Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I got this forwarded to me and my internet is to slow to research it.
This is true. It is on pages 77, 172, 218, and 434. You have to dig to
see the charges. We (retirees) would lose the Medicare for life benefit
and would have to pay. We would lose TRICARE as a total care package. We
would not be allowed to keep TRICARE so when Obama stands and says if
you like what you have you can keep it, he lies.
This is a "Heads Up" on a battle we are facing now and down the road
with the new Administration. The Congressional=2 0Budget Office (CBO)
has already drafted proposed legislation that would basically reduce our
TRICARE for Life benefits to a system whereby we pay deductibles and
co-pays up to $6,301 the first year for you and your spouse, with future
years being indexed to increase with inflation.
What can we do? The article below, obtained from an Air Force
Association and written by BG Bob Clements, best describes what we can
do. Please read it and check the links for CBO language and do what Bob
says-Send this email to every Military Retiree you know and write and
email your Congressman often. For those of you that might have voted for
"Change", you should do it more than often!
TRICARE FOR LIFE'S FUTURE.....
TRICARE For Life was instituted to correct the broken promise that
military retirees would receive free healthcare coverage for life and it
covers the Medicare co-pay. Now a heavy assault has begun on
Veterans'/Retirees' benefits to pay for other programs our President
promised during the campaign. An it is a high priority of his
administration. Th e one item of most interest to Retired Military is in
Article 189. If approved by Congress the first assault wave would hit in
2011 and would hit hard. It would initiate cost sharing to require
retirees to pay the first $525 of medical cost and 50% of the next
$4,725 for a first year cost of $2,888 per person. It would be indexed
to increase with inflation. A reason given for this action (for PR
effect) is "overuse" by Retiree s.
For those of you who are covered by TFL you will want to pay attention
(Below) to what BG Bob Clements has surfaced about the future of TFL. In
any case, on page 189 of the Congressional Budget Office report, see
the note below on how to get to that spot, there is a strong
recommendation to eventually eliminate the program as it is too
expensive. Just another move to slight those of us who dedicated much of
our adult lives to the defense of our country.
Strongly recommend that you contact your elected officials and register
your strong opposition to the elimination of the TFL program.
Heads-up from BG Bob Clements,USAF Ret(P38 Bob)
The following has been added to the Congressional Budget Office
Web Site Congressional Budget Office - Home Page a. Budget, Options, Volume 1: Health Care
(Congressional Budget Office - Budget Options, Volume 1: Health Care)
For those who have never opened one of these web sites from OMB :
1. double click on the above URL
2. click on PDF
3. click on the binoculars
4. do a search for TFL
Now here it is folks and I will guarantee if you sit around on
your behind and do nothing about it as they bring these options forward
this coming year, you will lose one of the best healthcare benefits that
the Medicare eligible retired military have. It is short of the promises
made that we fought so hard for back in the late 90s and early 2000s but
it is still the best healthcare program that anyone in the United States
has, bar none. .
People who are professionals always look for the channel of least
resistance when it comes to cutting money out of the Federal and DOD
budget. I can tell you this straight on, military retirees are one of
those channels of least resistance noted for sitting around, doing
nothing, and waiting for ole Joe to do it for them. You had better wake
up. Your medical benefits are prime target. If you lose them, you have
nobody to blame but yourself. Let me repeat that ... you have nobody to
bame but yourself.
The way to secure your benefits is to write to your members of
Congress and to keep writing and writing and writing. ONCE IS NOT
ENOUGH!! Keep repeating=2 0the above statement until you are blue in the
face.
Now I'm going to make one more statement to all of you younger
people out there who are not yet eligible for TRICARE for Life. HEALTH
CARE WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME THE DOMINATING FACTOR IN YOUR LIFE. Remember that . . . . it will impact you big time with the utmost in cruelty
unless you are fortunate enough to die from a heart attack or get run
over by a truck.
The service organizations will put20up a fight, but, they will
need your help and can't do it by themselves. I hope this makes it clear
as to what you can expect if you do nothing.
To show you how stupid these professionals can be at times just
read the data on the noted sites closely. You will see that in spite of
the MTFs (Military Treatment Facility) need to get patients back to keep
their doctors busy and the hospitals from going to clinic status, these
people from OMB would employ a means to keep retirees from using MTF
facilities by charging them a fee for services. . How dumb can you get.
Even if you are an Obama fan, and believe that changeth cometh,
TFL option from OMB will not go away. They need the money they spend on
you for other programs for people who produce nothing but votes to keep
their boss in office. If you know of anyone who is Retired Military, please forward this on to them. Bob
Remember- TFL is an "Earned Benefit" that's b een granted by a previous
Congress
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