Financial Frontlines®

For all you Tricare Standard folks, some good news.

Standard users can obtain the below listed preventive services at no costs. Tricare wants to help prevent illnesses to hold down the costs of having to deal with more serious issues later. This no-cost service applies whether you’ve met your deductible or not. There are no excuses for skipping these check ups now:

+ Immunizations
+ Colorectal cancer
+ Breast cancer
+ Cervical cancer
+ Prostate cancer
+ Well-child visits for kids under age 6

These no-cost services apply to your beneficiaries as well. This offer does not apply to members who have Medicare coverage. Normal Tricare for Life rules apply for Medicare eligibles.

This offer is good for services rendered on or after 14 Oct 2008 even though the program wasn’t implemented until 1 Sept 2009. Reimbursement claims can be filed with your regional contractor. See the Tricare.mil web site for information on submitting reimbursement claims.

For more information, check here for descriptions of services provided or check here to find a Tricare Benefits Counselor in your area.

Since the passage of the Health Care Reform bill, the number one question here at MOAA has been, “Will Tricare increase the age of a dependent to 26 to match the new law?”

Answer: Yes, but it won’t be soon. Military health care and Tricare fall under a different set of laws than the Health Care Reform act. Military health care requires changes in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). For the dependent age to increase to 26, the NDAA must authorize it. It will. Probably when the NDAA for FY2011 is passed which is usually around October or November of this year.

Then, once the law changes to allow 26 year olds, it has to flow through the bureaucracy. This could take a year…give or take. After a legal change, all the directives, policies, instructions, regulations, publications, computer systems, publication in the Federal Register with the required comment period, and the contracts with the Tricare insurance providers must change.

Oh, and don’t be surprised if when this change occurs, coverage for dependents over the age of 23 requires a premium. Don’t have any info to base this on, just a “worse-case-scenario” hunch.

In the meantime, check out these options if you need health care for an older dependent:

Tricare Continued Health Care Benefit Program

The MOAA Short-term Health Plan

www.ehealthinsurance.com

Now that the stock market has rallied back 70% from the lows of last March, the pain of loss and the fear what might happen next have been forgotten.  Even those investors who sold out last year are beginning to compare recent stock market performance to the meager returns on their “safe” investments and wondering if they should get back into stocks. 

Human nature is fascinating.  Despite the fact that we all know we should be buying low and selling high, we always seem to feel better doing the exact opposite.

Feelings can be a powerful tool, particularly our intuition.  There are countless tales of men in combat who survived ambushes or booby traps simply because they “had a funny feeling that something was just not right.”   Intuition also helps us in everyday situations when we get that gut feeling that someone isn’t telling us the truth or something is out of place.  We ignore those hunches at our peril.

But the stock market is different.  When it comes to investing, that gut feeling is far more likely to lead you astray then help you.  We routinely feel comfortable (if not euphoric) at market tops and afraid (if not panicky) when the market is bottoming.  What is worse is that our feelings are much more powerful than our reasoning which is why so many people end up buying high and selling low.

There have been three huge rallies over the last twelve years.  The first two (up 60% and 100%) were followed by gut-wrenching declines (down 50% and 55% respectively).  The current rally that brought the market back 70% from the lows has produced wide-spread feelings of overconfidence among investors (not to mention complacency about the risks).  Acting on those feelings is both natural and hazardous.

This is why you need a written investment plan that is customized to your personal situation and based on a proven investment strategy.  Without a well-developed plan we are slaves to our emotions – whether we realize it or not.  Nearly forty years in this business have taught me that the biggest obstacle to financial success is our own human nature.  Ignoring that fact could cost you a lot of money.

The following is from a MOAA member who works with the IRS as a member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel or TAP.  He provides useful information that may help if you find the going tough during this tax season.  Enjoy.

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By:  JOHN S.S. KIM, LtCol, USAF (Retired), TAP Representative from Hawaii

The IRS wants to help you.  IT’S TRUE!!  As we rapidly approach the IRS deadline to file last year’s income taxes, the IRS wants to know of any problems you may have experienced, issues that may have arisen, or suggestions that you may have for improving the process.  In fact, there is a whole staff of IRS employees and volunteers from every state (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) whose purpose is to receive, research, and resolve tax issues and suggestions.  That organization, the TAXPAYER ADVOCACY PANEL (TAP), serves as focus groups for the IRS providing input on strategic initiatives and providing a venue for raising issues identified by citizens.

While TAP does not directly work issues related to or requiring legislative or statutory changes, it has dealt with hard to use forms, confusing instructions, errors in computer processing, and with numerous suggestions to make filing easier for all citizens.

For more information, you can go to the TAP website at  http://www.improveirs.org/ or call the national toll-free phone number: 1-888-912-1227.

If you are interested in serving as a TAP member from your state, TAP will be conducting a new recruiting cycle from March 15 to April 30.  Information about application procedures and timelines are available on the website as well.

TAP want to help the IRS improve the tax filing processes.  To do that, we need input from you.  As you go through this year’s filing season, keep notes about things that didn’t seem to work right, frustrations that you encountered, and suggestions that you may have thought of.  Then, communicate those notes to the TAP.  Even better—apply to become a member of this federal organization whose sole existence is to help American citizens.

As current or former military members and families, we have all previously dedicated ourselves to service our country.  We are willing to contribute resources to keep America strong and free—and that includes paying our fair share of taxes.  The TAP is ready, willing, and able to help make that process better.