Text 43650, 87 rader
Skriven 2006-12-03 06:40:22 av Bob Ackley (1:2905/3)
  Kommentar till text 43563 av shannon talley (1:275/311)
Ärende: (1/2) Insults
=====================
Replying to a message of shannon talley to Bob Ackley:

 st> Hi Bob,

 bk>>>  OTOH, it also leaves a big gap in certainty of coverage. There
 bk>>>  has to be a basis to insure all covered vets get the care they
 bk>>>  need no matter what. That's where I see a big gap.
 >> 
 >> Aye laddie, that's the rub.  Y'see, way back when the stated (but
 >> unwritten) promise was that if you stayed in the military at least 20
 >> years you'd receive free medical care, dental care and burial - plus
 >> PX and commissary privileges (haven't been in either one in

 st> This is a good conversation.  I'm "about" to retire from the Mil next 
 st> summer/fall time frame. I've recently attended a transition
 st> assistance class  where we were told by various "volunteers" what are
 st> benefits are going to  be.  No, we don't have to pay for healthcare
 st> (Tricare) (generally speaking),  but we have a much higher deductible
 st> (5k).

Around here if you want to be seen at the local AF clinic, you have Tricare
or they "don't have room."  It was the same situation years ago when it was
a hospital: no Tricare, no care.

As far as civilian care goes, the nearest hospital to me (Montgomery Country
Memorial in Red Oak, about 13 miles) doesn't accept Tricare, the next-nearest
one (Shenandoah Medical Center in Shendandoah, about 17 miles) does.  My PCM
is still at Offutt, 35 miles and a toll bridge away, and is v-e-r-y reluctant
to
have me seeing anyone else, even in an emergency.

 st> In some cases that works.  My  buddy who retires about the same
 st> time as me has 5 kids and won't live  anywhere near a military
 st> hospital.  Therefore, it won't pay for him to get  Tricare prime OR a
 st> supplement.  So, he'll take the "Free" part and get free  healthcare
 st> for him AND his family that he can use at ANY hospital or doctor 
 st> (that takes Tricare standard).

He may want to rethink that.  Since I'm single I don't know what the
Tricare premium would be for him but I suspect it'll be lower than any
private civilian health care insurance.  I have Tricare Prime, and in
2004 I got back every cent I've paid into it until then and for probably
the next 15 years - the hospital and physicians' bills totalled somewhere
around $55K, of which my share was a whopping $33.00.

 st>  I will continue to live (for the
 st> foreseeable  future) near a military base and so I'll pay the 420$
 st> per year for Tricare  Prime to cover me and my daughter.

 st> We are still getting fair health insurance -- but it's not 'quite'
 st> what one  was promised 30years ago.

It isn't at ALL what was promised.  BTW I bailed out 1983, just passed
my 23rd anniversary of retirement.

 st> Dental?  That's a whole 'nother story...   I won't have any dental
 st> coverage;  I'll have to purchase it for me and my family and it's
 st> WHOPPINGLY expensive.

 st> Of course we will still have use of the gym, commissary, RV parks, MWR 
 st> facilities, ITT travel, and all the other active duty perks that are 
 st> available.

Haven't shopped in the exchange or commissary for decades.  And I'm too far
from the base to make any trip there - except to see the doc or pick up
prescriptions (there are 6) - worth the bother, especially with the hassle
involved with getting on the base now.  BTW, apparently the AF doesn't have
enough military cops, because most of the gate guards at Offutt are civilians,
presumably GS but they may be contractors, I haven't asked; time was they were
*all* active duty military, in uniform.

 st> I really wanted to accept a .com job about 10 years ago, but they
 st> offered me  a hell of a SRB so I stayed in.  In retrospect, I'm glad
 st> I did.

If nothing else it's great unemployment insurance.  In my case it makes
the house payment and insurance (health, life and SBP) payments with a
little bit left over.

At the 16 year point I was so fed up with it I was ready to throw it all
away and get out.  I had a job application pending when the re-enlistment
date went by, and at 2200 on that last day - a Friday - I went in to the
base duty officer and re-upped.  The following Tuesday the prospective
employer called to ask when I could start ...

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 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:2905/3)