Retirement Services Office
Department of the Army Watervliet Arsenal
Buffington Street
Watervliet, York 12189-4000
2010 Edition

The Retirement Services Office, Watervliet Arsenal, publishes the Retired Military Bulletin. Statements/opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Arsenal or Department of the Army. Written correspondence can be sent to: Watervliet Arsenal, Department of the Army, 1 Buffington Street, ATTN: AMSTA-WV-RSO, Watervliet, New York 12189-4000.

E-mail should be addressed to: wvarso@gmail.com Twice weekly updates can be accessed on the web at: www.wvarso.com. Our telephone number is 518-266-5810 and our fax number is 518-266-5811. Editor: MSG Kenneth R. Hunter, USA (Ret). Web master: MSGT Edmund Shepard, USAF (Ret).

RETIREE APPRECIATION DAY 2010 -The Watervliet Arsenal’s Military Retiree Appreciation Day (RAD) will be held Saturday, April 17, 2010, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the New York State Police Academy on the uptown State Office Campus, 1200 Washington Avenue, Albany. For those attending the RAD for the first time, the State Police Academy is easily reached from Exit 3 off Interstate 90. We will have a number of speakers/representatives covering area of interest to military retirees including TRICARE, Delta Dental, DFAS, long term care insurance, Veterans Administration health care, PX/BX and more. In addition, there will be health screenings including blood pressure and glucose check. Our RAD is open to military retirees and their spouses, widows/widowers of military retirees, and to those in the “gray area” who are approaching their 60th birthday. Our office is staffed by volunteers and is in need of your help to make this event a success. Our service area covers 11 counties and serves nearly 7500 military retirees. When we learn of the death of a military retiree we send a condolence card to the family with an offer of assistance. The problem is that we only see notices in the Albany newspaper and miss announcements from other communities within our 11 county coverage area. If you know of or read of the death of a military retiree please let our office know. Call us or email his/her name and we will search for their address and offer our assistance.

SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN (SBP) PAYMENT -- The SBP annuity does not automatically begin after the death of a military retiree. It is because this is a separate entitlement, and DFAS must have an application in order to establish payment. Military retiree survivors DO NOT receive SBP unless the retiree selected and paid for SBP coverage usually through retired pay deductions. DFAS will provide the military retiree’s survivors the SBP annuity and arrears of pay paperwork. The deceased military retiree’s survivors can contact their Retirement Services Office (RSO) for assistance. Our email, telephone number and address is located on page one of this newsletter. Be prepared to furnish a full list of information on the annuity application for DFAS. Deceased military retiree information includes: full name of deceased retiree and his/her Social Security number. In addition, the annuitant must furnish their full name, Social Security number, your up-to-date mailing address, relationship to the deceased military retiree, date of marriage, signature of the applicant, and dated signed on application. If the signature on the application is not that of the annuitant, DFAS will require a copy of the Power of Attorney. If the annuitant is incapacitated, DFAS requires a copy of a Legal Representative application and/or a Representative Payee application filled out and a copy of a doctor’s note stating his/her incapacity. Additional information can be obtained by calling DFAS toll-free at 1-800-321-1080, or by contacting them on the web at www.dfas.mil

BURIAL & MEMORIAL BENEFITS – A military retiree does not have to pre-decease a spouse or dependent child for them to be eligible for these benefits. Reservists and National Guard members, as well as their spouses and dependent children, are eligible if they were entitled to retired pay at the time of death, or would have been if over the age of 60. Burial in a VA national cemetery is available for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependents at no cost to the family and includes the gravesite, grave-liner, opening and closing of the grave, a headstone or marker and perpetual care as part of a national shrine. For veterans, benefits also include a burial flag and military funeral honors. Family members should inform their funeral director if they want military funeral honors. DOD has a toll-free number (1-800-645-4667) for use by funeral directors only to request honors. Family members and other loved ones of deceased veterans may request Presidential Memorial Certificates by writing to: Presidential Memorial Certificates (41A1C), Department of Veterans Affairs, 5109 Russell Rd., Quantico, VA 22134-3903. The VA operates 125 National Cemeteries, of which 65 are open for new casketed internments and 21 are open to accept only cremated remains. Sixty-nine State Veterans Cemeteries also offer burial options for veterans and their families. These cemeteries have similar eligibility requirements but usually require some residence in their state. To locate a state veterans cemetery go to: www.cem.va.gov/

VA BENEFITS PHONE NUMBERS – The Veterans Administration has a toll-free number, 1-800-827-1000, where you can obtain information on: burials, death pension, Dependency Indemnity Compensation, banking direct deposit, directions to VA benefits regional offices, disability compensation, disability pension, education, home loan guaranty, life insurance, medical care, and vocational rehabilitation and employment. Other toll-free VA numbers include: education (GI bill) 1-888-442-4551; health care benefits 1-877-222-8387; income verification and means testing 1-800-929-8387; life insurance 1-800-669-8477; mammography helpline 1-888-492-7844; special issues such as Gulf War/Agent Orange/ Project Shad/Mustard Agents and Lewisite/Ionizing Radiation 1-800-749-8387; status of headstones and markers 1-800-697-6947; telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 1-800-829-4833.

TRICARE EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS (EOB) – A new pharmacy contract requires the contractor (Express Scripts, Inc.) to mail on a monthly basis an EOB which provides TRICARE beneficiaries with information on all pharmacy claims filled either through the retail or mail order program in the previous month. This EOB will not include any prescription information for items filled at a Military Treatment Facility. EOBs are an important toll in identifying potential fraudulent activity and it is important that you read your EOBs carefully. In the event you find that TRICARE has paid for any services you did not receive, or you were charged by a healthcare professional you did not see, call the Express Scripts Fraud and Abuse hotline toll-free at 1-866-759-6139. If you have general questions regarding the pharmacy EOB call them toll-free at 1-877-363-1303.

TRICARE RETIRED RESERVE – A new program offers “gray area” reservists an opportunity to purchase TRICARE health care coverage. While qualified members of the Selected Reserve may purchase premium-based coverage under TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS), retired National Guard and Reserve personnel did not have TRICARE health coverage options until they reached age 60. Under a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010 that is all changed. This newest provision allows certain members of the Retired Reserve who are not yet 60 as “gray area” retirees to purchase TRICARE Standard (and Extra) coverage. TRICARE Extra simply means beneficiaries will have lower out-of-pocket costs provided they use a network provider. While this new program will differ from TRS in its qualifications, premiums, copayment rates and catastrophic cap requirements. Premiums and program rules will be published in the Federal Register. For more information about TRICARE benefits go to: www.tricare.mil

EYEGLASSES FOR MILITARY RETIREES – Military retirees are eligible to receive standard issue glasses each year from the Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Command (NOSTRA). To obtain glasses follow this procedure: go to the NOSTRA web site www.med.navy.mil/sites/nostra/Pages/default.aspx and select the “How to Order: Retirees” link for information. If you are retired military and eligible for other medical services, you are authorized to receive annually one clear pair of bifocals and one tinted pair of bifocals if prescribed by your optometrist/ophthalmologist. If you choose not to request bifocals, you can receive one pair of distance vision and one pair of near vision spectacles. One pair of distance vision spectacles is authorized if prescribed by your optometrist/ophthalmolo-gist. Selectable frames NS9/S91A/Half Eyes/FS9 for all can be viewed on the web site.

RETIRED PAY-FILE INFORMATION – It is your responsibility to update your retired pay information with DFAS with one year in the event you marry, remarry, have a child, are widowed or divorces and need to make or update a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) election. If you receive or are entitled to retired pay, contact: Defense Finance and Accounting Service, U.S. Military Retired Pay, PO Box 7130, London, KY 40742-7130, phone 1-800-321-1080. If receiving or entitled to SBP/RSFPP annuity, contact Defense Finance and Accounting Office, U.S. Military Annuitant Pay, PO Box 7131, London, KY 40742-7131, phone 1-800-321-1080. If a Retired Reservist who has not yet reached age 60, contact: U.S. Army Human Resources Command-St. Louis, ATTN: AHRC-PAP-A, 1 Reserve Way, St. Louis, MO 63132-5200, phone 1-800-318-5298.
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