Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 02/18/2002

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
Can I vent? I read in your column the letter from Steven F. regarding difficulties retirees have with the TRICARE system. The system isn't set up just to discourage retirees, it is set up to discourage all of us. My husband is still active duty. I dread having to call TRICARE to make an appointment. After pushing buttons and listening to recordings for ten minutes I'm told if I get a busy signal to hang up and try again later! And often, if I do get through, I have to listen to loud, annoying music with the same reminders every 30 seconds while I'm on hold and then, when someone finally answers, I often have to deal with someone who seems to know less than I do. 

I needed an appointment with a specialist and was told I had to go to Bethesda, which I was told was 26 miles from my home. I insisted it was farther than that and after some bantering back and forth I was informed that it was 26 air miles! I said I wouldn't be flying. It turned out to be 40 miles (on the ground) and the last time it took 1 1/2 hours to get there from my house because of traffic on the Beltway. 

I am convinced the system is set up to discourage people from using it and ultimately to save the government money.

Thanks for letting me vent.
Mary C. 

Dear Mary:
Read on …

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
Your reply to Steven F. was a great attempt to address some of the difficulties many retirees face in the dealing with TRICARE system. However, you did not address any of the concerns he brought up. Maybe you should reread it. Not only is the appointment process broken, so is the TRICARE billing process. I never receive a bill quarterly like I should. At the end of a year I am sent an annual bill which is very high because it was not sent out in a timely fashion. Then, to make matters worse, TRICARE threatens to drop me from the program if I don't get pay the bill within a certain date.

I have dealt with TRICARE representatives on the phone and despite after being assured that I would be put on a billing cycle, it doesn't happen. Then I am told to send them the money without a bill (yeh, right).

Someone needs to do something to fix this system. I've lost the free medical that I was assured I would keep when I retired and now I get service worse than I ever did before the system went to TRICARE.

Bill C. (U.S.Army, ret.)
Triangle, VA

Dear Mary and Bill:
I suggest that you and others plagued by the unresponsiveness of the appartchiks at TRICARE and the Department of Defense first try reaching your local beneficiary counselor - called a BCAC. These persons are your ombudsman - advocates who work on your behalf to resolve issues. This s a Congressionally mandated initiative established by the FY 2000 National Defense Authorization Act. These ombudsmen are located at each Lead Agent offices and collaterally at Military Treatment Facilities worldwide. To locate a BCAC near you call 1-888-DOD-LIFE (1-888-363-5433) or via the web at www.tricare.osd.mil/tricare/beneficiary/BCACDirectory.htm.

TRICARE Prime is required to provide the following access standards to enrolled beneficiaries: 

Emergency Care

24 hours a day 7 days a week

Timeliness of Appointments

1 day - Acute Illness

7 days (1 week) - Routine Visit

Drive Time

30 minute drive time for primary care

60 minute drive time for specialty care

Another point of contact for the BCAC program is Msgt Wesley Hardin. He may be reached via email at wesley.hardin@tma.osd.mil

If your problems remain unsolved, I suggest you contact your local elected officials and inform them that the time and access standards are not being met in their district.

Shaft Kudos 
To the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) on their new and exciting program of asking more Americans to join the DAV Voluntary Services Program to comfort disabled veterans in need of medical care all across America. DAV National Commander George H. Steese, Jr., announced the new program, called the National Commander’s Volunteer Recruitment Initiative, at a kickoff ceremony at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in San Diego, Calif. Joining him were Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi and other VA and DAV officials. Said National Commander Steese, “We need to begin rebuilding our corps of volunteers to meet the needs of our veterans well into the future. My goal is to increase the DAV’s corps of volunteers by 10% more than the current level, which is 8,208. At the same time, I am calling on the DAV Auxiliary to increase its volunteer force by 10% as well. Together we hope to build a corps of more than 11,000 volunteers.” Beginning this month, DAV Departments and Chapters will begin to recruit new volunteers, including the youth of America, in support of this program that serve veterans and their families. To encourage others to volunteer for the DAV Voluntary Services Program, the DAV will release a public service announcement featuring Oscar-winning actor Paul Newman, a World War II veteran, urging Americans to volunteer to help our nation’s veterans. The public service announcement will be made available to television stations throughout America. “All of you, regardless of age, has an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our nation’s freedom,” Commander Steese said. The Disabled American Veterans is a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932. It is dedicated to one, single purpose: building better lives for our nation’s 2.3 million disabled veterans and their families.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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