As Congress considers different approaches to reforming our country's health care insurance system, many Middle Tennessee military retirees and veterans have contacted me with questions and concerns. I want to address some of the concerns I have heard.
I believe it is vital we maintain the integrity and primary purpose of the TRICARE and VA health systems. The recently proposed House health care insurance reform bill does not include language that would change these systems or incorporate them into a national system. Likewise, there are no proposals to tax the health benefits provided through TRICARE or the VA. I want you to know I will continue to insist that our nation's military retirees and veterans continue to get the benefits they've rightfully earned.
We currently spend one out of every six dollars in the United States on health care. Health care costs are increasing at twice the rate of inflation. If we do nothing, these costs will continue to spiral out of control and fewer and fewer people will be able to afford health insurance. We need to address this problem but we need to take the time to get it right. I am committed to doing just that.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
July Chapter Meeting
Our July Chapter meeting will be held on Thursday, July 23rd, at Bluegrass Country Club in Hendersonville, TN. We will meet at 6:00 PM and have dinner at 6:30 PM. The cost of the meal will be $24.00 per person.
Menu
Garden Salad
Grilled Sirloin w/ Jack Daniels Bourbon Sauce
Green Beans Almandine
Twice Baked Potatoes
Crème Brule
Rolls
Tea and Coffee
Our speaker for July will be the Honorable Curtis M. Lincoln. Judge Lincoln has presided in the Hendersonville City Court for the past 15 years. He has been a lawyer for 42 years and has been very active in the community.
Menu
Garden Salad
Grilled Sirloin w/ Jack Daniels Bourbon Sauce
Green Beans Almandine
Twice Baked Potatoes
Crème Brule
Rolls
Tea and Coffee
Our speaker for July will be the Honorable Curtis M. Lincoln. Judge Lincoln has presided in the Hendersonville City Court for the past 15 years. He has been a lawyer for 42 years and has been very active in the community.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
June Meeting Information
Our June Chapter meeting will be held on Thursday, June 25th at the Gallatin Country Club in Gallatin, TN. We will meet at 6:00 PM and have dinner at 6:30 PM. The cost of the meal will be $17.00 per person. The Gallatin Country Club is located at 1501 East Main Street, Gallatin, TN. Dinner is provided by Larriveries on the Green.
Include with dinner is a Garden Salad, Vegetables appropriate for each main entrée, a Desert Selection, Dinner Rolls, Tea and Coffee.
Guest Speaker: We are pleased to have Mr. Anthony Holt, County Executive Sumner County, as our guest speaker at your June 25th meeting. Mr. Holt will provide remarks about current topics of interest to everyone in Sumner County. Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt was elected to his current office in November 2008 after serving 18 years as a county commissioner from the Gallatin area. He is chief financial officer for the county, oversees facilities management for county buildings and also is responsible for appointments to numerous government committees, boards and commissions. As county executive he represents Sumner County on a variety of Middle Tennessee boards, including the Greater Nashville Regional Council, Regional Transportation Authority, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Mid-Cumberland Human Resource Agency.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday.
Our menu will include a choice of the following main courses:
Beef Medallions
Cordon Bleu
Lemon-Pepper Grouper
Guest Speaker: We are pleased to have Mr. Anthony Holt, County Executive Sumner County, as our guest speaker at your June 25th meeting. Mr. Holt will provide remarks about current topics of interest to everyone in Sumner County. Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt was elected to his current office in November 2008 after serving 18 years as a county commissioner from the Gallatin area. He is chief financial officer for the county, oversees facilities management for county buildings and also is responsible for appointments to numerous government committees, boards and commissions. As county executive he represents Sumner County on a variety of Middle Tennessee boards, including the Greater Nashville Regional Council, Regional Transportation Authority, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Mid-Cumberland Human Resource Agency.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday.
Friday, June 5, 2009
TRICARE PRIME Info
This article was taken from the MOAA Legislative Update e-mail that I received.
You Could be Bounced from TRICARE Prime
A new DoD policy aimed at "cleaning up" TRICARE Prime enrollment at military treatment facilities (MTF) could mean some significant changes for many Prime enrollees.
TRICARE has long had established travel access standards to help beneficiaries receive timely health care. The standards require that enrollees shouldn't be assigned a primary care manager (PCM) at a military hospital or clinic that's more than a 30-minute drive from the beneficiary's home address.
As a practical matter, DoD never really enforced that policy. But it will be enforced now.
If they want to continue to be seen in the MTF, current Prime enrollees in the U.S. who live farther away than a 30-minute drive from the MTF will have to request a waiver of the drive-time standard from the MTF commander or the TRICARE Regional Office. Drive times will be determined by a computer program similar to MapQuest. Approved waivers will have to be renewed annually from now on.
Unless they apply for and are granted a waiver before October 1, enrollees who live more than 30 minutes (but less than 40 miles) from the MTF will be assigned a civilian primary care manager closer to their residence. Absent a waiver, those who live more than 40 miles from the MTF will be disenrolled from Prime and revert to TRICARE Standard as of October 1.
TRICARE contractors are mailing letters to all affected beneficiaries, providing detailed instructions on the waiver process.
You Could be Bounced from TRICARE Prime
A new DoD policy aimed at "cleaning up" TRICARE Prime enrollment at military treatment facilities (MTF) could mean some significant changes for many Prime enrollees.
TRICARE has long had established travel access standards to help beneficiaries receive timely health care. The standards require that enrollees shouldn't be assigned a primary care manager (PCM) at a military hospital or clinic that's more than a 30-minute drive from the beneficiary's home address.
As a practical matter, DoD never really enforced that policy. But it will be enforced now.
If they want to continue to be seen in the MTF, current Prime enrollees in the U.S. who live farther away than a 30-minute drive from the MTF will have to request a waiver of the drive-time standard from the MTF commander or the TRICARE Regional Office. Drive times will be determined by a computer program similar to MapQuest. Approved waivers will have to be renewed annually from now on.
Unless they apply for and are granted a waiver before October 1, enrollees who live more than 30 minutes (but less than 40 miles) from the MTF will be assigned a civilian primary care manager closer to their residence. Absent a waiver, those who live more than 40 miles from the MTF will be disenrolled from Prime and revert to TRICARE Standard as of October 1.
TRICARE contractors are mailing letters to all affected beneficiaries, providing detailed instructions on the waiver process.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
May Dinner Meeting
Our may meeting was held at Latham's Lighthouse Event Center in Hendersonville. We were pleased to have as our guest speaker, Mrs. Julie Hull, above, along with her husband Stacy from AB Recycle. Stacy and Julie Hull have owned AB Recycle in Hendersonville since October 2008 and began servicing clients in Hendersonville, Southwestern Gallatin and the Sumner County portion of Goodlettsville in November 2008. They provide convenient weekly curbside pickup of Single Stream recyclable materials. Julie provided important information on general facts about recycling, recycling locations and laws in Sumner County. Julie has given presentations to Beautiful Hendersonville, Inc., the Hendersonville Parks Department and a local school.
Below are photographs of Chapter members socializing before dinner.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
E-mail from Representaive Bart Gordon
I pass this along from Representative Bart Gordon:
Dear David,
I'm writing to ensure you have the information you need about the recent discovery that veterans who received endoscopic procedures at the Alvin C. York VA facility in Murfreesboro may have been exposed to contaminated equipment that puts them at risk of potentially serious infection, including HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis B or C.
If you or someone you know received a colonoscopy or other endoscopic procedure between April 23, 2003 and December 1, 2008, you can call 1-877-345-8555 to set up an appointment for a free blood test. If you test positive, there are a number of actions you can take to get additional help. Please contact my Murfreesboro office at (615)896-1986 for assistance.
The VA activated a web page at http://www.va.gov/ to provide updated information on the recent endoscopy issues that affected the Murfreesboro, Augusta, and Miami VA Medical Centers. Once at the website above, click on "Endoscopic Reports" in the blue field on the right-hand side of the page.
In February, I sent a letter to VA Under Secretary for Health, Michael Kussman, asking that detailed information be made available about the situation. You can view my letter and Under Secretary Kussman's response at www.bart.house.gov/letters. I also called on the VA Inspector General to launch a formal investigation and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee to hold congressional hearings to examine why these problems happened and ensure they never happen again. I will continue working with my colleagues in Congress to hold the VA accountable for following up and taking care of the men and women veterans affected by this situation. Please know my thoughts and prayers are with Middle Tennessee veterans during this difficult time.
I've also been working hard to improve veteran and military retiree benefits. To view my legislative priorities for the 111th Congress, go to http://gordon.house.gov/PDF/Priorities.pdf. Again, my staff stands ready to answer any questions you may have. Do not hesitate to call my Murfreesboro office at (615)896-1986 for additional help.
Stay in touch,
BART GORDONMember of CongressP.S. To receive e-mail about important issues and services for your family and to sign up for E-News, click here.
Dear David,
I'm writing to ensure you have the information you need about the recent discovery that veterans who received endoscopic procedures at the Alvin C. York VA facility in Murfreesboro may have been exposed to contaminated equipment that puts them at risk of potentially serious infection, including HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis B or C.
If you or someone you know received a colonoscopy or other endoscopic procedure between April 23, 2003 and December 1, 2008, you can call 1-877-345-8555 to set up an appointment for a free blood test. If you test positive, there are a number of actions you can take to get additional help. Please contact my Murfreesboro office at (615)896-1986 for assistance.
The VA activated a web page at http://www.va.gov/ to provide updated information on the recent endoscopy issues that affected the Murfreesboro, Augusta, and Miami VA Medical Centers. Once at the website above, click on "Endoscopic Reports" in the blue field on the right-hand side of the page.
In February, I sent a letter to VA Under Secretary for Health, Michael Kussman, asking that detailed information be made available about the situation. You can view my letter and Under Secretary Kussman's response at www.bart.house.gov/letters. I also called on the VA Inspector General to launch a formal investigation and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee to hold congressional hearings to examine why these problems happened and ensure they never happen again. I will continue working with my colleagues in Congress to hold the VA accountable for following up and taking care of the men and women veterans affected by this situation. Please know my thoughts and prayers are with Middle Tennessee veterans during this difficult time.
I've also been working hard to improve veteran and military retiree benefits. To view my legislative priorities for the 111th Congress, go to http://gordon.house.gov/PDF/Priorities.pdf. Again, my staff stands ready to answer any questions you may have. Do not hesitate to call my Murfreesboro office at (615)896-1986 for additional help.
Stay in touch,
BART GORDONMember of CongressP.S. To receive e-mail about important issues and services for your family and to sign up for E-News, click here.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
JROTC AWARD WINNERS
This year’s High School JROTC award winners are:
a. Cadet Colonel Jake Mihalko - $500 Scholarship – Station Camp High School
b. Cadet Major Dalen Evans – MOAA Medal – Station Camp High School
c. Cadet Colonel Nicholas Kiser - $500 Scholarship – Hendersonville High School
d. Cadet Lieutenant Colonel James Frogge –MOAA Medal – Hendersonville High School
a. Cadet Colonel Jake Mihalko - $500 Scholarship – Station Camp High School
b. Cadet Major Dalen Evans – MOAA Medal – Station Camp High School
c. Cadet Colonel Nicholas Kiser - $500 Scholarship – Hendersonville High School
d. Cadet Lieutenant Colonel James Frogge –MOAA Medal – Hendersonville High School
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