TRICARE Town Meetings In Mississippi Comments

 

TRICARE Town Meetings In Mississippi
~ Open to all TRICARE Beneficiaries Nationwide ~

Congressman Ronnie Shows
Announces
"Tricare Town Meetings"
in Mississippi
to Focus on
Military Retiree Health Care

(See Press Release and Tricare Town Meeting panel members below)

Monday, Feb. 18, 10:00 - 11:30 am
Jones County Junior College - JCJC
M. P. Bush Fine Arts Auditorium
900 South Court Street
ELLISVILLE, MS

Monday, Feb. 18, 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Jackson Medical Mall Auditorium
Livingston Street Entrance
350 W. Woodrow Wilson Drive
JACKSON, MS

Tuesday, Feb 19, 1:00 - 2:30 pm
Southwest Mississippi Community College
Fine Arts Building Auditorium
2000 College Drive
SUMMIT, MS

Nationwide participation by the Military Retiree Community is required to make this initiative a success.

Thank you,
Floyd Sears, MSGT, USAF (Retired) fsears@bellsouth.net
Jim Whittington, MSGT, USAF (Retired) jimw8869@megagate.com

PRESS RELEASE

January 28, 2002

Congressman Shows Announces "Tricare Town Meetings"
Military Retirees can question officials about military health care

(Washington) - Congressman Ronnie Shows (MS-04) announced today that he will participate in three "Tricare Town Meetings" on February 18th and 19th in Ellisville, Jackson and Summit, MS. These meetings are open to the public, and free of charge. They will allow people with questions or complaints about military health care to get answers from Defense Department Agency officials who are in charge of military health care.

These forums have been initiated by the Tricare Management Activity (TMA) office of the Department of Defense. Congressman Shows and officials from the Defense Department, the TMA and Humana will participate in these question-and-answer sessions.

On Monday, February 18, there will be "Tricare Town Meetings" at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., and at the Jackson Medical Mall Auditorium from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. On Tuesday, February 19, an additional meeting will be held in the Fine Arts Auditorium at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.

"All military retirees should get the health care they were promised, but Tricare just isn't working for many retirees, especially those who live in rural areas like Mississippi," said Congressman Shows. "One of my top priorities is making sure that military retirees receive the high standard of health care they were promised when they entered the service.

"In March 1999 I attended a Military Retiree Summit in Laurel organized by Laurel resident, Jim Whittington, and Floyd Sears of Ocean Springs. After hearing about this problem from over 400 military retirees at that meeting, I introduced a bill to fix the military retiree health care mess, " said Congressman Shows.

"My bill - The Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - led to the implementation of Tricare-for-Life. From now on, Tricare will act as a second payer for military retirees who qualify for Medicare, and those retirees now qualify for the generous Tricare pharmacy benefit."

"Unfortunately," said Congressman Shows, "I have heard from many military retirees who do not yet qualify for Medicare, and they are still having problems with Tricare. Some have difficulty getting medical appointments at military bases. Many who don't live near bases have trouble finding a doctor that will accept Tricare. Others have had difficulty with their claim filing, processing, or reimbursements.

"Needless to say, this is wrong," continued Congressman Shows. "To fix this problem I have introduced a bill that would allow any military retiree to elect coverage by the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP), the same plan offered to federal retirees and Members of Congress. If Tricare isn't serving them, they need more choices, such as FEHBP.

"I am happy to take part in these 'Tricare Town Meetings.' I want military retirees to go to the top with their concerns, and tell the folks from Tricare. If they can fix the system, then everybody wins. That is what I want," said Congressman Shows. "And this what Jim Whittington and Floyd Sears want, too. I am pleased that we will be at these meetings to make sure that the folks from Tricare answer each of the retiree's questions."


Ronnie Shows represents the 4th Congressional District of Mississippi in the United States Congress. He may be contacted by writing to: 1408 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, or by calling his Jackson Office at 601-352-1355 or Washington Office at 202-225-5865. Congressman Shows can also be contacted on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.house.gov/shows

Tricare Town Meetings
PANEL MEMBERS

Extracted from a Michael J. Brzezicki, CWO2, USCGR, PAHM e-mail.

The current planned list of panel members includes:

Brig Gen Dan Locker, USAF, MC, Commander, 81st Medical Group, and Lead Agent, DoD Health Services Region IV;

Col John Carleton, USAF, MSC, Executive Director, DoD Health Services Region IV;

Lt Col Edward Jenkins, USAF, MSC, Director, TRICARE-For-Life Region IV, DoD Health Services Region IV;

Lt Col James Whitton, USAF,MSC, Senior Health Program Analyst, TRICARE Management Activity;

Representative Ronnie Shows (D-Mississippi 4th);

and

Larry Burchfield, Executive Director. Humana Military Healthcare Services, Inc., Region 4 Regional Office.

Other panel members may be added. There will also be additional representatives at the “Town Meeting” from Representative Shows’ Washington, Jackson and Laurel offices, the DoD Health Services Region IV Lead Agent office and from Humana Military Healthcare Services to answer questions.

Feel free to redistribute as widely as possible via whatever means is available, this is open to all TRICARE beneficiaries.

Michael J. Brzezicki, CWO2, USCGR, PAHM
U.S. Coast Guard Liaison Officer
Chief, Network Development and Provider Relations
DoD Health Services Region IV / Lead Agent Office
111 G Street, Building 5901

Subject: Thanks for the Tricare Town Meetings.
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 11:56:20 -0500
From: "Alperson, Phil" Phil.Alperson@mail.house.gov
To: List

Hello, everybody. I am back at my desk.

On behalf of Congressman Shows, I want to thank everyone who participated, publicly or behind the scenes, to make the Town Hall meetings a success.

There was a healthy exchange between military retirees and the folks who provide their health care. I think everyone appreciates that DOD/Tricare is trying the best they can to serve their people, but that there is always room for improvement.

Congressman Shows recognizes that health care is a hot button issue for everyone in our country, and he understands that those who dedicated a career to defend our country certainly should receive the level of health care they were promised when they entered the service and earned upon retirement.

I want to thank Jack Stephens, Danny Shows, Brenda Vines, Diane James, Annette Gallaspy, Bergie Jones and Herman Price of Rep. Shows' staff who helped secure the meeting sites and attended to logistics to help the meetings run as well as they did

I don't have the names of everyone from DOD, Tricare or Humana who attended the meetings or worked behind the scenes (and there sure were a lot of you!) but please convey my appreciation to everyone who was involved. I do have the following names and want to thank them: Brig. General Locker, Larry Burchfield, Mike Brzezicki, Jim Whitton and Fred Borho.

On the grassroots front, I want to thank Jim Whittington of Laurel, Floyd Sears of Ocean Springs and Fred Gray of Meridian. Floyd could not attend due to illness but was missed. These are the only people on my "thank you list" who are not paid to do what they have been doing for military retiree health care. They are concerned citizens who put in countless hours on this issue out of the kindness of their hearts because they believe in their cause. Indeed, all of from offices in Congress and the Pentagon work for people like Jim, Floyd and Fred. As civil servants we appreciate their ongoing contributions that have led to siginificant improvements in health care for military retirees.

Again, thanks to all. The Congressman appreciates the hard work everyone put in to make these meetings a success. He appreciated the give-and-take that took place, and looks forward to working with DOD and Tricare in the future.


PHIL ALPERSON
Legislative Director
Rep. Ronnie Shows (D-Mississippi 4th)
1408 Longworth House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
202 225 5865 (Phone)
202 225 5886 (FAX)
http://www.house.gov/shows/

Subject: TMA MEETINGS IN MISSISSIPPI
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 20:56:11 -0600
From: "Jim Whittington" jimw8869@megagate.com
To: List

TO ALL:

This will probably be long but I hope you will bear with me. First my thanks to Gen. Locker and all the personnel that accompanied him to these meetings and that includes all uniformed personnel, TMA civilians
and Humana personnel.

What follows is my assessment of the TMA meetings in Mississippi on Monday and Tuesday of this week. I was at all three meetings. I know in advance that I will be HIGHLY criticized and chastised for my remarks and that is O.K.. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This just HAPPENS TO BE MINE.

There were 150 plus at the meeting in Ellisville and Jackson meeting. Perhaps 100 plus at the Summit MS. meeting. My thanks to Congressman Ronnie Shows, Phil Alperson and the staff that worked on this project. They were taking NOTES and listening. Hopefully, this will be translated into something meaningful and passed to other members of Congress. The point was made several times, if I recall, that the only way Tricare and Health care problems for military personnel are going to be resolved, from the time they hang up the uniform, is through the LEGISLATIVE PROCESS----CONGRESS.

I was told in a private conversation the contractors provide the numbers and stats that were discussed at these meetings and I have to agree with that because I have the same numbers printed from the web page. Just image that these same figures are use to BRIEF Congressional sub-committees or Committees. These committees would draw the same conclusion--We don't have a problem with Health care or Tricare for the Military. That too would be akin to asking Author Anderson about their audit of Enron. This is like letting the "proverbial Fox in the hen house"

I told several members of the visiting panel that Week days was not a good time to have meetings such as this because most people UNDER age 65 are still working, Sponsors and Spouses. Meetings like this have to be held at night or on Weekends.

These meetings, in my opinion, were well orchestrated. Probably one of the BEST PR and SALES jobs that I have seen in a long time. i.e. thanks for what you have done for your country, for the service you put in etc. etc. People that were in attendance were not there to hear that. They wanted answers on Health care, TRICARE. That was the way the program was advertised and billed. I would have to compare these meetings to Ken Lay, CEO of Enron talking to the employees and stockholders of Enron. Everything is good and going to get better.

I will also say that at least we moved up the ladder in Pay Grade. The first meeting I had in Laurel back in the late 95 early 96 time frame concerning Tricare, Keesler AFB sent a Major and two Sergeants to make the presentation. This time we had a B. General, some Lt. Col's, some Majors, some civilians from TMA and Humana. Quite an entourage compared to the first time however, not much has changed as for as presentation.

I asked this question at the Ellisville, MS. Meeting (1st meeting Monday morning) General, the Guard and Reserves that have been activated around the country have little choice except Tricare but yet the DOD has agreed to pay the premiums for DOD personnel. Why not all? The General replied, that is above my Pay Grade. Well General, if people are activated in Region 4, the area that you are responsible for, then it should be in your Pay Grade. Right? I did not get an answer.

This is what I refer to and this is the quote made by DOD. "Activated members who have private or employer based health care coverage also have the option of continuing that coverage under the terms of those policies. DOD has agreed to pay for the employee's federal health insurance program premiums for DOD civilians employee reservist who are called to active duty for an extended period". All Congressmen and Senators SHOULD be very upset that the DOD is not paying the premiums for those Guard/Reservist activated in their District or State. Is that asking too much? I think not.

The second question I asked was about the Clinics and Doctors that do not accept Tricare in Laurel (Jones County) area. A Lady answered the question and I don't know who she was working for. She answered that she had called the SAME clinics on Friday before the meetings on Monday and that all said they accepted Tricare. Here are some of the Clinics that accept Tricare:
Laurel Speech and Therapy
Laurel Anesthesia Group
Laurel Physical Therapy
Radiology Associates
Come on Folks, let's get real here. You are wanting numbers to look good. But when is the last time someone asked any of the above for an appointment? I would venture to say never. She also said she contacted the other actual clinics with Doctors, that I had contacted. I won't name those clinics but GUESS WHAT? I called these same clinics again on Tuesday Morning before going to McComb, MS. (Summit--site of 3rd meeting) and they told me again WE DON'T TAKE TRICARE STANDARD. We seem to have a mis-understanding or mis-communications mix up somewhere. RIGHT? Further on this subject, One individual (unnamed) tried to tell me I probably asked the wrong questions.

In the Jackson meeting, General Locker, in response to a question from the audience said, and I'll try to get this right, What some of you may need to do is to "RECRUIT YOUR DOCTORS" Did I hear that right? Yes I did. Some asked me after the meeting, what are we supposed to tell our Doctors? I was told, when I asked for clarification, in private, about this he said: Oh no, just let us know who the Doctor is and we'll call on him. I asked how often do you make office calls on Doctors about Tricare? about once a year. I was told.

From here on out in this memo, was all private conversations with the Uniformed personnel (except two), Civilians from TMA or Humana contractor.

Some uniformed personnel told me, We do have problems with Tricare. Keep doing what the "Grass Roots" is doing. You know that we do not set policy but rather carry out policy. All changes must come from higher up the food chain. They all assured me they are just doing their job and agree changes are necessary but will be hard to come by because CHANGES MUST COME FROM CONGRESS.

Some civilians told me, again in private, sure we have problems with tricare. We try to implement changes as they occur within the scope of the contracts.

The people in attendance at all three meeting began filtering out about half-way through the meetings. Many in attendance told me that it was not worth the effort. There were some very disgruntled and angry folks at all three meetings based on what they told me. Many, many of the people in attendance had the same opinion of these meetings as I have.

My final Assessment: Another "Dog and Pony Show". Some questions were answered. Some in general terms some in vague terms. Others that asked the questions were told see one of the Representatives after the meeting and give us your name an phone number and we'll get back with you. Web sites are not current and that was acknowledged to me in another of those private conversations. Further, not all retirees regardless of age are on the internet. I have been told only about 20%. Also, if you are on the internet their website is extremely difficult to navigate. The layers of bureaucrats or appointees is UNREAL. They further stated that when I asked about keeping everyone informed by mail out, Oh we don't do that. Why? No answer. Again folks, as a reminder, this is all from memory and a few notes and I know that there will be some rebuttal at the very least "WE HAD SOME MEETINGS".

Now for all:
I feel that I have let you down. Many questions needed to be asked and I didn't ask them. Why? At the beginning of the first meeting I realized this was not the time nor the place to ask the questions that I had. All the uniformed personnel (except 2 ) asked about Floyd Sears. Floyd could not attend due to back injury. My thanks to Fred Gray for his outstanding help. It was my honor to help. CONGRESS---CONGRESS--CONGRESS. Folks that is where the problems have to be solved. Do your part.

You may read and pass this around the internet or hit delete--your choice.

Thanks for your time.
Jim

Jim Whittington
MSGT--USAF--RET

Subject: Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees -- An Update from Congressman Ronnie Shows -- 21 Feb 2002 -- TRICARE Town Meetings In Mississippi
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 17:46:50 -0500
From: "Alperson, Phil" Phil.Alperson@mail.house.gov
To: List

Hello.

As you know, Congressman Shows participated in three "Tricare Town Meetings" in Mississippi earlier this week.

Before I summarize what transpired at these successful and informative Town Meetings, on behalf of Congressman Shows I want to express our thanks to everyone who helped put them on.

Thanks to our gracious hosts: Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Jackson Medical Mall (part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center) in Jackson, and Southwest Mississippi Community College in McComb.

Thanks to many personnel of DOD, Tricare and Humana. Your health care providers were well represented at the Town Meetings, with more personnel present than I can name. Brigadier General Dan Locker, head of the Keesler AFB Medical Center, led the delegation and conducted an in-depth review of Tricare services, along with Col. Larry Burchfield (retired) of Humana.

And of course we need to thank Jim Whittington of Laurel, Floyd Sears of Ocean Springs and Fred Gray of Meridian. They are concerned citizens who put in countless hours on this issue out of the kindness of their hearts because they believe in their cause. Indeed, Congressman Shows works for citizens like Jim, Floyd and Fred. He appreciates their ongoing contributions that have led to siginificant improvements in health care for military retirees.

Jim and Floyd are acknowledged leaders of the national grassroots effort to restore military retiree health care benefits, and were asked by DOD and the House Armed Services Committee to lend their names as co-hosts of the Meetings. Jim led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and opened the Meetings by introducing Congressman Shows. Although Floyd was unable to attend the Meetings, he collected questions and comments from retirees over the Internet that will be presented to Tricare. And Fred Gray has done a lot of independent research and shared his findings with the Tricare personnel.

As you know, Congressman Shows has been hearing from many military retirees -- especially those who do not yet qualify for TFL -- that they are unable to access Tricare providers. Congressman Shows is concerned that there may not be enough doctors, especially in rural areas far from military installations, that participate in Tricare. For those who cannot get the level of Tricare they deserve, Congressman Shows has been advocating for more health care options, by allowing them to opt into the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP).

But Tricare officials have told Congressman Shows that Tricare has been working hard over the years to find more providers and has made much headway in this regard. Last December, officials from Tricare and the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) asked Congressman Shows to coordinate these Town Meetings, to open lines of communication between retirees and their health care providers. An open dialogue would enable Tricare officials to hear first-hand from retirees, to learn what improvements the system needs in order to be more responsive. And it would better educate retirees as to the services that may actually available in their communities.

To this end, Congressman Shows was pleased with the results of the Town Meetings. There was a lot of give-and-take between retirees and health care providers. The Congressman certainly learmed a lot, as did everyine else in attendeance.

The Meetings were well attended, with roughly 400 - 500 total attendance. There were many questions and comments for General Locker and others from Tricare and Humana. Many questions related to the implementation of Tricare for Life (TFL). There is bound to be some confusion whenever a new program goes into effect, and retirees were able to get clear, up to date information from the experts on hand. In addition, Tricare and Humana had caseworkers on hand to help deal with Tricare problems that required individual attention.

Other questions pertained to the number of providers that are available in areas that are not near Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs). That was perhaps the biggest point of contention: whether there are enough Tricare providers in these areas and if not, why not? This concern was clearly aired and the Tricare/Humana representatives got that message. Tricare officials explained that some doctors are not well educated about Tricare or think back to earlier times when there were many kinks in the system that have since been worked out. Tricare recommended that retirees can ask Tricare to contact doctors they would like to have join the system.

Congressman Shows will continue to monitor this issue of access, and the Tricare representatives expressed their desire to make sure more providers are available. But Congressman Shows recognizes that there are retirees who need health care now, and cannot wait for legislative or administrative changes in the system that are slow to occur. That is why he continues to advocate for military FEHBP. Ideally, if access issues within Tricare can be addressed, then there would be little need for the FEHBP option.

Congressman Shows and General Locker pointed out that some matters related to Tricare access are out of Tricare's control. As you know, Tricare is funded within the DOD budget each year and must compete for funding with armaments and other defense needs. Or, as General Locker aptly pointed out, it is "the Department of Defense, not the Department of Health." Health care should not have to compete in this way, and Congressman Shows supports taking military health care "off budget" -- making it an entitlement just like other Federal health care programs, like FEHBP. But in the meantime, even though military health care has received more funding in recent years, Tricare needs even greater funding to be more responsive.

There were instances where Tricare officials and retirees did not see eye to eye. But overall these were handled in a cordial fashion. When the retirees needed to learn some new details about Tricare, they did. And when government official needed to learn from the retirees, I have absolutely no doubt they did because the retirees in the audience were not shy. (After reading their e-mails for three years, I am not surprised....)

Congressman Shows appreciates the hard work everyone put in to make these meetings a success. And, again, Congressman Shows got what he wanted and what he expected: a healthy dialogue between retirees and providers. He will continnue to work with everyone involved in the health care debate, so that all retirees get the quality care they were promised and earned.

Thanks again, everybody!


PHIL ALPERSON
Legislative Director
Rep. Ronnie Shows (D-Mississippi 4th)
1408 Longworth House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
http://www.house.gov/shows/

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