More Civilian Providers Accepting TRICARE Standard; Officials Continue Work to Expand Network There s good news for

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1 Volume 22 Number 4 July - August 2008 More Civilian Providers Accepting TRICARE Standard; Officials Continue Work to Expand Network There s good news for TRICARE Standard beneficiaries more civilian providers are accepting new patients, according to a recently released survey. Yet, TRICARE officials acknowledge that increasing the number of providers and types of providers across the Nation remains a high priority, especially in remote areas. The findings, part of the Department of Defense Survey of Civilian Physician Acceptance of TRICARE Standard, show that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, almost 93 percent of responding physicians in 53 hospital service areas (HSAs) were aware of the TRICARE program, with 84 percent of physicians in those 53 HSAs accepting new TRICARE Standard patients. The survey results are very encouraging, said Army Major General Elder Granger, Deputy Director, TRICARE Management Activity (TMA). It shows that more doctors are working with us to ensure that our Reserve Component warriors, retirees, and their families have access to quality care. The 2007 survey was the final installment of a threeyear national effort to measure awareness of TRICARE and to determine the number of physicians that accept new TRICARE Standard patients. The Department randomly surveyed physicians in 20 states in both FYs 2005 and The 10 remaining states and Washington, DC were surveyed in FY Physicians in local HSAs were also surveyed each year. Approximately 40,000 physicians from a variety of medical specialties were randomly picked. The aggregate results show that civilian provider awareness and acceptance is generally high, but may vary depending on location. In addition, the survey revealed a need for increasing both TRICARE awareness and acceptance among psychiatrists a specialty critical in meeting the behavioral health needs of veterans of the Global War on Terror. Specifically, the three-year findings across all states and HSAs show: Approximately 87 percent of all physicians surveyed are aware of the TRICARE program. About 81 percent of physicians that accept new patients also accept new TRICARE Standard patients. Of those accepting new TRICARE Standard patients, almost 91 percent do so for all patients, rather than on a case-by-case basis. Reimbursement rates were among the most commonly cited reasons for not accepting TRICARE Standard. The survey exceeded our expectations, said Rich continued on page 2 by Chuck Partridge Government Relations TRICARE Fee Increase Proposals. The American Military Society and thirty associations of the National Military and Veterans Alliance (NMVA) continue to oppose the Administration s proposal to impose additional fees on TRICARE beneficiaries. We strongly object to efforts that would increase pharmacy co-pays, increase TRICARE Prime and impose TRICARE-For-Life enrollment fees. During a hearing on the subject, Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the committee, indicated they would accept modest fee increases. They also stated their opposition to the huge increases envisioned by the DoD Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care which became part of the President s budget submission to Congress. The Department of Defense submitted a Defense Health Program budget that was not fully funded. They suggested that $1.2 billion of the shortfall could be made up by imposing drastic fees on military retirees. AMS and the NMVA find these proposals particularly disturbing because they violate the promise of lifetime health care paid for by the service and sacrifice of military personnel during their active service. continued on page 3

2 President s Column Douglas Russell Every year since 2001 I have gone to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, to present an award to the top NCO in the Military Intelligence Corps. I established this award because we believe those who serve in the field of military intelligence perform a critically vital mission for all others who wear the uniform of our nation. The job of military intelligence professionals is to unlock the enemy s secrets. The lives of so many depend on the ability of MI personnel to discover the enemies plans and intentions, and thereby thwart them. The recipient of this year s Russell Military Intelligence NCO Award is SGT Todd Burnap. SGT Burnap enlisted in the Army as a result of the attacks on the U.S. He enlisted as a Cryptologic Linguist-Analyst and has deployed to Iraq on two occasions. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal (one oak leaf cluster), Army Good Conduct Medal (1 st award), Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. It was an honor for me to meet SGT Burnap and to present him with the Russell Military Intelligence NCO Award. I m sure you join me in thanking him for his service to our nation and wishing him the best in the future. More Civilian Providers Accepting TRICARE Standard; Officials Continue Work to Expand Network continued from page 1 Bannick, Ph.D., Director, Performance Evaluations, TMA. In the three surveys completed since 2005, more than 50 percent of the physicians we surveyed responded. That s a very respectable survey response rate in the health care industry. The survey results provide us a reliable measurement as to our effectiveness in expanding access to TRICARE providers and the challenges of getting more doctors on board. Congress has given additional guidance to continue the survey process through 2011, he said While Active Duty Service Members receive the bulk of their medical care at one of the more than 500 military treatment facilities, family members, National Guard and Reserve members, and retirees often rely on civilian physicians for their health care needs. In some locations, access to TRICARE Standard providers remains a major concern for family members and retirees, Granger said. Some doctors limit the number of TRICARE patients they see or refuse to see them altogether. This leads to fewer choices for beneficiaries. States showing a need to increase acceptance and awareness of TRICARE include Alaska, Maryland, Colorado, Hawaii, Oklahoma, New York, New Jersey, and Texas. Hospital service areas with lower than average TRICARE acceptance include Washington, D.C.; Raleigh, North Carolina; Seattle and Olympia, Washington; Lihue/ Kealakekua/Wailuku, Hawaii; Dallas, Texas; and Falls Church, Virginia. TRICARE leaders, with support from their managed care support contractors, are working to overcome these challenges. We are reaching out to state officials, medical associations, and individual physicians to educate them and appeal to their sense of patriotism in accepting TRICARE, said Granger. The outreach is showing promising results. For example, the Oregon legislature approved incentives including a one-time tax credit for new providers in the TRICARE network, plus an additional annual credit for treating patients enrolled in TRICARE. Since 2004, Oregon s TRICARE provider network has increased by 35 percent In addition, the governors of 20 Western States have supported TRICARE s efforts to encourage more health care providers to accept new TRICARE patients. Their combined efforts led to an overall increase in western region TRICARE network doctors from approximately 80,000 in 2004 to more than 125,000 today. Expanding our network of TRICARE providers is critical to our ability to care for our beneficiaries, said Granger. Today, more than 220,000 men and women are TRICARE providers. We are grateful to them for seeing the value in supporting those who serve our Nation, and we are actively seeking other physicians who want to become part of our TRICARE provider team. M

3 Report from the Hill continued from page 1 Further, previous and current actions by DoD are one reason for the escalating health care costs. These actions include reductions in the numbers of uniformed physicians, nurses and other military medical personnel. This contributes to inadequate staffing of Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) which forces beneficiaries into more expensive, private sector care. Reduced access to MTFs results in reduced referrals to in-house specialty and lower-level care, which has a major impact on training and readiness. It also means more referrals for this high cost care to the more expensive private sector. The lack of capacity in the MTFs also exposes the Military Health System to the high rate of medical inflation dogging the commercial health care system. A strong, robust in-house system with fully staffed hospitals and clinics would keep costs down. However, over the past two decades this capability has eroded as a result of outmoded policies and poor planning. Further, it is unconscionable to raise TRICARE fees during war time. Some 1.5 million military personnel have seen combat in the middle east. Many of them are now out of the service. Many are retired and a large number disabled. They and retired veterans of other wars depend on TRICARE because there is not enough space in military hospitals. To reward their service with these increased fees is wrong. We understand that annual war related costs in Iraq and Afghanistan may account for some $2 billion of the current Defense Health Program funds. We believe a review should be conducted by Congress to determine the true war-related medical program costs, and determine if they are fully budgeted and allocated. AMS President Douglas Russell sent a letter to both committees objecting to the fee increase proposal and urging the Congress to reject the White House proposal. As we went to press, the Armed Services Committees in both the House and Senate objected to the fees and the military health program appears safe for this year. However, we will keep a close watch and make sure the proposals don t somehow rear their ugly heads before Congress adjourns this fall. Military Pay Raise In addition to the health care provisions, the Armed Services Committees of both Houses of Congress have included a 3.9% pay raise for military personnel. This is one-half of a percentage point over the Employment Cost Index (ECI). The extra ½ percent is added to continue the process of bringing base military pay up to the level of private sector pay for comparable work. While AMS does not believe there is any comparability between military duty and civilian work, we do support this increase. GI Bill Improvements Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) has proposed a new GI Bill that comes closer to the generous benefit provided for WWII veterans than those provided for Korea, Vietnam or subsequently. The bill would provide full tuition based on the cost of attending the most expensive four year public college in the state. In addition the bill would provide a stipend based on the military housing allowance for an E5 with dependents. The amount would be adjusted for the cost of living at the location of the college. The Department of Defense opposes this benefit. One of the reasons is that they are afraid it is so generous that it will entice military personnel to leave the service as soon as they qualify for the benefit. DoD historically opposes GI Bills. It initially opposed the Montgomery GI Bill for some of the same reasons. Experience has shown that a generous GI Bill will attract more top quality military personnel into the service and many of them will stay. The problem with retention would not be an improved GI Bill. The problem would be the same as it is now: the small size of the Marine Corps and the Army which does not allow enough time in the states between combat tours. Senator Webb s Bill is S. 22 and it has the support of 57 Senators including John Warner (R-Va.), former Armed Services Committee Chairman. There is a similar bill in the House, HR 5740, introduced by Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.). The House bill has 293 cosponsors. AMS strongly supports this legislation. Funding for the measure will have to be provided by an appropriations bill that is currently being considered by the Senate and House of Representatives. Defense Supplemental War Funding Bill President Bush s War Funding supplemental request is facing tough sledding in the Congress. The administration is attempting to hold the line on spending by keeping the supplemental strictly focused on funding for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. However, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are adding in domestic spending, and many members opposed to the war are trying to add provisions that direct the president to begin withdrawing troops from the war zone. The Senate bill includes $169 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, more than $25 billion for domestic spending, and language that sets a goal for the president to begin moving troops out of a military role in Iraq by June The president has stated that he will veto any bill that exceeds $178 billion for the war for the rest of this fiscal year and for part of fiscal year Although the bill continued on page 6

4 Remember to Remodel Your Home Insurance Before Remodeling Your Home Homeowner spending on remodeling projects is projected to increase by 44 percent between 2005 and Yet, as you plan that kitchen upgrade with new cabinetry, tile and appliances, remember to also remodel your home insurance policy. Your property insurance limits are tied to your home s replacement cost - the amount needed to rebuild your home with the same quality and type of materials in the event of a total loss and not its market value. If you live in a region currently experiencing a cool real estate market, your home s market value may have diminished. However, this does not mean the cost to rebuild the home after a loss will necessarily be less. Many insurers have developed tools to help you determine a proper replacement cost estimate, and also offer a More than 85,000 Serve Veterans as VA Volunteers Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are encouraging more Americans to join the Department s corps of 85,000 volunteers. make important contributions to the operation of VA hospitals, nursing homes and Volunteers national cemeteries, said Dr. James B. Peake, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I encourage everyone to consider becoming a VA volunteer. These dedicated private citizens prove that one person can make a difference in the lives of our veterans. The 11.6 million hours of service donated last year by VA volunteers was equivalent to 5,500 full-time employees, the Department estimated. VA officials say the donated time was worth nearly $220 million. When VA s volunteer program began in 1946, volunteers helped primarily in VA medical centers, escorting patients to The House Veterans Affairs Committee recently approved a routine cost-of-living increase for disabled veterans. The bill (HR 5826) would provide an increase in veterans disability benefits and dependency and indemnity compensation for veterans families. A spokesman for the bill s sponsor, Ciro D. Rodriguez, D-Texas, said the measure has particular importance this low-cost endorsement (an amendment attached to your insurance policy) that, in the event of a total loss, offers additional coverage up to 120% of your policy s coverage amount. Homeowners should review their home insurance coverage on a yearly basis, and it is especially important to do so before beginning any home improvement project. Your home s replacement cost estimate should also reflect the price of the building materials and labor associated with residential construction in your community. This, of course, tends to fluctuate due to inflation and other factors, so be sure to ask your insurer if they offer inflation protection coverage. This coverage, which automatically adjusts your policy limits to keep pace with inflation, is usually free. Whether you are renovating that year because of the lagging economy and because some veterans live solely on the payments. The cost-of-living increase, to be effective Dec. 1, 2008, is based on the Consumer Price Index and tied to the annual cost-of-living increase awarded for Social Security payments. That figure has not yet been determined, but last year s increase was 2.3 percent. Senate Veterans Affairs Chairman master bath, bumping out a dormer, or adding a three-season porch, be sure a complete home insurance review is on your checklist. However, adjusting the coverage limits of your policy isn t limited only to major renovations. Or, if a home improvement project isn t in the near future but you haven t reviewed your home insurance policy in the past year, call your insurance agent for a professional consultation on your limits, endorsements and to make sure that you are receiving all the discounts available to you. As an AMS member, you are eligible for a discount on your auto, homeowners and renters insurance. For more information about this program, please call or visit Please mention client #3825 when you call. M appointments, helping with administrative duties and overseeing recreational programs for patients. In recent years, however, the role of VA volunteers has expanded. In the health care arena, the volunteers are involved in helping VA medical staff in hospices, outpatient clinics and home-based programs. Volunteers are also active at many of the 125 national cemeteries managed by the Department, where they place flags on gravesites, provide military honors and help with landscaping. Volunteers are also important in programs reaching out to homeless veterans, especially annual stand downs held in many communities to provide health check ups, clothing, and benefits assistance to the homeless. To become a volunteer, contact the nearest VA facility, or complete a form on the Internet at M Veterans Benefits Boost Approved by House VA Committee Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, is sponsoring the Senate companion bill (S 2617). The Congressional Budget Office has not issued a cost estimate for either measure so far. The bill is expected to pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president, Rodriguez s spokesman said. Congress can block the benefit increases, but it has approved them every year since fiscal 1976.M Source: CQ Today Online News

5 DoD Still Has No Idea Where Its Money Goes AMS has been telling you about our fight against DoD s attempts to raise fees and co-pays on TRICARE enrollees for the past several years. Thankfully, we have succeeded in stopping them, and so far this year it looks like we will stop them once more. But we have no doubt they will come back again next year because they insist that the earned benefits of military retirees, especially TRICARE For Life, are just too expensive. In fact some DoD officials claim that the cost of paying for retirees has actually prevented active duty personnel from getting the supplies and equipment they need. We know, of course, that s nothing but an outrageous lie, but now the Pentagon s spending practices have been exposed for everyone to see. According to a recent article in Portfolio.com, Since 2004, the Pentagon has spent roughly $16 billion annually to maintain and modernize the military s business systems, but most are as unreliable as ever even as the surge in defense spending is creating more room for error. The basic defense budget for 2007 was $439.3 billion, up 48 percent from 2001, excluding the vast additional sums appropriated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to federal regulators and current and former Pentagon officials, the accounting process is so obsolete and error prone that it s virtually impossible to tell where much of this money ends up. While the department s brass has made a few patchwork improvements, billions are still unaccounted for. The problem is so deeply rooted that, 18 years after Congress required major federal agencies to be audited, the Pentagon still can t be. For the first three quarters of 2007, $1.1 trillion in Army accounting entries hadn t been properly reviewed and substantiated, according to the Department of Defense s inspector general. In 2006, $258.2 billion of recorded withdrawals and payments from the Army s main account were unsupported. It s as if the Army had submitted multibillion-dollar expense reports without any receipts. Preoccupied with protecting their turf, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines continue to maintain separate, increasingly outdated systems that can t talk to each other, trace disbursements, or detect over-billing by contractors. At the Indianapolis facility, as at the Defense Department s four other main U.S. centers for financial operations, accounting programs under the same roof can t share information without extensive jury-rigging, as though contracts, payments, and accounting had nothing to do with one another. In the Defense Department, what you have now are material weaknesses that are in every single area, in every part of the department, so deep and so wide you do not really have any way of figuring out where money is being spent, says Linda Bilmes, a federal budget expert at Harvard s Kennedy School of Government. Every year, the Pentagon tries to justify its budget request to Congress by submitting three years of financial data: actual performance for the past fiscal year plus projections for the current year and the next. But because of the lack of reliable accounting, these totals are largely fictional. That, in turn, raises major questions about whether the government will be able to meet skyrocketing commitments for future spending on ships, planes, and high-tech ground weapons, especially given the expected growth in spending on Social Security and Medicare, and the impact of tax cuts. According to David Walker, who recently left his post as head of the Government Accountability Office, the failure of the Pentagon s outdated and incompatible systems to keep tabs on expenditures even as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan eat up an ever-bigger chunk of the federal budget puts several Defense Department agencies high on the G.A.O. s list of federal programs that are mismanaged and prone to fraud, waste, and abuse. John Evans, a retired Pentagon official who oversaw more than half of the defense budget, says that all this just encourages the military branches to conceal spending. If you want to know how much one of the services is paying, you have to ask them, he says. They say, Why do you want to know? When Evans did a formal review to see if spending was on track, he says it was like a C.S.I. crime drama to find out where the services spent money and where they squirreled it away. In 1990, Congress enacted legislation requiring all federal agencies to pass independent audits. Every year, the Defense Inspector General dispatched dozens of auditors to the military s financial and accounting centers. Every year, they reported back that the job couldn t be done. Defense Department records were in such disarray and were so lacking in documentation that any attempt would be futile. In 2000, the Inspector General told Congress that his auditors stopped counting after finding $2.3 trillion in unsupported entries made to force financial data to agree. In 2002, Congress relented. Until the Pentagon can get its records in order, no comprehensive audit is required. Instead, the department writes each year to the Inspector General certifying that material amounts in its financial reports can t be substantiated. That it can t be audited goes to the heart of the department s credibility, says Dov Zakheim, who was Defense Department Chief Financial Officer and Comptroller under Rumsfeld. Nobody would trust even a half-million-dollar enterprise if its books weren t clean. There is much more to the article and if you care to read it you can find the entire article online at: portfolio.com/news-markets/national- news/portfolio/2008/04/14/pentagons- Accounting-Mess. In the meantime, we will never relent in our efforts to stop DoD from trying to blame military retirees and cut back on their earned retirement benefits. As this article shows, DoD needs to get its own house in order before it starts trying to balance its budget on the backs of military retirees. M

6 VA Names Members of Gulf War Veterans Advisory Committee Secretary Peake to Hear Their Concerns, Issues Veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during will have their own special advocates before Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake, thanks to a new advisory committee Peake established to respond to issues unique to them. The 14-member, independent panel will advise the Secretary and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on the full range of health care and benefits needs of those who served in the conflict. Gulf War veterans made an invaluable contribution to national security and peace in a volatile region, Peake said. This new panel will ensure that VA benefits and programs adapt to the needs of these veterans, just as our services have adapted for veterans of other conflicts. Serving on the committee are Gulf War and other veterans, veterans service organizations representatives, medical experts, and the survivors of Gulf War veterans. Members were selected to provide a variety of perspectives, experiences and expertise. The committee will be chaired by Charles Cragin, a retired Navy Captain, who has had several senior level positions within the federal government, including Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and Chairman of VA s Board of Veterans Appeals. In January 2002, the Department created an advisory committee to assist VA s secretary on research into the medical problems of Gulf War veterans. That older committee will retain responsibility for research involving veterans of the conflict in the Middle East. This committee s first meeting was held in mid-june in Washington, D.C. It is expected to complete its work within 18 months. Committee meetings will be open to the public. M VA Calling All Recent Combat Vets Nearly 570,000 to be Reached by New Call Center On May 1, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began contacting nearly 570,000 recent combat veterans to ensure they know about VA s medical services and other benefits. We will reach out and touch every veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom to let them know we are here for them, said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. VA is committed to getting these veterans the help they need and deserve. A contractor-operated Combat Veteran Call Center is phoning two distinct populations of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the first phase, calls are going to an estimated 17,000 veterans who were sick or injured while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. VA will offer to appoint a care manager to work with them if they don t have one already. Care managers ensure veterans receive appropriate care and know about their VA benefits. For five years after their discharge from the military, these combat veterans have special access to VA health care. The Department screens combat veterans for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. VA personnel have been deployed to the military s major medical centers to assist wounded service members and their families during the transition to civilian lives. For the new call center, the second phase is targeting 550,000 OIF-OEF veterans who have been discharged from active duty but have not contacted VA for services. When contacted, veterans are informed about VA s benefits and services. The initial calls are being made by a private contractor, EDS, which specializes in technology We will leave no stone unturned to reach these veterans, said Dr. Edward Huycke, chief of the Veterans Affairs - Department of Defense coordination office. M Report from the Hill continued from page 3 passed the Senate, this fight is far from over. As we went to press, the House failed in its effort to pass the war funding measure. However it did pass the part of the legislative package with domestic spending, including funding for the proposed GI Bill expansion. They also voted to impose non-binding language to remove troops from Iraq. However, these provisions did not pass by the required two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto. The Senate and House will now meet to work out a compromise position. With the Presidential campaigns going on and the stand-off between the President and the Congress, we can expect a long drawn out fight over these issues this summer. Many members of Congress believe that the only appropriations bill that will pass before the presidential election will be the supplemental appropriation they are considering now. Therefore, they believe they are under pressure to include their domestic priorities in it or they may not get another chance. AMS believes that war funding is too important to be caught up in these issues and strongly urges the Senate and House to report out supplemental war funding legislation and pass it promptly. Failure to do so inhibits planning by the military and diverts attention from what they should be doing focusing their full attention on the enemy.m

7 American Military Society Membership Application Form P.O. Box Washington, D.C (800) Yes, I want to join in support of a strong national defense and take advantage of the great benefits AMS offers. I also understand that I am joining an organization that fights for the compensation, benefits, and entitlements of all military personnel of the uniformed services. Name: Rank: Branch of Service: DOB: / / Address: City: State: Zip: Telephone:( ) q Active Duty q National Guard q Reserve q Retired q Honorably Separated q 1 Year ($20) q 2 Year ($40) q 3 Year ($60) q Lifetime Membership ($300)* Make your check payable to: American Military Society q Visa q Mastercard * Lifetime Membership may be Card No. Exp. Date / paid in 10 quarterly payments 1st payment of $30 is enclosed. Signature: The AMS Advocate is published bi-monthly by the American Military Society: 1 (800) CSM Douglas Russell US Army Retired President Membership: 1 (800) Insurance Coverage/Billing: 1 (800) Insurance Claims: 1 (800) Material may be quoted or reprinted in part or whole as long as proper credit is given to AMS. Membership in the American Military Society is open to all members from all branches of the armed forces, both officers and enlisted personnel, including Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard, Retired and Veterans, as well as spouses and widows of the uniformed services family. Any individual who supports the aims and purposes of AMS is eligible for Associate Membership. Any business entity, local government, or civic group that supports the aims, objectives, and purposes of AMS is eligible for sustaining membership. AMS Benefits and Services For information about any of these programs, call our Customer Service Representatives, Toll-Free at 1 (800) TRICARE Supplement Plans: Acceptance guaranteed for comprehensive benefits that not only pay your DRG cost-shares, but also pay 100% of your out-of-pocket share of eligible excess expenses. Benefits include a unique premium-paying Survivors Benefit and deep discounts on all your dental, vision, and hearing care. Medicare Supplement Plans: Your choice of coverages when you are eligible for Medicare. Benefits increase automatically with any increase in federal deductibles. Call (800) to request an information kit. Cancer Protector Plan: Guaranteed acceptance, regardless of age, for Members who have lived 10 years or more cancer-free. Dental Insurance Program: Low cost comprehensive coverage that allows you to use your own dentist while covering preventive care and more than 150 treatments and procedures. Long-term Care Insurance: Comprehensive protection that protects your hard-earned assets from the high cost of long-term care. Affordable group rates and discounts for married couples. Life Insurance For information about AMS sponsored Life Insurance, call Toll-Free at 1 (800) Term Life Insurance: Our AMS sponsored term life insurance portfolio offers extremely competitive 10, 15 and 20-year guaranteed level premiums. Variable Universal Life: Designed for the investment savvy, this product allows you to build cash value through a broad array of investment portfolios while providing the strength of permanent life insurance. It offers flexibility to anticipate future changes in your life - all inside a financial product that has unique tax advantages. Disability Income Insurance: Protects your most valuable asset - your income. Variable Annuities: Provides you an attractive way to create a personalized retirement income strategy with market-based investment options, while providing extra protection for your financial future. Auto/Homeowner s Insurance, call (800) , Client #3825 AMS Credit Card (Visa), call 1 (800)

8 American Military Society P.O. Box Washington, D.C Address Service Requested Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID American Military Society President s Column... page 2 Remember to Remodel Your Home Insurance Before Remodeling Your Home... page 4 More than 85,000 Serve Veterans as VA Volunteers.... page 4 Veterans Benefits Boost Approved by House VA Committee.... page 4 DoD Still Has No Idea Where Its Money Goes page 5 VA Names Members of Gulf War Veterans Advisory Committee page 6 VA Calling All Recent Combat Vets page 6