It’s a new year, which means it may be time to replace the old with the new. Do you have old or outdated TRICARE brochures or handbooks laying around? If so, now is a great time to check out the new 2019 TRICARE benefit resources. Visit TRICARE Publications to get started.
TRICARE publishes handbooks, newsletters, brochures, fact sheets, and more. You can view, print, or download a variety of these TRICARE resources. To find what you’re looking for, select a category from the dropdown menu (for example, TRICARE Plans, Life Events, Newsletters) and then select the search button. Or, find a resource by “Publication Title” or “Date Posted.” Select either to begin your search. You’ll find products covering a wide range of topics, like retiring from active duty, Medicare, and maternity care. TRICARE resources are continually updated and added. A few are highlighted below.
And it is home. The first @BoeingDefense KC-46 touches down at McConnell to join the @22ARW pic.twitter.com/30Z8i6fXJr
— Brian Everstine (@beverstine) January 25, 2019
You may remember the actor Tim Conway from his comic skits on The Carol Burnett Show in the 1970s or his role as a bumbling ensign in the 1960s sitcom McHale’s Navy. His comedy classics, featuring his ad-libbing and out-of-turn laughter, include a famous skit in which he plays a hapless dentist with Harvey Korman as his patient.
But Conway, age 84, was in the headlines recently for far different reasons. When he was incapacitated by dementia, his family became entangled in a dispute over his care. One of Conway’s daughters from his first marriage and his second wife wound up in Los Angeles probate court, fighting over sole conservatorship.
From the Kaiser Health News website
As of January 1, in the name of transparency, the Trump administration required that all hospitals post their list prices online. But what is popping up on medical center websites is a dog’s breakfast of medical codes, abbreviations and dollar signs — in little discernible order — that may initially serve to confuse more than illuminate.
Anyone who has ever tried to find out in advance how much a hospital test, procedure or stay will cost knows the frustration: “Nope, can’t tell you” or “It depends” are common replies from insurers and medical centers.
While more information is always welcome, the new data will fall short of providing most consumers with usable insight.
Link to the Hawaii Pacific Health price list
Link to the Kaiser Permanente price list
Retiree News photograph
This undated photograph shows a young Joseph Kim and Cliff Heen. In the background is a lei bedecked Mick Melich, but we are unsure if this was his pinning celebration in 1997, or retirement party in the early 2000s.
An Air Force Academy graduate, Joe served several years in the Air Force before joining the newly formed 203rd Air Refueling Squadron. He went on to serve in key staff positions before becoming the 154th Wing Commander. He later served as the Deputy Adjutant General until his military retirement. Before leaving State service, he served as the Deputy Director of the Tax Department.
Cliff served in the 154th Wing before leaving at mid-career to work for Young Brothers. His current status is not known.
Medicare costs change each year, so if you’re 65 or older, it’s important to understand and review your benefits for the upcoming year. Some new rules affect the cost of prescription drugs covered under Part D (Medicare’s prescription drug benefit) and change the times when you can revise your Medicare health and drug coverage.
Retired military can use TRICARE for Life as their Part D, providing you have a PART B plan
From the This Day in Aviation website
28 January 1919: Colonel Francis Stanley (“Gabby”) Gabreski, United States Air Force, was born at Oil City, Pennsylvania. He was the second child of Stanley Gabryszewski, a railroad car repairer, and Jozefa Kapica Gabryszewsky, both immigrants from Poland.
After two years of study at the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of the Cracow Club, Francis S. Gabreski enlisted as a Flying Cadet in the United States Army Air Corps, 28 July 1940, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was 5 feet, 8 inches (172.7 centimeters) tall and weighed 146 pounds (66.2 kilograms). Gabreski was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Air Corps Reserve, 14 March 1941.
28 January 1986. STS-51-L mission. Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart after lift-off, killing all seven astronauts on board. pic.twitter.com/EJcQMso22e
— Ron Eisele (@ron_eisele) January 28, 2019
STS-51-L crew: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik. (NASA image)
As troops sit down to file their 2018 income tax returns, the Defense Department wants them to know that some significant changes in tax law could put more money in their pockets.
But to maximize their refund, they should know about several new rules.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act, the Combat Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act and DoD policy changes all have affected the tax code as it applies to military personnel, explained Army Lt. Col. David Dulaney, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council during a phone call with reporters on Friday.
The good news, Dulaney said, is that most service members “should see a substantial reduction in the overall federal taxes for 2018, even if their itemized deductions are suspended or capped because of changes in tax code.”
Increased standard deductions and reduced tax rates, introduced in late 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, affect nearly all service members, and a doubling of the child tax credit will help those with children, Dulaney said.
“Most of our military families will see a substantial reduction of their overall tax liability,” he said.
Several other changes apply to specific populations within the military community, Dulaney said. Here are some of the changes that apply:
Retiree News photograph
This photograph was taken at the wedding reception for Chris and Paul Wilson on October 26, 2002. Martin “Marty” Moerschell and Randall Tom were among the event guests.
Marty served in the Air Force before becoming the Executive/Personnel Officer at the Headquarters, 201st Combat Communications Group. He served in that position until his retirement the he relocated to his home town, St. Louis, Missouri.
Randy enlisted in the Hawaii Air National Guard and was later commissioned. He served at Headquarters, Hawaii Air National Guard, and later became the Commander of the then-154th Mission Support Flight. His last position before his retirement was with the Human Resources Office (HRO).
I have lived in a continuing care retirement community since 2007 and offer the following items for consideration. This checklist is general in nature and intended to provide a framework for your use in developing your own list incorporating your personal needs and desires.
Remember when visiting any retirement community, especially one with vacancies, the helpful person conducting your tour may be a professional sales person with the primary objective of closing the deal. Also carefully evaluate resident recommendations from friends, acquaintances, or those you meet during your tour especially in group settings.
Prior to visiting any retirement community you may want to request information from them, review their web site, Google local news media web sites to determine if there is any coverage of the community, etc. I also recommend anyone considering CCRCs read Vera Wilson’s timely article Will your retirement community outlast you?, and the GAO’s 2010 Report on CCRCs.
From the Military Times website
The Defense Department could “harvest significant savings” by consolidating commissary and exchange systems into one entity, and the benefits would “far exceed the costs,” according to new recommendations from a defense task force.
But some service and exchange officials have pushed back hard on that finding, with a Navy position paper describing the analysis as “flawed beyond repair.”
The draft report from the task force says its analysis supports merging the above-store functions of the exchange systems entirely, along with the above-store functions of the commissary agency, into a single organization, while keeping specific grocery functions separate.
Retiree News Photograph | click to enlarge
Dr. Patrick Nam, the then-154th Medical Squadron’s optometrist, retired after a long Air Force/Hawaii Air National Guard career. This photograph was taken at his retirement party on May 1, 1996.
Pat continues his private practice at his Kamehameha Shopping Center office.
Then-Capt Stanley Sato is the other person in this photograph. Stan was the other optometrist serving in the squadron. He advanced through the ranks to colonel and currently serves and the 154th Medical Group commander.
He continues his private practice at the Vision Center of the Kunia Walmart.
Two great individuals
From the Kaiser Health News website
Older adults need to eat more protein-rich foods when losing weight, dealing with a chronic or acute illness, or facing a hospitalization, according to a growing consensus among scientists.
During these stressful periods, aging bodies process protein less efficiently and need more of it to maintain muscle mass and strength, bone health and other essential physiological functions.
Even healthy seniors need more protein than when they were younger to help preserve muscle mass, experts suggest. Yet up to one-third of older adults don’t eat an adequate amount due to reduced appetite, dental issues, impaired taste, swallowing problems and limited financial resources. Combined with a tendency to become more sedentary, this puts them at risk of deteriorating muscles, compromised mobility, slower recovery from bouts of illness and the loss of independence.
