Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 07/24/2006

Sgt. Shaft,
Greetings. I retired from the Navy in1998 after serving 20 years. I retired with a 30% service connected disability. I am currently employed with excellent medical and dental coverage through my employer. We choose not to use TRICARE/DEERS or VA benefits (other than a yearly physical at the VA). My question is this. When I decide to retire permanently or decide to seek employment elsewhere, will my wife and I be entitled to start using TRICARE/DEERS when my current medical insurance is no longer valid? How do I go about initiating coverage that my wife and I are entitled to when I no longer have civilian med/dental insurance coverage?

Respectfully,
John MClifton VA

Dear John
You and your wife are entitled to use Tricare anytime. No notification of DEERS is necessary except for address updates. Your wife's ID card must be renewed every four years. You will need to file a DD-2642 for reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical expenses. Tricare is always the final payer behind other insurance you may have, but you can use Tricare at any time. Once you or your wife turns age 65 you should enroll in Medicare Part B and notify his ID/DEERS office. That way your medical claims will cross electronically from Medicare to TRICARE For Life without filing paper claims.

Shaft Notes
The Sarge was sorry to hear of the imminent departure of Dr. Jonathan Perlin VA’s Under Secretary for Health, who has led the Department’s health care transformation since 2004. He will resign effective August 11 to take a private sector position.

“Jon Perlin’s dedicated service to our nation’s veterans is evidenced by the fact that VA’s health care is now widely recognized as a model for safety, efficiency, effectiveness and compassion,” Secretary Nicholson said. “He has been an invaluable part of my senior leadership team. The skill, knowledge and leadership he brought to VA will be sorely missed. I wish him the best in this new endeavor.”

Perlin, who has held several positions with VA since 1999, is accepting a position as chief medical officer and senior vice president for quality at HCA, a Nashville-based health care provider.

“I thank the President and the Secretary for the tremendous opportunity I’ve had to serve America’s veterans,” Perlin said. “I am deeply humbled by our heroes’ sacrifices on behalf of our nation, and I am forever grateful to the thousands of men and women at VA who serve our privileged mission of caring for veterans.

“I am also proud that I will leave VA better than it was and with veterans receiving better care than ever before,” Perlin added.

Under Perlin’s leadership, VA’s health care has received numerous accolades for innovation and continues to outperform the private sector for quality, safety and customer satisfaction.

I concur with DAV Executive Director Dave Goreman, “Having been on the front lines during his long career with the VA, Dr. Perlin had a tremendous amount of credibility that served him well as head of the Veterans Health Administration.”

He will be hard to replace.

Earlier this week, VA’s electronic health record system received the coveted “Innovations in American Government Award” sponsored by Harvard University’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government and administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government.

Congratulations to

VA Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield who was recently Honored by DAV as the “Disabled Vet of the Year” Citing a quarter-century’s advocacy for all veterans and his dedication to improving the lives of those injured during military service, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) have named Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon H. Mansfield as DAV’s “Disabled Veteran of the Year.”

“Gordon Mansfield has had a profound impact upon all veterans, but especially disabled veterans,” said the Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “His knowledge, tenacity and skillful advocacy have improved the lives not just of disabled veterans, but all Americans with disabilities.”

Mansfield, the chief operating officer and second in command at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is scheduled to receive DAV’s top honor August 12 at the group’s national convention in Chicago. .

Mansfield was shot and suffered a spinal injury during the Tet Offensive of February 1968. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

During his recovery, he earned a law degree from the University of Miami and began legal practice in Ocala, Fla., where he helped found a DAV chapter in Marion County, Fla.

In 1981, he accepted the first of several positions with the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), culminating as the group’s executive director from 1993 to 2001. His time with PVA was interrupted by a four-year tour as assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Mansfield was instrumental in elevating VA to a cabinet-level department, creating the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals and passing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I recently received the following from VA officials about a phishing scam with a link which appears to have a genuine Veterans Administration address...

The VA’s Philadelphia Network Support Staff is seeing
increasing reports of users receiving email from the
address abuse@vba.va.gov, asking them to check
an account by clicking on a link.

This email is a phishing scam, an attempt to gain
personal information. The email address abuse@vba.va.gov
is fake and the link in the email is to a web site in Asia.

The VA urges everyone to delete this email if they receive it.
DO NOT OPEN the email

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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