PAHRUMP MILITARY RETIREE



and VETERANS COUNCIL



******A Veteran - whether active duty, discharged, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including my life." - (anonymous)******

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Tricare "No CoPay for Generics"

23 November 2011

New TRICARE Pharmacy Copays Highlight Benefits of Home Delivery

By  Peter Holstein
TRICARE Management Activity
October 31, 2011



FALLS CHURCH, Va. – New copayments for prescription drugs covered by TRICARE went into effect Oct. 1, 2011. The new copayments make Home Delivery an even more attractive option, with zero dollar copays for a 90-day supply of generic formulary medications.

            “Home Delivery ships prescription medication safely, securely and conveniently to beneficiaries’ homes,” said Rear Adm. Thomas J. McGinnis, chief of TRICARE Pharmacy Operations. “It’s intended primarily for beneficiaries with chronic conditions who need maintenance medications they take regularly over a long period of time.”

            Home Delivery offers beneficiaries up to a 90-day supply of medication at one time, instead of the 30-day supply they get from a retail pharmacy. New copayments for medications through Home Delivery are $0 for generic drugs, $9 for brand name drugs and $25 for non-formulary medications. Copayments at retail pharmacies are now $5 for generic drugs, $12 for brand name and $25 for non-formulary. Costs at military pharmacies are still zero and there is no plan to change this.

            The TRICARE Uniform Formulary is a list of all the medications TRICARE covers. Beneficiaries can search the formulary at www.pec.ha.osd.mil. For more information on the new copayments, go to www.tricare.mil/pharmacycosts.

            TRICARE’s pharmacy copayments had not changed since 2002 and the new copayments reflect how TRICARE beneficiaries use their pharmacy benefits. Data through August 2011 shows more people are using Home Delivery, up 9 percent this year from 2010, while the number of maintenance medications purchased at retail pharmacies in 2011 has actually gone down slightly, reversing a long-time trend.

            “The trend towards using Pharmacy Home Delivery over retail pharmacies is encouraging,” said McGinnis. “TRICARE pays more for prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies than for the same medication through Home Delivery. When beneficiaries use their benefit wisely, TRICARE dollars go further.”

            In 2010, beneficiaries switching from retail pharmacies to Home Delivery saved the Department of Defense $30 million.
For more information about TRICARE pharmacy and Home Delivery, visit www.tricare.mil/pharmacy.

Sign up for TRICARE e-mail updates at www.tricare.mil/subscriptions.
Connect with TRICARE on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/tricare and www.twitter.com/tricare.
The TRICARE Management Activity administers the worldwide health care plan for 9.6 million eligible beneficiaries of the uniformed services, retirees and their families.
 

Posted by Chairman, Pahrump Military Retiree & Veterans Council at 12:44 PM

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RECOMMENDED BY PAHRUMP AREA MILITARY RETIREE AND VETERANS COUNCIL:

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VA- APPLICATIONS For DISABILITIES

Applications are pending for over 12 months.

Everyone is aware of this problem. The VA and certainly the Veterans.

This is an outrage! Approximately 1/3 of the applications submitted are by Retired Military Personnel and therefore a problem to the Retired Military Councils.

The other 2/3 are Veterans that have served their country and deserve a decision.

Many have conditions that are aggravated by non treatment. We can do better.

The current omnibus bill, and especially the MILCON-VA provisions, covers a number of important priorities, including: $1.7 billion to allow VA to hire 1,200 additional claims processors to address the nearly 397,000 claims backlog.

(On January 20, 2010 the Federal Times reported the backlog at 489,345.)

This will require; first approval, then hiring, followed by training, and then they can start working on the problem! Looks like about 12 months before they start processing the actual applications. Our veterans deserve better treatment than this. We need to change the way the processing is accomplished.

One possible answer may be: take 200 military personnel clerks, 20 Personnel NCO’s and 5 Warrant Officers and take 95% of the pending applications and process them.

This is not rocket science, there is an established criteria to decide which applications get what percentage and it doesn't have to be done by VA Civilians. The VA may welcome the help. We realize the Active Army is stretched thin, but these veterans need help. This is not the only answer, but it is one solution.

GI BILL POST-9/11: Dependents.

This is the House of Representatives bill to adjust Educational Assistance for Retiree's.
H.R. 3577: Education Assistance to Realign New Eligibilities for Dependents (EARNED) Act of 2009 to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide authority for certain members of the Armed Forces who have served 20 years on active duty to transfer entitlement to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to their dependents. Latest Major Action 9/24-2009 House committee subcommittee actions. Status:
Subcommittee Hearings Held.

DENTAL PROGRAM

Dental program for Emergency situations for Retiree’s could be initiated at the Installation or the VA level to solve only the emergency problems.

EYE COVERAGE:

There is vision/eye coverage for Retirees who use Tricare for life thru NOSTRA, they an get glasses but the coverage does not cover the eye exam. This is provided by the Navy. See the handout for details. TRICARE Prime has coverage for both the exam and glasses every 2 years. Recommend equal coverage through out the Services.

INCREASED PAY FOR DOCTORS

Increase the pay for doctors who handle VA Cases or use Contract services to get the job done. We need to incentivize Doctor participation. The current level of waiting is not treating our former warriors with the respect they deserve. We have sent a letter to Dr Toppo for Input.

IDENTITY THEFT

The phasing out of Social Security Numbers on ID Cards has begun and will be one solution to the problem of Identity Theft.

This problem was brought up by Col Rast (USMC Retired) of Amorgosa

SUICIDE

Discussion revealed a consensus of opinion that Active duty combat tours are too many. We recommend 2 tours in a combat zone in a 7 year period for combat personnel and not more than 3 tours for combat support personnel in the same 7 years.

Discussion: There are 1.1 million personnel in the Army alone. The war has lasted 8 years, Some people are on their 5th tour. This is unprecedented in our history and certainly creates stress. If nation building is the goal, use the civilian agencies to build the new country such as Dept of Agriculture to teach crops, Dept of Education to establish schools etc. and leave the soldiers to provide security for the Americans, and put down insurrections. If we stop some of the Stress we may cut down on Suicide.

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDERS (PTSD)

PTSD cases are now taking 4 months for an appointment in VA Clinics in rural areas. Recommend increasing the funding and/or contracting services from people that can help. Personnel who have PTSD may not have 4 months before they do something irrational. We can do better.

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