JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Partners in Cutting Costs
As Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates presses for an increase in health plan premiums for working-age military retirees to help offset rising health care costs, Tricare reported on progress in improving efficiencies and the quality of health care services.
Tricare Prime, the managed-care option that covers active-duty members and many retirees, costs the government $4,202 per beneficiary each year. Tricare Standard, the fee-for-service plan, costs $3,584 per beneficiary each year. Tricare for Life, for beneficiaries age 65 and older, costs the government $3,874 per patient each year. More beneficiaries are using the lower-cost mail-order pharmacy option to fill prescriptions. They're making greater use of online appointment services and they're increasingly using expensive emergency-room services only for actual emergencies. Tricare and its beneficiaries are slated to continue working together to streamline costs and promoting efficiencies so the system can remain robust.
VA Medical Form Expedites Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs has disability benefits questionnaires for physicians of veterans applying for VA disability compensation benefits. Accurate and timely medical evaluations are a critical element of the VA's continued commitment to high-quality and prompt decisions about the nature and degree of conditions afflicting veterans. The goal is to process all claims by 2015 in less than 125 days with a decision quality rate no lower than 98 percent. The physician questionnaire project is one initiative among dozens that are under way at the VA, including a major technology modernization that will lead to paperless claims processing. The disability benefits questionnaires are part of VA's automated-health records system which prompts VA physicians conducting disability examinations to include precise information in a standardized way. Examination results are electronically available to claims adjudicators in VA regional offices. For veterans who receive care from private physicians, VA has placed the disability benefits questionnaires on its internet site (www.vba.va.gov/disabilityexams) with instructions for physicians to submit examination results. For additional information on the VA disability compensation program, contact the VA at (800) 827-1000.
Marriage or Remarriage
Spouse coverage under the Survival Benefit Plan can only be obtained at retirement if one has an eligible spouse. In general, spouse coverage is irrevocable except during the one year period between the second and third year of receiving retired pay and only with the written consent of the spouse. If a spouse predeceases the member, the SBP is suspended upon notification to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. If a member remarries, the SBP automatically starts again with the premiums on the first anniversary of the remarriage unless the retiree declines in writing. A retiree who had a spouse at retirement and declined participation in SBP may not obtain it for a subsequent spouse. However, if a member does not have a spouse at retirement and later marries, he may sign up for SBP coverage before the first anniversary date of the marriage by submitting a copy of the marriage certificate and a completed DD Form 2656-6. For more information visit http://www.armyg1.army.mil/rso/sbp.asp
The Retiree Activities Office is open from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday. Visit our office in room A-200A, 1535 Command Drive, call us at 301-981-2726, or e-mail us at rao@andrews.af.mil. Calling the office prior to visiting is recommended to ensure someone is on duty. The RAO also has a website at www.andrews.af.mil, click on ''Retirees" on the right side of the page. There you will find a wealth of information that might be of interest to you. Copies of ''Retiree Activities Corner" articles are online as well. Go to the retirees webpage and find information under the heading ''Newspaper Column."