Military Officer - November 2007 - (Page 14)

yourviews MILIT ARY SEPTEMBER 2007 $4.50 THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF MOAA | ONE POWERFUL VOICE® W W W. M O A A . O R G OFFICER At War With Disease STILL ON THE TABLE Senate to consider 200 defense bill amendments 37 PLUS Plan your future with MOAA’s retirement guide 57 Sept_COVER.indd 1 “[DoD’s medical research program] is a ‘mean, lean, fighting machine’ attacking diseases.” — Kathy Zeitz DoD’s medical research programs find new ways to fight common cancers and rare illnesses 96 Fighting Disease [“Waging War on Disease,” September 2007] was an excellent overview of DoD’s unique medical research program. Thank you for explaining the role consumers play in reviewing the grant applications and lobbying Congress every year to maintain funding. As a breast cancer survivor and [a National Breast Cancer Coalition advocate], I can tell you another secret of the DoD research programs is their efﬁciency. With only 8.5 percent of the budget going to administrative costs, it is a rare example of government-funded research without wasted dollars. The program is a “mean, lean, ﬁghting machine” attacking diseases that affect so many military families. —Kathy Zeitz Surprise, Ariz. ginia from California and found it very difﬁcult to get a doctor to take me, especially when I needed a specialist. TRICARE For Life sounds wonderful, but it is of little use if not backed up by complete reimbursment to the physician — and do not blame the doctor. I am very grateful to MOAA for all the help they give to retirees; without them it would be a lot worse. —Natasha A. Greene Alexandria, Va. 8/2/07 5:28:12 PM much one cost and was told “about the price of a car,” but they could not tell me exactly because of some kind of policy. So I asked if I gave them a check for $15,000, would they give me one. I was told yes. Among other questionable charges was $500 each for two saw blades. When I questioned that, I got another shrug and some comment about one for each bone, whereupon I said that if I ever ordered a $500 saw blade, I would certainly make sure it could cut two bones. There are two sides of every issue, and I have found that the solution is usually somewhere between the extremes. TRICARE paid about $14,000, as I remember. —Lt. Col. T.S. Danielsen, USA-Ret. via e-mail The letters and articles on TRICARE coverage are of interest to me as a clinical psychologist who is a TRICARE provider. I ﬁnd it difﬁcult to be excited about treating patients with TRICARE as they only pay about one-third of my fees. They require more paperwork for authorizations and then can stop treatment in the middle without notice and not pay for services provided. Efforts to get this clariﬁed take additional time on the patient and provider’s part. [A] recent patient returned from Afghanistan with PTSD trauma issues after a one-year tour. … He sought out care from me and used treatment well and resolved the PTSD. However, treatment was interrupted, I was required to send multiple letters to two different ﬂight surgeons, and I have had to do other tasks for this case without any reimbursement. Medicare rates are already low and inadequate, but this year psychologists had to suffer a 9-percent TRICARE Reimbursement I totally agree with Lt. Col. J.V. Kelso III about TRICARE [“Your Views,” September 2007]. I moved to Vir14 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2007 While I appreciate Lieutenant Colonel Kelso’s concern, much the opposite happened to me when I had knee replacement surgery in 2000 when I was on TRICARE. After I resolved an issue between a statement of nonavailability and a “special” statement of non-availability … I decided to audit the more than $53,000 bill. The ﬁrst item I questioned was more than $34,000 for “4 knee implant systems.” I told the lady I only had two knees, and only one had been replaced. She shrugged her shoulders. I then went to the surgeon and found out who made the system and called them. I asked how http://WWW.MOAA.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - November 2007

Military Officer - November 2007 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Cover Story: Commanding the Corps With Love, From Home Financial Guidebook Financial Tuneups Banking on Your Time Pages of History MOAA Scholarship Recipients Faces of MOAA MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - November 2007

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