Our guest speaker will be Melenie Bevan, new Bradenton police chief

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1 June, 2016 Our guest speaker will be Melenie Bevan, new Bradenton police chief MOAA Board Presidents Corner: As most of you know this will be are last meeting until we have the joint luncheon with the Sarasota chapter in September. Their chapter is already working on a guest speaker from MOAA Headquarters. Joyce Harte and I attended the Florida Council of Chapters annual convention in Lakeland in May. The Military Academy was very different from the one in Sarasota. They have horses, Judo and other martial arts not seen in other schools. The business meeting was productive in finding out what the Area VP s are doing and getting ideas for our chapter in the future. The next convention will be a convention at sea on the world s largest cruise ship. You may go to the FCOC web site for more information and to sign up. The board is still interested in any idea you may have for an activity. Holiday Party Suggestions We had a significant drop in attendance at our evening holiday party in December. The cost was the same, the band was the same yet no one danced as they did the year before. Let us have your suggestions for this coming year. Evening or another luncheon? At the Renaissance or? Having dinner and then tickets to some theatrical performance? Please give us some help. Think about it and let us know what you want. Before June ends, please Joyce at jharteva@aol.com or call her with some suggestions. We'll need it to go to the BOD ASAP so we can line up reservations someplace. Thanks. Don Courtney Rich Blunt gives a talk on Korea

2 CHAPTER OFFICERS President CW4 Don Courtney, USA First Vice President COL Gill Ruderman nd Vice President BG Richard Blunt, USA Secretary Lt. Col Gerard Koontz, USAF Treasurer Capt. Jose Cocco Valdez Personal Affairs/Chaplain Kirk Coker with Bill Sablan (a new member he brought in) Social Secretary (Co-Chairs) Col Patricia Newhall, USAF Program Committee LtCol. Gerard Koontz, USAF Membership Committee COL Larry Burnette Publicity LTC Randall McCrea Legislative Committee Lt. Col Gerard Koontz, USAF CW4 Don Courtney, USA Auxiliary Liaison Mrs. Joyce Harte Immediate Past President Mrs. Joyce Harte Editor: CW4 Don Courtney Jan and Ray Snow The MOAA-BC Newsletter is published nine times a year for the information of the members of The Military Officers Association of America Bradenton Chapter, an affiliate of The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). The MOAA-BC is a nonprofit organization, incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida. 2

3 Military Health Care Overhaul In approving its version of the FY 2017 defense authorization bill this week, the House Armed Services Committee included big changes for the military health care system. On the TRICARE fee front, the bill would apply a new fee structure similar to that proposed by the Pentagon for future service entrants, beginning in However, the bill would grandfather currently serving and retired members and families against the large fee hikes proposed in the Pentagon's FY 2017 defense budget. Fee increases in future years would be indexed by COLA - the percentage increase in military retired pay rather than the (higher) health care inflation index proposed by the DoD. This is in line with MOAA's and The Military Coalition's recommendation. The bill proposes no changes for TRICARE For Life or TRICARE Prime. It envisions changing the current TRICARE Standard program to a preferred provider system with flat-dollar copays for most doctor visits. Retired members and families wishing to stay in this updated version of TRICARE Standard (which would be renamed TRICARE Preferred) would need to enroll annually (no enrollment is required at present). An annual enrollment fee of $100/$200 (single/family) will be required of currently retired members on TRICARE Preferred, but wouldn't start until once DoD demonstrates it has improved its capacity to provide timely access to quality care. The most dramatic change would involve placing all military treatment facilities (MTFs) under the direction of the Defense Health Agency, effective Oct. 1, 2018, for purposes of unified policy, administration, and budgeting. MOAA has long supported this proposal based on the cost and inefficiency of building military health care programs around three separate systems for each of the services. The bill also establishes a wide variety of requirements intended to enhance beneficiary access to care. This includes extended hours at MTF's for primary care, providing urgent care until 11 P.M., and authorizing unlimited access to urgent care without a referral. The proposal also creates metrics for quality of care, wait times, provider-to-beneficiary ratios, and provider productivity. In addition, the bill would authorize military facilities to sell durable medical equipment (e.g., hearing aids) at cost to family members of retirees. All in all, MOAA supports the HASC's balanced approach to reforming the military's health care delivery system and especially appreciates the Committee's rejection of the large fee increases proposed in the DoD budget. 3

4 TRICARE Gets a Grade This has been a busy week for the Military Health System (MHS) on Capitol Hill. It isn't a secret Congress is intently focused on reforming the MHS, including the TRICARE program, and held several hearings this week on that topic. MOAA and The Military Coalition submitted written testimony for these hearings, stressing the need for system improvements, and not just fee increases for beneficiaries. Particular areas of concern include: Unresponsive TRICARE Prime appointment and referral systems Lower patient loads of military vs. civilian providers Outdated payment systems for pediatric care Wellness and case management program shortfalls Inconsistent/inadequate coverage for Reserve Component beneficiaries At a Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, we need to learn how we can redesign an outdated 20th Century health care system that's become unsustainable and does not work as well as it should for service men and women and their families. Just how outdated is the system? That was addressed by a panel of witnesses from the civilian health care industry, and was followed by a panel of MHS leadership, including the service Surgeons General. The first panel focused on positive trends within civilian health care, which the witnesses said is becoming much more consumer-driven. Provider performance has become more transparent to a more discerning consumer, with access becoming a key measure of system performance. Access to care was highlighted as what sets a first-class system apart from the rest. Civilian health care industry leaders also discussed how payments to providers are changing - rapidly. More civilian health organizations are basing their payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers on value and quality outcomes, rather than simply paying a set fee for each patient visit. In other words, civilian payment systems are focused more and more on rewarding superior system performance and penalizing underperforming providers - doctors whose patients don't recover as well, or hospitals with higher-than-normal readmission or infection rates, for example. The second panel of defense and service medical leaders discussed the current state of the MHS. While described as providing excellent operational and superior survival rates for battlefield injuries, the MHS struggles with providing consistent peacetime beneficiary care. They acknowledged their own internal surveys show the MHS is fragmented, administratively cumbersome, and plagued by difficulties in accessing care. From access to military hospitals to the design of the TRICARE network contracts, the system has not kept up with modern practices. The surgeons general acknowledged these issues and vowed to make changes. Success depends on improving access to care, as well as better aligning the readiness mission with beneficiary care. I think TRICARE as its design is really antiquated. I wouldn't give it a B, said Sen. Graham. we're going to look at TRICARE and turn it upside down and make it more transparent and make it more accountable... MOAA will work with Congress in the coming months in our ongoing efforts to improve access and other problem areas while doing our best to protect against imposing disproportionate fee increases. We're pleased Congress seems serious about improving care delivery and healthy outcomes for military beneficiaries, and is digging deeper than just fee hikes, said MOAA Deputy Director of Government Relations, Capt. Kathy Beasley, USN (Ret). 4

5 -----Since this is last newsletter (and June the last luncheon) until September, have a wonderful summer and safe travels. From that old song, "We'll see you in September..." Clip and Save for Next Year Dates for Bradenton Chapter of MOAA for Luncheons Wednesday, September 21 Wednesday, October 19 Wednesday, November 16 Wednesday, December 21 Wednesday, January 18 Wednesday, February 15 Wednesday, March 15 Wednesday, April 26 JROTC Scholarship Luncheon Wednesday, May 18 Wednesday, June 21 All on third Wednesday each month except April which is 4th Wednesday. 5

6 Storming the Hill Dottie Connor and I (Joyce Harte) visited 10 Congressional Representatives on April 13th. Two other teams from Florida completed the other 19 Representatives and two Senators. Each of us had the same message; Eliminate the SBP/DIC offset sometimes called the widow's tax and make sure that any increases in Tricare costs are not disproportional to military personnel and veterans. For too long we have bourne the brunt of budget cuts Everyone agreed and promised to do something about it "this year." Congressman Miller was especially understanding as was Congresswoman Cathy Castor. Keep your eyes open as the budget develops to see that our Florida representatives follow through with their promises. I visited with the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Team Leader Dottie Conner and Board Member Joyce Harte who stopped by my office last week to discuss the monetary offset for recipients of both the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities and dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), commonly known as the SBP-DIC offset or the widow tax. This inequity affects tens of thousands of surviving spouses of servicemembers who had paid premiums into SBP as a life insurance benefit for their spouses, but whose spouses are prevented from collecting the full amount into which the servicemember had paid due to the spouses also receiving DIC from the Department of Veterans Affairs. I have been a longtime supporter of repealing this unjust offset, including cosponsoring H.R.1594, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, in the current Congress, in addition to supporting other measures to repeal other offsets that negatively and unexpectedly affect military retirees, veterans, and their surviving spouses. One of the first efforts I pursued upon being elected to Congress was repealing the unjust offset between SBP and social security recipients, which eventually became a reality with a phased-in repeal of such offset. Rest assured, I will continue to support efforts to repeal the SBP-DIC offset until this repeal becomes a reality, and I appreciate Ms. Conner and Ms. Harte for taking the time to meet with me. Congressman Miller with Dottie Conner and Joyce Harte (L-R) 6

7 Happy Birthday June Birthdays Gwendoline Bovinett 6/5 Christine Miller 6/6 Robert Eddy 6/10 Jack Rynerson 6/19 Lee Kichen 6/24 Jack May 6/26 Jane Donnelly 6/29 Joyce Harte pays Jerry Koontz his winnings on the 50/50 Nikki Laney with Anita Porter Barbara Ann Nicholas-Rysdale with Anita Porter 7

8 June Luncheon at the Renaissance on Wednesday, June 15, 11:30 A.M. Menu: : Mixed green salad with choice of dressing Tilapia Mediterranean: baked white fish covered with tomatoes, onions, olives, and capers roasted red potatoes and garden mixed vegetables Fresh baked bread, iced tea and coffee Fruit pie for dessert Cost: $16 per person; checks payable to MOAA-BC. Send to or call (# ) Pat Newhall, 3300 Riverview Blvd., Bradenton, Fl no later than noon on Friday, June 10. Cancellations must be made by noon on Monday, June 13. Last luncheon until September so you'all come, now! Military Officers Association of America-Bradenton Chapter PO Box 381 Bradenton, Florida