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THE TRICARE PROGRAM
The military Tricare program has been approved to now include Medicare eligible military retirees. This program returns to them what was
promised when they elected to become "careerists" but which has been eroded over the past 25 years. Here is a DOD press release that will be of interest to all retired military in this area:
DOD
announces expanded health care for retiree community
WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Medicare-eligible uniformed services retirees, their spouses and survivors who are age 65 and over will be entitled to expanded health
care benefits under legislation signed by President Clinton, Oct. 30.
According to the Department of Defense, this population represents approximately 1.4 million people. The new benefits include
coverage under TRICARE, the military's health care program, and pharmacy coverage.
April 1, 2001, is the start date for eligible beneficiaries to receive pharmacy benefits to include access to military
treatment facility pharmacies, the National Mail Order Pharmacy program and retail pharmacies.
Beneficiaries who currently are age 65 or older or who will be 65 before April 1, 2001 will be eligible to use
the pharmacy benefit without being enrolled in Medicare Part B. Those who turn 65 on or after April 1, 2001 will need to be enrolled in Medicare Part B in order to use the pharmacy benefit.
Effective October
1, 2001, under the new law, eligible beneficiaries who continue to receive medical care from their current Medicare providers will have TRICARE as their second payer. TRICARE will pay their out-of-pocket costs for
services covered under Medicare. In addition, they will have access to TRICARE benefits which may not be covered under Medicare. To participate in the health program, beneficiaries must be eligible for Medicare Part
A and enrolled in Medicare Part B.
"We are pleased to have the legislative authority to provide our Medicare-eligible beneficiaries health care benefits similar to those other military beneficiaries
receive," said Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs J. Jarrett Clinton. "We have begun to work out the many details for each new authority and will continue to update our Web site as we
progress. This new authority gives us the ability to keep the faith with America's military."
According to TRICARE Management Activity officials, who will administer the new benefit, eligible seniors
should not immediately cancel their current "Medigap" insurance coverage. The DOD is working with the Health Care Financing Administration (the organization that administers the Medicare benefit) to
provide the most accurate information on the appropriateness of continued enrollment in "Medigap" insurance policies.
TRICARE Management Activity officials said eligible beneficiaries should do two
things now to ensure their future eligibility for TRICARE benefits.
First, they should update their Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System record with their correct address and any changes in family
status such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption. Home addresses are important because the address on file with DEERS is used to send out information on health benefits. In addition, health benefits could be
denied if DEERS is not updated to reflect a new spouse or child. Retirees may update DEERS by:
- Going to the nearest military personnel office
- E-mailing changes to addrinfo@osd.pentagon.mil
- Mailing
changes to the DEERS Support Office, ATTN: COA, 400 Gigling Road,
Seaside, CA 93955-6771
- Calling the toll-free numbers for the DEERS Support Office, 1-800-334-4162
(California only), 1-800-527-5602
(Alaska and Hawaii), and 1-800-538-9552
for the rest of the United States
Second, eligible beneficiaries should enroll in Medicare Part B if they haven't already. If they are not sure if they are enrolled,
they can check the back of their Social Security card for this information. To enroll, beneficiaries must submit an application for Medicare Part B directly to the Social Security Administration. The General
Enrollment Period for enrollment in Medicare Part B is held January 1 through March 31 of each year, and Part B coverage starts on July 1 of that year.
For details on enrollment in Part B, beneficiaries may
call the SSA toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213, or visit any Social Security office. They also can find information on the Medicare Web site, at http://medicare.gov. For more information on TRICARE, go Online at www.tricare.osd.mil//ndaa/fast_facts.htm
CARING ABOUT KIDS
Caring About Kids Community Building Mentor Program is a program that recruits, screens, trains, and certifies caring adults who then volunteer at comunity-based
youth orgamizations with their own community - often in their own neighborhood! This model creates a pool of trained, certified mentors
and supports a variety of mentoring opportunities which impact youth and
their families.
Unlike traditional mentor programs, Caring About Kids asks for ONLY a 5-hour
commitment. That's it! Not 5 hours a week or even 5 hours a month. Just 5 hours, period.
This committment level provides an easy, low-risk avenue for becoming involved and opens the door for many adults to volunteer. (Most volunteers go far beyond the five hour commitment, and many are giving as much as five hours a month or even five hours a week. Many mentors report that if the expected up-front commitment had been longer, they would not have become involved as a mentor.)
The Caring About Kids Community Building Mentor Program places the community itself at the center of its own program development (mentoring site development, recruitment, and the implementation of its own
youth mentoring
program). In this way, individual communities take the lead role in the process of creating its own infrastructure that provides meaningful
opportunities for the young people who life in
that community.
For more information, you can email your questions or comments to cav@cncnet.com
This program is sponsored by Community Alternatives to Violence, which is a program of Northern Valley Catholic Social Service (a United Way agency).
Funding is through the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention.
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OROVILLE INTERNET USERS GROUP
The next meeting of the OIUG will focus on protecting your computer and personal information from outside "invaders".
Every time you connect to the internet, your computer is exposed to the outside world. Anyone can access the information on your computer. Learn how to protect your computer from hackers. Richard Cooper will present "Firewalls - Computer Protection" on February 13, 2001 at the Depot Restaurant beginning at 6:30 pm.
BIRDCAGE THEATRE
Opening on January 19th is Birdcage Theatre's production of Waiting for Godot, by Thomas
Beckett.
Performances on Friday and Saturday evenings begin at 8 pm and Sunday matinees are at 2 pm. Tickets may be purchased for $8.00 each at Kelly's Book Store or on an "as available" basis at the theater located at 1740 Bird Street, Oroville. Often regarded as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, this deeply philosophical work plays more like "Laurel and Hardy meet Boris and Natasha". Thomas Overland is the director. The play will run weekends only through February 4th.
LET'S BEAUTIFY DOWNTOWN OROVILLE
The Oroville Downtown Business Association Board of Directors has entered into a continuing program to beautify Oroville,
especially the downtown area. The program is simple, direct, and works. If you are a business owner or employee, talk to those you work with and those on either side of you about the following:
1.
If you see trash, pick up the piece of paper and put it in a trashcan.
2. If you see more than one piece of paper, pick up one at a time.
3. Sweep the sidewalk in front of your store or
office once a week.
4. Check your displays for cleanliness and display of your merchandise.
5. Comment on the displays to someone you work with each day.
6. Wash the front of your store
(sidewalk and walls) each week with a hose.
This worked for Grass Valley. They went from a 35% vacancy rate to 6% in a very short time. If you are interested in joining in building a great
Oroville, call and leave your name and address at 534-8393.
Thank you. Bob Hewitt
Senior Companion Program may be for you!
In exchange for 20 hours a week as a volunteer, you will receive a Stipend that will not affect any other government or private benefits that you may receive. And it is tax free to boot.
Senior companions must be 60 years of age or older and willing to help other seniors by friendly visiting, running errands, writing letters, preparing simple meals, reading or engaging in activities like playing
cards or completing a jigsaw puzzle. It is really a great program where Senior serve other Seniors.
If interested call the Senior Companion Program at 800-822-0109
MOUNTAIN CAREGIVER RESOURCE CENTER
The Mountain Caregiver Resource Center, which is part of
the Janet Levy Center Group, has announced a free, new online service for family
caregivers: <Link2Care>. Enrollment will begin in November 1999. It will provide
1- expert advise on a wide range of caregiving issues,
2 - a direct line to information and support,
3 - help with balancing, caregivig and other responsibilities,
4 - the
opportunity to join an on line community of caregivers.
For more information call (530) 898-5025 or (800) 822-0109. Check out the website: http://www.caregiver.org
Charles Hansen, Advisory Council Member, Area Agency on Aging
Prescription Drugs for Medicare Senior Citizens
SB 393, which was passed by the current legislature in September and signed
by Governor Davis in October, autorizes certain prescription drugs be sold to medicare participates at the same price that they are sold to Medical patients. This bill, which goes into effect on 1 Jan 2000 and
will remain in effect until 1 Jan 2003 states that individuals on Medicare may purchase prescriptions at the Medi-Cal rate (provided the drug is on the Medi-Cal formulary). The state Dept. of Health Services is in
the process of developing implementation plans. The Longs Pharmacy Headquarters rep. has stated that Longs Drugs will be ready to implement the new law on 1 Jan, however, HICAP advises that it will be the smaller
pharmacies that will experience implementation delays. For more detailed info you might check out the State Senate Web site or call HICAP at 898-5961
Charles Hansen,
Mbr. Advisory Council
Area Agency on Aging
GIRL SCOUTS MUSEUM LOOKING FOR HELP
Girl Scouts are collecting old Girl Scout equipt, books, uniforms, cards, pen, patches, badges and putting them on display as a museum.
If you have any old or new items for Girl Scouts (even post cards, papers,etc) We really would appreciate receiving them from you. Marian at
Bomar@cncnet.com
There are lots of vacancies in troops
or if you want to help out girls and help them do a special project please call 1-800-223-1904.. Tell them you are from Oroville and you read about Girl Scouts on this site. Marian at bomar@cncnet.com
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