to-head studies that help clarify which among two or more health interventions works better for a given health condition in certain patients. Some of these trials compare one drug to another, while others compare different approaches such as surgery versus an accepted drug therapy, or different ways to deliver care to patients. By comparing drugs and/or other medical approaches, VA’s CER is providing evidence-based information
that can be used in shared decision-making by health professionals
and their patients.
In a study published in January 7, 2010, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from four Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and two non-VA hospitals
found preoperative cleansing of patients’ skin with chlorhexidine-alcohol
is superior to cleansing with povidone-
iodine for preventing surgical-site infection. Patients whose surgeons use chlorhexidine-alcohol rather than povidone-
iodine to cleanse their skin before surgery, are approximately 40 percent less likely to experience surgical-site infections.
“The overall rate of surgical-site infection using chlorhexidine-alcohol was 9.5 percent, compared to 16.1 percent with povidone-iodine. These findings indicate only 17 patients need to receive an optimal skin antiseptic preparation in order to prevent one infection,” said Rabih O. Darouiche, M.D., principal author of the paper, staff physician at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, and VA Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. “The results of this study are extremely significant since two-thirds of surgical-site infections are confined to the incision.”
A clinical trial involving 847 evaluable patients was conducted between April 2004 and May 2008 at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston; the VA Boston Healthcare System; the Milwaukee VA Medical Center; the Atlanta VA Medical Center; the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston.
Approximately 27 million operations
are performed each year in the United States. Despite the implementation
of preoperative preventive measures, which include skin cleansing
with povidone-iodine (the current standard of care practice for surgical-site antisepsis), surgical-site infection occurs in 300,000 to 500,000 surgery patients each year in the United States.
As the largest research program embedded in an integrated health care system in the United States, and possibly
the world, VA conducts cooperative research studies across a continuum – from biomedical and rehabilitation
research to clinical trials, health services research, and quality improvement
and implementation research.
Maintaining healthy eyes and vision is an important part of personal safety and quality of life. Getting an eye exam is a smart idea for anyone, whether or not they have vision problems.
Active duty family members can get a routine eye exam every year, and retirees and their family members using TRICARE Prime can get one every two years. Routine eye exams for retirees and their family members using TRICARE Standard and Extra are not covered.
These exams are more than the standard letter charts and include a check into the health of the eye. Active duty family members using TRICARE Prime or Standard, and retirees and their families enrolled in TRICARE Prime, can make an appointment with any TRICARE-authorized optometrist or ophthalmologist for an exam. TRICARE Prime beneficiaries do not need a referral unless they see a provider outside of their region’s TRICARE network.
It’s important to get children in the habit of eye health, too. With TRICARE’s well-child benefit, children in both Prime and Standard can receive eye and vision screenings at birth and 6 months of age, along with two eye exams between the ages of 3 and 6.
Active duty service members (ADSMs) enrolled in TRICARE Prime must get their eye care from military treatment facilities (MTFs) and may receive eye glasses at MTFs at no cost. To maintain their fitness-for-duty, ADSMs enrolled in TRICARE Prime Remote (TPR) can get eye exams from a network provider without an authorization. To order eyeglasses or contact lenses outside of an MTF, ADSMs using TPR should contact the Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity (NOSTRA) through its Web site, http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nostra. Retirees may receive one pair of standard issue glasses each year from NOSTRA. Retirees can go to the NOSTRA Web site and select the “How To Order: Retirees” link for more information.
Family members – both active duty and retiree – using TRICARE Prime or Standard, can cost share eye glasses and contact lenses only for the treatment of specific eye conditions.
There are many ways to preserve and protect one’s vision along with getting eye examinations. Prevent eye injuries by wearing appropriate eye protection when handling tools and chemicals and while playing sports. Wear sunglasses, hats and visors to protect eyes against the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays.
Find out more about TRICARE vision benefits at the TRICARE beneficiary portal at http://tricare.mil/mybenefit. Learn about eye health and protection at the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute at
http://www.nei.nih.gov.
Service members who have been medically separated since September 11, 2001, will have the opportunity to have their disability ratings reviewed to ensure fairness and accuracy.
The new Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR) will examine each applicant’s medical separation, compare DoD and VA ratings, and make a recommendation to the respective Service Secretary (or designee). A disability rating cannot be lowered and any change to the rating is effective on the date of final decision by the Service Secretary.
To be eligible for PDBR review, a service member must have been medically separated between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2009, with a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and not found eligible for retirement.
There are significant differences between this new PDBR review and a Board for Correction of Military (or Naval) Record (BCMR/BCNR) review. These differences are outlined in the instructions accompanying the application (form DD-294).
While the Air Force is the lead for the PDBR process, case tracking and reporting, a joint service board will conduct the evaluation and review of each case. Applicants will not be able to appear in person, but may include any statements, briefs, medical records or other supporting documents with their application. After the document review is completed and a final decision is made, each applicant will be notified of the decision and any further information regarding a change of rating.
A final version of the application (form DD-294) was approved on January 9, 2009, and is available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/formsprogram.htm (under “DoD Forms Inventory 0001-0499”). Applications are now being accepted.
You may contact the PDBR intake unit at the following address:
SAF/MRBR
550 C Street West
z
Suite 41
Randolph AFB, Texas 78150-4743
Please keep in mind that this office cannot discuss the merits of your application. You may wish to contact your local veterans’ service organization for advice or guidance.
The DoD Instruction on the PDBR process is available here: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/604044p.pdf
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