PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Check your calendars for December 5 Holiday Social
at the Marriott Downtown Courtyard and January 29 for the Annual membership
breakfast meeting at Fort Jackson Officers Club. See more information inside this newsletter.
Elections will be over by the time you get this
newsletter and we can hope for improved civility and open discussion on
pressing issues. I trust you all
exercised the right to vote which we in the military served to preserve and
protect, along with other wonderful benefits of being American. And it will be a relief to hear and read
something different than all the rhetoric and pundits trying to outguess
results of the elections. Lots of things
need to happen at the national level; for example: DOD appropriations for
military operations and pay increases for our active duty troops; VA funding
for healthcare and continuing care for battle injuries; coverage for military
children’s health insurance up to age 26 equal to the rest of the population’s
coverage – a huge financial impact on those who need it; and taxes. I will not hazard any comment on what will be
the tax changes or implications in the future.
On a brighter note, the September cruise was great –
great weather, great food, and great socializing time for all. I’m sorry to have missed it, but Ed Palekas
and I were at the regional Chapter Presidents’ along with about 400 chapter
members from the SE states. Lots of
ideas and discussion. The primary focus
was increasing membership at the local chapter level. In our midlands area, there are hundreds of
members of MOAA at the national level, but are not members of our local
chapter. Some have the misconception
that if they join at the national level, they automatically are members of a
local chapter. Obviously they are more
than welcome to participate in the chapter’s activities, but may not be aware
of the opportunities since they are not on our local mailing list. You may know some of them in your
neighborhood, church, associations, or other contacts. Please invite them to our December social
event and annual meeting in January.
There are many opportunities for our chapter to be
represented and visible, but we are missing these opportunities. Military related events take place around our
area that would welcome your support and presence, and a show of the flag and
MOAA. Events like November 11 –
Veteran’s Day both in town and at Fort Jackson; every three weeks, troops
trained as Task Force Marshall at Fort Jackson depart for duty to Afghanistan
from Columbia airport and would welcome a friendly face since they seldom have
family members here to see them off; December 11 is the Wreathes Across America
placing wreathes at every headstone at Fort Jackson National Cemetery – as well
at all national cemeteries in our country; spend an hour at the USO at the
airport; and other events. One of our
bright spots is support of the ROTC programs, but we need your help in this
regard. At the junior ROTC programs at
local high schools, they have drill team competitions and other events that
would appreciate your presence – maybe you graduated from their high school. We need to look at our ROTC scholarship
program and find some qualified high school seniors. All of these opportunities would take about
one hour of your time – can’t you make that time in your schedule?
See you at the Holiday Social event at the Courtyard
Hotel next month.
MEDICARE/TRICARE Payment
Cuts: This is trouble waiting in the wings. The flawed statutory formula which determines
Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors is scheduled to cut payments to
physicians by 23.5% on December 1 unless the lame duck Congress intervenes. To
make matters worse an additional 6.1% cut is scheduled to kick in, effective
January 1. Allowing these cuts to go
into effect would be devastating to access to health care for millions of
Americans including much of the military community. No one in Congress wants to
see that happen, but they keep squabbling over how to pay for a fix. The longer
they wait the more difficult it gets to fund even short-term fixes, and we'll
likely be in for more brinksmanship in the coming months if Congress keeps
delaying the cuts one or two months at a time.
RETIRED PAY and SOCIAL SECURITY PAY FREEZE. It’s no surprise that there will be no increase in retired pay or Social Security, but the absence of a COLA may result in higher Medicare Part B premiums for some Medicare beneficiaries.
TMOP: TRICARE
Mail Order Pharmacy can save you a lot of money for your prescription costs,
but is under scrutiny by DOD and others as they look for ways to cut
spending. If you have recurring medicine
needs and are not using TMOP, consider saving time in driving to the pharmacy
and receive the 90 day supply at minimal expense.