Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 08/01/2005

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
Would you please publish my invitation and encouragement to all armed services personnel and their families, active and retired, to make it a point to visit one or more of our American cemeteries when traveling in Europe, Tunis, Manila, Mexico City, or Panama? These uniquely splendid memorials to our War Dead buried overseas inspire patriotism, evoke gratitude, and teach history. They are the best cared for cemeteries in the world and an enduring tribute to the competence, courage, and sacrifice of those buried there.

For vivid previews of what can be seen and the history contained within American Battlefields Monument Commission (ABMC) cemeteries and memorials, your readers should visit our web site at www.abmc.gov. Those who visit our cemeteries will be glad they went and will forever remember those magnificent tributes to American opposition to tyranny and injustice.

Sincerely
J. W. Nicholson
Brigadier General, USA (Ret)
Secretary

Dear General.
I gladly join you in urging all Americans to visit these wonderful memorials to our fallen heroes.

Dear Sgt Shaft.
My most sincere congratulations on your recent richly deserved honors. To me such recognition by peers and the military family means more than a monetary bonus, fast spent and forgotten.

In regards to Medicare and Tricare for Life TFL you may be aware that some providers refuse to accept TFL because they refuse Tricare and don't know the difference. Tricare's delays and payment schedule is such that they say it does not pay. As to Medicare, according to what I understand, when they receive a claim it is supposed to be forwarded to TFL. Occasionally they fail to forward a denied claim and return it to the provider. The provider then bills the patient instead of appealing or forwarding the claim to TFL. Most providers will follow procedures when informed, but some refuse. I have had a three year feud with one company that adamantly refused to send the claim to TFL. I refuse to pay. One of their operators told me, confidentially, that the procedure that was billed to me for $36 would only bring in about $7.50 from Medicare or TFL.

She also implied that they may bill a procedure as "Routine", knowing that Medicare will deny it, instead of as a "Follow Up" which would be paid.

Additionally, when we receive an information sheet from Medicare it has a notation that it should be carefully screened and if there are discrepancies to inform them. Normally these information sheets have” One Service" with a string of numerals. How are we supposed to know what they mean and if they are correct? Well. I don't know much about Medicare or TFL and understand less. But I do know that your recognition pleased me greatly.

Sincerely
John B, MSG USAF Ret
Stafford VA

Dear John,
Thanks so much for the congratulations and for sharing your traveling travesty through the Medicare, TFL maze. Hopefully by printing your TFL misadventure, the Congress will review these issues and hold appropriate hearings to fix the program.

Shaft Notes
The maximum coverage for Service members' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) will be permanently boosted to $400,000 by a bill marked up in the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

"Our freedoms were secured by Americans who wore the uniform and are wearing it today," Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN) said. "With this increased insurance coverage, we help ensure that our service members and veterans can provide for their families."

H.R. 3200, the Service members Group Life Insurance Enhancement Act of 2005, increases the maximum coverage available to service members and veterans from the current $250,000 ceiling to $400,000. These increases were enacted earlier this year in the war supplemental appropriations act and expire on September 30, 2005. H.R. 3200 will make them permanent.

"I am very pleased the Committee has come together to improve and increase these important life insurance benefits in a timely, fair and bipartisan manner. Service members, veterans and military families have certainly earned our best efforts," said Ranking Member, Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL).

"Through this increase in life insurance our service members and their families will gain greater peace of mind," said Subcommittee Chairman on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Jeff Miller (R-FL).

The bill also boosts the incremental increases in both of these life insurance programs from the current $10,000 to $50,000.

"The recent increases in service members' and veterans' life insurance programs provided for in Public Law 109-13 will soon expire," said Representative Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. "I am pleased the Committee is acting quickly to assure the continuity of insurance options for the brave men and women serving in our nation's armed forces."

Affecting only SGLI, the bill also requires the Pentagon to notify the service member’s spouse in writing (or the next of kin if the service member is unmarried) if the service member declines SGLI coverage or chooses an amount less than the maximum. The military also must notify a spouse should someone other than the spouse or child be designated as the policyholder's beneficiary.

The new maximums would go into effect on September 1, 2005. The coverage of all policies in force, regardless of coverage amount, would then immediately be changed to the maximum $400,000. Policyholders would then have the opportunity to decrease coverage if they choose.

Finally, the bill would allow a service member to decline Traumatic Injury Protection coverage. A service member who declines coverage would still be able to elect coverage later.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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