Guest Blogger: Joanna Campione –
The US Family Health Plan will soon be unavailable for some older TRICARE beneficiaries.
Corrected – A line item in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 eliminates the ability to remain in USFHP passed their 65th birthday for those who enroll after August 20, 2012. Meaning that those who enroll after the deadline will have to switch to Medicare and TRICARE for Life at age 65. Those currently enrolled in the program or who enroll before the deadline will be grandfathered in and allowed to retain their USFHP/TRICARE Prime insurance for life.
According to the US Family Health Plan representatives, “the deadline for any eligible person to submit their application for enrollment in the US Family Health Plan is August 20, 2012 if they want to avoid being required to exit the plan when they turn 65.” This means that:
- Any eligible persons over age 65 now can submit their applications through August 20.
- Any eligible persons under 65 can submit their applications through August 20 to ensure that when they turn 65, they would be able to stay, since they signed up before the policy change.
For those interested in enrolling before the deadline, the below six programs are still available. The US Family Health Plans include:
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (1-800-801-9322) — serving Maryland, Washington D.C., and parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia
- Martin’s Point Health Care (1-888-241-4556) — serving Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and northern New York
- Brighton Marine Health Center (1-800-818-8589) — serving Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, plus Rhode Island and northern Connecticut
- St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (1-800-241-4848) — serving parts
of New York, all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and southern Connecticut - CHRISTUS Health (1-800-678-7347) — serving southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana
- Pacific Medical Centers (1-888-958-7347) — serving the Puget Sound area of Washington State.
As I understand it, the Family Health Plan is lot like a Medicare Advantage Plan – Good Benefits until you get sick and actually need a Health Plan. Then you are at the mercy of being "in network". Unless Romney/Ryan get their way and modify medicare/tricare – a retiree (and his family) will be much better off with medicare as the primary and tricare as the secondary (look at your retired handbook). We opted for tricare prime – and almost payed big for it the first time my wife needed surgery involving more than one physician.
How can we trust the Government? Ten, fifteen… years from now what will keep Washington from reniging?
Government is gaining too much power. You can use your vote to get these bozo, out in November.
I have been with USFHP since about '84 in both Tricare Prime and Tricare for life. I have been in and out of the hospital a few times. Used to cost me $25 but now costs me nothing. I can go to the ER when I have something wrong that I feel needs immediate attention. My wife, before she passed on, had three or 4 seperate operations at no cost. Perscriptions through them are extremely reasonable. My 4 scripts, for 3 months cost me $9.00. So I will say that I have had no problems with USFHP that a simple phone call couldn't fix. I am with CHRISTUS Health in Southeast Texas. And they will take care of me with Hospice when that time comes just like they did for my wife.
i have been with medicare and tfl since my retirement. i have lived in thailand since 1974. living outside the states, i had to join medicare for the tfl to pay. i pay the first 300.00 and then pay 25% of the rest of the bill. the 300.00 is a one time thing. the 25% is the charge, total of each visit. that is the living overseas law. i haven't heard anything about this latest thing that is being discussed here. i am house bound, so i dont see anyone and cant make the vfw meetings. can someone give me some advise? retired after 20 years of service.
e-mail ronald_mhickson@hotmail.com. mail address: ronald hickson–
box 07
pattaya,chonburi
20260 thailand.
Sir, I am in the same situation as you as I live in General Santos, Philippines and am completely unaware of what is going on. I also have Medicare and Tricare for life, but haven’t been here long enough to use it. Any advise you could give me as I just moved permanently overseas and don’t know the ropes would be very helpful. I am a 100%, combat wounded vet who got a military retirement when I was discharged. I don’t know who to contact to even get my wife in the DEERS computer and now have a child also. Any help would be very much appreciated as I don’t know what I should and shouldn’t do.
Thank you all very much.
****************@*****.***.
Because this HMO ( an extension of United Health) serves those 6 areas in the USA, this Aug 20th deadline is not something that would apply to you living in thialand.
United Health will be taking over from TriWest as the administrator of TriCare, but again, this Aug 20th deadline concerns those wanting to join the United health HMO, aka US Family Health Plan.
Hope that helps,
Blessings..
So far Medicare as a primary and Tricare For Life as a Secondary has worked for me. What the Romney-Ryan Plan is going to do to us in the name taxing the "Job Creaters" less remains to be seen. People 55 and older will see no change but that can not be true. You separate the oldest and sickest to the traditional medicare plan and divert the majority of the money to private insurance companies for younger people and you think things will not change. Think again before it is too late.
So you prefer Obozo stealing 700 BILLION from Medicare and using it to fund Obozo-care – is that what you are saying. You are the one who needs to wake up before it is too late.
The 700 billion will not affect what recipients receive. The 700 billion is elimination of government subsidies to health care orgs., etc., and directed at eliminating the waste, fraud and abuse currently rampant in Medicare. We all need to educate ourselves so we can understand what is actually occurring.
Obama's plan is that his health care system will replace both medicare and I would say to eventually replace Tricare For Life. Even though military health care was excluded from his health care plan, I cannot see that continuing in the face of rising fiscal debt. You can be sure that the military will eventually be required to pay the same amount for their medical insurance as everyone else in the US under a nationalized health care. How many benefits have been curtailed to retirees while we stand around and say that it could never happen?
Part 1: You are referring Ryan’s first Medicare plan. He came out with a second Medicare plan, which the House passed, that would allow those under 55 to choose between Medicare and a subsidized private health care plan.
In ObamaCare, 716 billion dollars is stripped from Medicare to help pay for ObamaCare. Every year the House and Senate pass a Medicare Doctor Reimbursement fix, which is the only reason Hospitals and some Doctors still accept Medicare. So besides the 700+ billion he strips from Medicare he does away with the "Doctor Fix."
Ryan's plan does not do this and despite what the liberal media and Obama says, Ryan does not take any money out of Medicare and he makes the "Doctor Fix" permanent. President Bush is the one who pushed the legislative branch to pass the Doctor Fix. People seem to forget that Democrats controlled both branches of the legislative branch the final two years of his presidency.
Part 2: Obama has no respect for the military. If he is reelected he will end the military as we know it. Has anyone noticed that Obama never talks about his accomplishment; all he ever does is try to tear down Romney. That strategy hasn't worked very well despite spending over 200 million dollars in negative ads because they are still neck and neck in the Polls, providing you believe the liberal media.
Unlike Obama, Romney is not in panic mode and that is because his internal polls as well as the Presidents show Romney ahead in all the swing states as well as states that have always been in the Democrats back bocket.
Unlike War, in the world of politics if you are winning you don't become nasty and negative to the extent that Obama has. You stay calm composed and stay on message the way Romney has. So far all I have heard from Obama are identical to what he was preaching in '08.
I don't believe the race will be as close as the liberal media would like everyone to think. Fortunately, 64% percent of the American People believe that the media is trying to help Obama get reelected.
My wife and I have TRICARE Prime She disable and will be getting her MEDICARE card soon. The paper work that she got says that she will need Part A & B, If she has to pay for Part B what is the benefit that she is getting is it is more money out of our pocks. Can some one help and were can we go. My E-mail is 'sperez133@cfl.rr.com"
Thank you in advance
Sebastian, I have been on Tricare for Life and medicare since about 2005. Tricare for Life is based on what medicare will pay. Medicare Part A covers hospitalization and Part B covers doctor visits. If what ever you have done is not covered under medicare, Tricare for Life will NOT cover it either. Tricare for Life is kind-of like an extension of Medicare that covers a whole lot more. It was explained to me that Tricare for Life actually came from the same funds as Medicare, but covers more. That was the reasoning that they told me, if something was not covered by Medicare that Tricare for Life would not pay either.
Sebastian, BTW, I have not paid a single penny out of pocket since I got on TFL. I have had three heart attacks, three open heart surgeries and two small strokes, not to mention a whole bunch of other surgeries.
I have Tricare Standard. I live in Orlando Florida where there is a VA Hospital and there is a New VA Hospital that is now scheduled to open in 2014. I also have a private Physician that my wife uses all the time. What do we need to do before 20 August that would keep our expensives at a minimal if either of us were hospitalized. She is 55 years old and I will be 64 next month.
When the politicians start telling us how much better off we're going to be you had better tighten your belt because we are not going to come out ahead. For those of us who enlisted in the late fifties and early sixties should remember the frequent high pressure reenlistment counseling we received from the Retention Officer or NCO. One selling point that was heavily used was "if you will only agree to make the Air Force a career you and your dependents will receive FREE medical career the remainder of your lives and for the member, we'll even give you FREE dental care". How many of you have they kept that promise to? My free medical and dental for my wife and myself costs us several thousand dollars a year and getting worse all the time. I have so many things wrong with me that even some of my long list of doctors can't believe my medical records. With that in mind I'm thankful for anything I can get, but the fact is we've been lied to so much and keep loosing ground on our benefits that we wonder if we can ever believe anything we're told or promised. My advise, do your homework in depth and weigh your choices very carefully before you choose.
Never heard of this plan until today…August 20, 2012. So already too late to do anything, even if I had wanted to. I am retired, but working a job that offers medical insurance and pharmacy. If it were not for Tricare Standard, I would have to pay all of my prescriptions in advance and hope for reimbursement. Some of my meds cost $422 at a time. I was told, and still understood until I read this posting, that at age 65 I would be eligible for Medicare and Tricare for Life. Now, I don't know waht to believe. Help!
At age 65, sign up for Medicare, and then you will get Tricare for Life. This program is an HMO that, for those signed up before 20 August, can also be used after age 65 instead of TFL. However, not having it does not in any way effect your eligibility for TFL.
Not to worry at 65 You will get Medicare. Right now appox. $100. per Person per month. Then you will still have Tricare for life. Tricare I believe pays first and Medicare picks up where that leaves off. As long as your Dr. excepts you under your Ins. you should be all-right. The only fly in the ointment is after January I have no Idea whats going to happen. There should be no other charges for the after 65 seniors. I believe its like haveing Medicare and the class D ins. in conjuction with it.Namvet
This deadline should never of happen. Pentagon does want to pay military benefits.
Please register to vote and remember to vote early this 2012 election.
Simple question to use as a guide. If you know you are financially better off: 2 years 4 years six years ago vote for incumbent. If you not better off vote for the other person. Yes which evil is less damaging is the real choice. Good Luck!