Armed Forces News Issue: Friday: September 24, 2004 FEDweek is the largest information resource in the federal Government with now over one million weekly readers of our weekly newsletters: FEDweek Retirement & Financial Planning Report Armed Forces News New--Federal Manager's Daily Report To sign up for any of these electronic newsletters, just go to http://www.fedweek.com.
*********************************************************** More Valuable Information for the Federal Family How to Build a Retirement Portfolio. Go to http://www.fedweek.com/RFPR/default.asp 2004 Interactive Federal Leave Record at http://www.fedweek.com/Services/default.asp Experts' View: http://www.fedweek.com/experts/default.asp Subscriber Services: http://www.fedweek.com/Services/default.asp ********************************************************** IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE 1. Penalty-Free Part B for Certain Medicare Beneficiaries 2. Part B Enrollment Jolts Some Beneficiaries 3. DFAS: myPay Users Must Request Future Documents 4. Navy Families Displaced Permanently From Bahrain 5. Tricare Prime Allotments Begin for Retirees 6. NMPRC Files Will Not Be Destroyed 7. Now, all AFN Readers Can Get Broadband DSL-Like Speed Over Your Phone Line at Home http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/148/0/ 8. Commissaries Commit to Getting Out the Vote 9. Single Exchange Plan Shelved 10. Court Hears USFSPA Lawsuit Motion 11. Eldercare: Protection Your Aging Parents' Assets-A Special Message to All Federal Employees, Military Members & Retirees. http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/1/0/ *********************************************************** 1. Penalty-Free Part B for Certain Medicare Beneficiaries The Defense Department has announced that Medicare-eligible military beneficiaries who are not enrolled in Medicare Part B will be enrolled automatically by the Social Security Administration during Sept. 2004 with no late enrollment surcharge. Such enrollments (which beneficiaries may decline) will make them eligible for Tricare or Tricare for Life health benefits, depending upon their status. Also, beneficiaries who enrolled in Part B since 2001 and are paying more than $66.60 per month will receive a refund for the premium surcharges paid since January 2004. Those who have paid premium surcharges during 2004 will have them refunded automatically as well. Beneficiaries who do not receive a notice by Nov. 1 should contact their local Social Security Office. If they have questions about enrolling in Medicare Part B, they may call SSA toll free, at (800) 772-1213 or visit any Social Security office. 2. Part B Enrollment Jolts Some Beneficiaries While Medicare-eligible military retirees and spouses aged 65 and over who did not enroll in Medicare Part B automatically will be enrolled this month without a penalty (previous item), some 16,000 under age 65 may be in for a surprise. Due to government failures in data cross-matching and lack of understanding by members of this group, they may have been using Tricare without being enrolled in Medicare Part B. These beneficiaries, who draw Social Security Disability Insurance payments, are being informed that the law requires them to be enrolled in Part B in order to participate in Tricare, and that they are being enrolled automatically. The Defense Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services discovered the error last April, but, due to urging from several veterans' organizations, opted to let the beneficiaries retain their Tricare eligibility at that time without requiring any paybacks. 3. DFAS: myPay Users Must Request Future Documents The Defense Finance and Accounting Service has informed retired military users of the myPay system that if they want to receive printed paper documents in the future, they will have to notify DFAS. Retired members can either call the customer contact center at 1 (800) 321-1080 between 7 a.m., and 7:30 p.m. Eastern time anytime during the year or log on to myPay by October 31, 2004 at https://mypay.dfas.mil to select the hardcopy option associated with each document they prefer to have mailed. According to DFAS, the myPay service provides convenience, privacy, security, and the capability to view and print individual personal retirement account information 24 hours a day. In addition, myPay provides on-line availability of Tax Form 1099R and the annual retiree account statement. In the future DFAS will not print and mail these documents routinely. 4. Navy Families Displaced Permanently From Bahrain Effective immediately, all Navy tours in Bahrain are now unaccompanied, said Navy Personnel Command officials. Accordingly, more than 900 Navy family members who were evacuated from Bahrain on July 12 and flown to Norfolk, Va., must find new housing. Once they choose where they want to live, they will receive the equivalent of permanent change of station orders. Because they were allowed to leave Bahrain only with suitcases, the remainder of their household goods will be packed by Navy teams in country. The HHG eventually will be shipped to each family's new home. For more information call the Fleet and Family Service Center at (800) 372-5463; the Navy Customer Service Center at (866) U-ASK-NPC (prompt 3); the Navy Household Goods Helpline at (800) 444-7789; the Navy One Source at (800) 540-4123 (within U.S.) or (800) 540-41233 (outside U.S.); or visit the 5th Fleet Navy Repatriation Program site at www.cusnc.navy.mil/team/pages/family.htm. 5. Tricare Prime Allotments Begin for Retirees Military retirees enrolled in Tricare Prime now can choose to have premiums deducted from their retired pay via allotments. The allotments are being phased in between August and November. All transactions will be handled by the three TRICARE regional representatives. This option went into effect in August for the West region, September for the North and is set for October for the South with the first pay deductions starting the following month. Visit www.tricare.osd.mil for regional contact information. 6. NMPRC Files Will Not Be Destroyed It was rumored that the National Military Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo. was planning to automate its stored military records and would discard all the hard copies of those documents unless service members requested them. The Fleet Reserve Association has reported that a member of its editorial team called NMPRC about the rumor and was told that it was false. The NMPRC spokesman said that the facility does not plan to automate the files in the near future and they will not toss out any records. 7. 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Plus you'll get Spam controls to help keep your inbox free of junk email IF you're in pursuit of a fast, reliable Internet connection, Computer Networks Inc. has partnered with AFN to provide Internet Services to our readers at a special low rate as low as $9.45 per month with no long term contracts to sign (like most other internet service providers require). Best Choice: Turbo Accelerator Internet Service is the new CNW Turbo Internet access version 3.1 is the fastest and most comprehensive Internet accelerator available today. CNW offers DSL like speed over 56k dial-up connection and fast downloads of e-mail and Web pages--all for only $13.40 per month! For more information or to sign up today, go to http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/148/0/ or call CNW toll-free at 1-800 452-9201. This is a special offer to all AFN readers and their families, just another value added benefit for being a AFN reader. 8. Commissaries Commit to Getting Out the Vote Commissaries worldwide have joined forces with the Federal Voting Assistance Program office and the Defense Department to encourage service members, retirees and their families to register and vote. Commissary employees are working directly with installation voting assistance officers, and are providing voter information and registration tables. "Our store directors are reporting that as many as 40 to 60 people register to vote during commissary events," said Patrick Nixon, Defense Commissary Agency chief executive officer. The effort intensifies throughout September, when all citizens under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act are specifically encouraged to register to vote or request an absentee ballot, officials said. For more voting information, visit the Federal Assistance Voting Program Web page at www.fvap.gov/. 9. Single Exchange Plan Shelved An effort to consolidate the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Marine Corps Exchange and the Navy Exchange under a single headquarters has been put on hold, said the director of the Unified Exchange Task Force. The UETF now will focus on developing a "shared services" model, said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles J. Wax, task force director. The decision varies from guidance issued in May 2003 by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, stating he had decided "a single optimized Armed Service exchange system would best serve the department and exchange patrons." That decision met opposition, particularly from the Marine Corps and several veterans-oriented organizations. "The military services may retain their separate exchange-system headquarters as part of a reorganization plan being developed," said Wax. Instead, the organizations' finance and accounting, human resources, information and technology, logistics and non-retail procurement systems will be consolidated. 10. Court Hears USFSPA Lawsuit Motion On Sept. 10, the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., heard the government's motion to dismiss a lawsuit by the USFSPA Litigation Support Group (ULSG) to overturn a federal law that enables ex-spouses to share in retainer or retirement pay of retired service members. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the court stated it would need more time before rendering a decision. The ULSG wants to return to the policy that applied before 1981, the year that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McCarty v. McCarty that divorce courts could not touch veterans' retainer or retirement pay. The Uniform Services Former Spouses' Protection Act undid that Supreme Court ruling. The ULSG contends that the USFSPA is unconstitutional. 11. Eldercare: Protection Your Aging Parents' Assets-A Special Message to All Federal Employees, Military Members & Retirees. http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/1/0/ Dear Armed Forces Reader: Recently, we reintroduced to you a special handbook called "Eldercare" and since then the we've been flooded with orders along with receiving wonderful feedback from our readers. This is truly a special book that helps you protect your aging parents' (or grandparents') well-being and assets. Eldercare: Protecting Your Aging Parents' Assets and Preserving Your Own Inheritance was written in plain-English by our veteran team of estate planning experts to help you secure your parents' financial and personal assets in their golden years. Please pass this information onto your colleagues, friends and family-It's really a fantastic book! Thanks for reading FEDweek and Armed Forces News! Sincerely, Don Mace Publisher, Armed Forces News ELDERCARE: PROTECTING YOUR AGING PARENTS' ASSETS AND PRESERVING YOUR OWN INHERITANCE http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/1/0/ Most of us will become the caretakers of our elderly parents and in-laws. And as difficult as it may be to discuss money and other financial matters, it's crucial if we are to ensure the security and comfort of our parents in their golden years. Financial matters, ranging from investments and insurance to housing, health care and tax planning, are complicated enough for anyone, young or old. But your parents, who may be in declining health, will quite likely be ill-equipped to make the right decisions. In fact, they may be vulnerable to scam artists who prey on the elderly and intentionally talk them into poor financial decisions. That's why we've published: Eldercare: Protecting Your Aging Parents' Assets and Preserving Your Own Inheritance. Inside you'll find: Tell-tale signs that your parents need help with their finances Quick tips to getting started on managing your parents' finances How to handle reluctant and incapacitated parents Why daily money management is a growing eldercare industry Housing choices for the elderly Should you sell or keep the family home or buy or rent a new home? How to stay clear of con artists Special considerations for surviving spouses and remarriages How your parents can become your own elderly tax shelter The ramifications of selecting survivor's benefits How to get the most out of you parents' Social Security benefits How your parents become eligible for delayed retirement credits How to avoid the marriage penalty What's best for them, IRA rollover, lump-sum payout or annuity? Plain-English advice on your parents' mutual funds, stocks and bonds Many proven ways to stretch retirement income And much more! Here's a look at a partial table of contents for Eldercare: Protecting Your Aging Parents' Assets and Preserving Your Own Inheritance: I. GETTING PERSONAL WITH YOUR PARENTS Talking finances Dealing with your parents' existing advisors Finding new advisors, if necessary II. FOCUS ON FINANCES Social Security benefits Making the right decisions Portfolio strategies How to invest How (and how much) to withdraw Tapping Home Equity III. HEALTH CARE CONCERNS Medicare choices Traditional or Medicare HMOs? Medigap insurance With traditional Medicare, it's vital Incapacity planning Powers of attorney, trusts, joint ownership Long-term care insurance Medicaid planning if necessary IV. SAFE AT HOME Housing choices for the elderly Sell or keep the family home? Buy or rent a new home? Picking the right region Relocating Retirement communities Continuing care communities V. ESTATE PLANNING FOR EVERYONE Wills Trusts Letter of Instruction Funeral and burial plans Life insurance VI. TAX PLANNING Income taxes Reducing the tax bite on investment earnings, Social Security Estate taxes The current situation with the federal estate tax and what can be done now. *********************************************************** Go to http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/1/0/ Eldercare: Protecting Your Aging Parents' Assets and Preserving Your Own Inheritance is only $9.95 (plus $4.00 s&h) and you can order online through our publications' section of our website http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/294949482/821891/1/0/ under the "Investment & Financial Planning" Section or call our toll-free order line at (888) 333-9335. You may also send $13.95 to: FEDweek, P.O. Box 5519, Glen Allen, VA 23058. *********************************************************** Published by FEDweek LLC 11551 Nuckols Rd. 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