Tricare Can Pay for Medical Travel for C-123 Vets With Agent Orange Illnesses*

Combat-Related Special Compensation Travel Benefit - offered to C-123 Vets who are military retirees with Agent Orange Illnesses!

Are you a retired military?
Were you awarded Combat-Related Special Compensation? CRSC is available for Agent Orange-related illnesses such as prostate cancer, IHD, diabetes, soft tissue sarcoma, ALS and other problems.

If you answered yes to both of these questions, you probably qualify for the combat-related special compensation (CRSC) travel benefit.

What is the CRSC Travel Benefit?

If you have to travel more than 100 miles for specialty care related to your combat-related disability, the CRSC travel benefit reimburses your travel expensesThe actual costs incurred while traveling, including meals, gas, tolls, parking and tickets for public transportation (i.e., airplane, train, bus, etc.).. If you need to see a specialist but need to travel 100 miles or more...Tricare can cover your expenses.

How do you qualify for the benefit?

To qualify, you must:

• Get retired pay 
• Be awarded a CRSC determination letter from AFMC’s CRSC Board identifying your combat-related disability or disabilities
• Live in the United States
• Be covered by TRICARE Standard and Extra or TRICARE For Life
• Get a referral from your provider for specialty care related to the combat-related disability
• Travel more than 100 miles from your referring provider's office to get the care

Note: If you're enrolled in TRICARE Prime or the US Family Health Plan, you qualify for the TRICARE Prime Travel Benefit, so you won't qualify for the CRSC Travel Benefit.

What can be reimbursed?

Only costs for actual travel expenses such as lodging, fuel (rather than mileage), meals, parking, tolls or other costs associated with getting the specialty care.

• You must use the least costly mode of transportation 
• Government rates are used to estimate the reasonable costs for allowable expenses

Please contact your TRICARE Regional Office for more information about reimbursable expenses and authorization requirements.

New TRICARE Nurse Advice Line Now Available

On Friday April 25th TRICARE’s new Nurse Advice Line (NAL) started service throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. In March they began what they called a soft launch in six sites to make sure the system worked. The six sites were Military Treatment Facilities at NH Oak Harbor, NH Pensacola, GLWACH, Fox AHC, Seymour Johnson AFB and Whiteman AFB.

In 21 days they received 628. 137 were general health care questions while 501 calls were about an injury or illness. 60% of the call were about adults and 40% were for children.  95% of the callers said that were planning to go to an emergency call or urgent care before the call. After the call:

• 29% of the callers were advised by the nurse to go to an emergency room or urgent care
• 20% were given appointments at MTFs and
• 51% decided they did not need to go to an emergency room urgent care or have a appointment made for them.
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The NAL is 24/7 and toll free. If you are sick, hurt or just have a question all TRICARE beneficiaries can immediately speak to a trained medical professional by calling
1-800-TRICARE (874-2273) 
For more information please go to:
www.tricare.mil/CoveredServices/BenefitUpdates/Archives/04_25_14_
NurseAdviceLine

Why C-123 Veterans Are Seeking VA Service Connection for Agent Orange Illnesses

I was asked today by one of our veterans why are we requesting VA Agent Orange benefits.

The question was put to him by a local reporter during an interview last week in Phoenix.

I'm no expert but here's what I think apply but do your own research to be sure. The VA and DOD both have comprehensive web sites.

1. Proper honoring of your hazardous service to the Country
2. Most of our C-123 veterans are not retired military nor otherwise VA disabled, so the VA service connection for their Agent Orange-presumptive illnesses means VA medical care and compensation they don't now receive
3. All veterans with 50% or more VA disability can receive optical care, audio, prosthetics and other benefits not provided under Tricare. At 100% disability there is also dental care. At 80% disability plus unemployability, certain long term health considerations. I have been blessed with VA protection for two decades and am grateful for the skill and dedication of every health care practitioner I've encountered! VA care is not sought because it is free but because it is excellent!
4. VA compensation is tax-free and may "shelter" all or most of the military retiree's service pension
5. Most states have significant benefits for disabled veterans, such as property tax relief, motor vehicle registration, etc.
6. Survivors of veterans who die of service-connected illnesses and injuries, or who are totally disabled for ten years or more, are eligible for Dependent's Indemnity Compensation of approximately $1250 per month, tax exempt
7. If the military retiree was paying for survivor benefits and the survivor is also eligible for VA's DIC, the premiums withheld from the military pension are refunded to the survivor
8.  VA medical care to veterans who have to travel certain distances is reimbursed
9. Agent Orange illnesses make military retirees eligible for "combat related special compensation" and can mean keeping certain percentages of both the military pension and the VA pensions
10. Most of us are past having children in college, but eligible dependents have generous federal and often, state educational benefits
11. Disabled dependents of disabled veterans have certain benefits, including benefits which survive the veteran

There are certainly more reasons to seek a VA disability claim than are listed here...and an hour on the Internet or spent visiting a veteran's service officer from your state or DAV,VFW or Legion will be more informative.

May 14-15: C-123K documents gathered, VA benefits explained

Lots of time on the Internet. How did folks ever put one and one together to make a case about something before the Internet came along? I found one of my father-in-law's concept papers which he wrote while with Rand Corporation...published back in the '60s and still online! 
Anyway, lots of time writing veterans' organizations, with specific appeals to noted military writers and the Air Force Times to try to get some traction on this issue of C-123K contamination. 
No FOIAs in yet, with the first expected June 10 or so. Some very kind advice from very skillful FOIA officers in many instances...our thanks! 
Today I posted the 21MB  complete presentation of our Agent Orange-C-123K argument, suitable for reprinting with a cover, title page, concept, supporting documentation (what we have thus far, absent the FOIA results), and back cover. What we also need is professional guidance...somebody to smack some science into this, taking the various source documents like the site surveys and the flight records, and building a case for certain exposure to Agent Orange. 
We also don't have a word from any of our maintenance guys! John Harris knows some of them, and we need the word put out to those units which were at Rickenbacker and Pittsburgh. 
I'm "fortunate" in having a 100% VA disability rating and Air Force retirement as well, but we all know that most of the folks we flew with aren't that blessed. Lots have their AF retirement and some a VA disability, but more  deserve it. What are the advantages of having BOTH?