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RETIREE ACTIVITIES OFFICE NEWSLETTER Published Quarterly Volume 37 Issue 1
January – May 2015
Table of Contents
Publisher’s Corner JUSMAGTHAI General Information TRICARE Department of Veteran’s Affairs Internal Revenue Service Defense Finance and Accounting Service
(DFAS) Social Security Administration Space A Travel American Citizen Services and Consular
Affairs
Publisher’s Corner
Darrell Brown, MMC (SS) USNR (RET) Retiree Activities Office (RAO) HQ JUSMAGTHAI, Retiree Activities Office (Rm. D-114), 7 Sathorn Tai Rd., Bangkok 10120 Thailand Email: [email protected] Tel: 02-287-1036 Ext. 165 Twitter: Follow me at raothailand1 Please follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/RetireeActivitiesOfficeThailand
This Newsletter This is the first newsletter of 2015. The years seem to pass faster and faster, don’t they? Another tax year is under our belt and the geopolitical winds are
blowing, as usual, in all directions. But one thing we have is each other. We are a community here in Thailand. Even if we don’t know everybody, we all share a common bond. We belong to the same tribe, the US military tribe. Yes, it is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard retirees and sometimes it is like dogs and cats living together, but it works for us.
We have the same four volunteers: Darrell Brown, Jim Picha, George Quin-ton, and last but not least, Tom Friend. At last count, we have more than seven hundred military retirees on our rolls, plus more than 300 hundred Thai wid-ows. This year we are starting up a Facebook page, we continue developing a great website, and are improving working relationships with other federal agencies and volunteer organizations.
This edition is heavy on TRICARE. Re-cent months have shown a sharp spike in the number of telephone scam mar-keters targeting TRICARE beneficiaries. More TRICARE articles focus on pre-scription medicines, direct deposit claim payments, and emergency air medical evacuations. More information is pro-vided from DFAS, the IRS, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Space A travel, and American Citizen Services.
This newsletter is designed for viewing in an electronic format, which allows for a more attractive appearance and for the presentation of more information. In addition, many of the articles contain links to other websites that provide
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more detailed information on subjects that interest military retirees. Other articles are shortened to reduce the length of the newsletter. When we con-solidate an article, we provide the http link to the source document. Only thirty or so of our readers rely on the printed version. In order to realize the full benefits of this newsletter, please en-sure that you are getting it sent to you by email. If you don’t have an email address, please get with a buddy who does. Printed copies are kept in the RAO offices and are placed in some retiree APO boxes.
Please note that we have changed our publishing schedule. The Monsoon Times is no longer going to be published on a scheduled quarterly basis. It will be published when there is sufficient infor-mation of interest for the readers. Our goal is to publish four a year. Individual issues may cover periods of up to four or five months, or as few as two months.
We hope you like our newsletter. Please send your suggestions for improvement, comments and questions to me, Darrell Brown, at: [email protected]
Recent Newsletters TRICARE: TRICARE HealthMatters Issue 1: 2015 USN: Shift Colors Spring 2015 USAF: Afterburner Fall/Winter 2014 USA: Army Echoes Feb – May 2015 USMC: Semper Fidelis Oct – Dec 2014 USCG: The Retiree Newsletter Apr – June 2015 DFAS: Retiree Newsletter March 2015
RAO Staff Does Not Loan or Gift Money Our volunteers occasionally field phone calls from Thai relatives of retirees, asking staff to give money to them on behalf of a retiree, who is receiving a pension check. There are only a few people doing this, but please let your Thai family know that this is inappropri-ate. Thank you.
THE YOUNG DEAD SOLDIERS DO NOT SPEAK – Poem by Archibald Macleish
The young dead soldiers do not speak.
Nevertheless they are heard in the still houses:
who has not heard of them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night
and when the clock counts.
They say, We were young. We died. Remember us.
They say, We have done what we could but until it is finished we are not done.
They say, We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what
their lives gave.
They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours:
they will mean what you make them.
They say, Whether our lives and our deaths were
for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say,
it is you who must say this.
We leave you our deaths.
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Give them their meaning. Give them an end to the war and a true
peace. Give them a victory that ends the war and a
peace afterwards:
We were young, they say. We have died: Remember us.
Email Traffic ALCON,
Three (3) Significant Revisions:
1. (Added) Mental Health Care under Covered Services. www.jusmagthai.com/medical.html#Covered
Note: Mental Health Care is not auto-matically covered.
2. (Expanded) Take-Home Medication under Claims Filing. www.jusmagthai.com/medical.html#Take_Home
Note: Take-Home Medication must be separately invoiced, else TRICARE will not reimburse.
3. (Expanded) Claim Reimburse-ment – Direct Deposit under Claims Filing. www.jusmagthai.com/medical.html#Direct_Deposit
Note #1: Direct Deposit for overseas TRICARE claim reimbursement is now available. But, direct deposit for claim reimbursement is available only to a U.S. bank account (bank domiciled in the U.S.) via a U.S. Automated Clearing House (ACH). Since Bangkok Bank is not domiciled in the U.S. it is not in-cluded in this new TRICARE Overseas
direct deposit service even though they have a numeric 9-digit ABA routing transit number through their New York branch. Beneficiaries that do not have a U.S. bank account, or choose not to sign up for direct deposit of claim reim-bursement, will of course, still receive reimbursement via paper check.
Note #2: I asked TRICARE Overseas what the direct deposit sign-up process is for beneficiaries that are non-internet users. TRICARE Overseas responded that they are reviewing my inquiry. When I receive a definitive response I will inform the RAO.
Retirees in Thailand are politely remind-ed to direct their TRICARE benefits questions to TRICARE Overseas, and TRICARE eligibility questions to DEERS.
V/R BP Bruce *BP* Postel Former Director, Bangkok RAO Webmaster, Bangkok TRICARE Warden, U.S. Embassy (Bangkok)
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JUSMAGTHAI General Information
RAO Website Please check our RAO website as your first stop on seeking answers for many military retiree related questions. The website is full of valuable information. Most of your questions can be answered using the resources on this site. Please report any inaccurate information or broken links. The website can be accessed here: www.jusmagthai.com/rao.html
RAO Volunteers Still Needed! 1. RAO Volunteer Request. We have a great need for highly capable, dedi-cated, and dependable volunteers. Since none of the typical U.S. Federal benefits agencies have a presence in Thailand, the RAO has historically tried to fill some of the void by facilitating between beneficiaries and the respective federal agency—volunteer credibility and conti-nuity is central to this effort.
2. In the U.S. an RAO volunteer is often able to help someone simply by picking up the telephone and phoning an agen-cy during normal client service hours. With the exception of being able to phone the Social Security Administration (SSA) in Manila, telephoning the U.S. must be performed nighttime in Thai-land. Therefore, an issue that may easily be resolved with a simple tele-phone call in the U.S. or a visit by a beneficiary to an agency’s local office, here in Thailand, resolution typically requires one or more letters, faxes,
emails, and/or nighttime calls, all the while managing acute cultural and lin-gual differences—all time consuming, and requiring volunteers to work 12-15 hours per week. The RAO is a privilege that exists for retirees and their eligible dependents—the doors stay open and the lights stay on only when good peo-ple step-up to volunteer. Please note that RAO volunteers here in Thailand do not normally make night time phone calls for US military retirees. We provide the number for the retirees to call themselves. However, we do occasional-ly call on behalf of a Thai widow.
3. Our RAO functions to provide infor-mation and assistance to the retiree community and can only do so through the volunteer spirit and with credible, dependable volunteers. This RAO is almost always in need of a Casualty Assistance Officer and Benefits Advisor. The Casualty Assistance Officer can enjoy flex-time—use an appointment system to manage their time, and come into the office when needed. Both posi-tions require solid integrity, reliability, patience and understanding, strong listening skills, self-motivation, atten-tion-to-detail, strong computer skills, and a positive outlook! RAO history has proven that volunteers MUST be able to work well with others—team disharmo-ny is not an option, therefore, new candidates only, please. For an upright military retiree, volunteering is a win-win for all. Please consider helping your fellow retiree!
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TRICARE
Connect with TRICARE on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.-com/tricare and www.twitter.com-/tricare.
TRICARE Revises Compound Drug Coverage Courtesy TRICARE
Starting May 1, 2015, Express Scripts, the TRICARE pharmacy contractor, will screen all ingredients in compound drug claims to ensure they are safe and ef-fective, and covered by TRICARE. This screening process is like the one TRI-CARE already uses for other prescription drugs, but it will now apply to the in-gredients in compound drugs.
Compound drugs are a combination of drug ingredients prepared by a pharma-cist for a patient’s individual needs. TRICARE beneficiaries taking a com-pound drug likely to be impacted by the change will soon receive a letter ex-plaining the new process for screening compound drugs, and what steps they should follow.
Use of compound drugs has increased greatly in recent years. However, some compound drug ingredients have limited
or no evidence that they are safe and effective. If a compound does not pass an initial screen, the pharmacist can switch a non-approved ingredient with an approved one, or request the doctor write a new prescription. If this is not possible, the doctor may ask Express Scripts to consider other evidence by requesting a prior authorization.
The Defense Health Agency’s highest priority is to provide our beneficiaries safe and effective care while being re-sponsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. Many compound drugs will still be cov-ered because they include ingredients proven to be safe, and most beneficiar-ies will experience no delay in getting their prescriptions. For more infor-mation about TRICARE coverage of compound drugs, visit the TRICARE Compound Drugs page.
Beware TRICARE Telephone Scam Courtesy TRICARE
TRICARE beneficiaries need to be aware of a telephone scam affecting benefi-ciaries over 65 and on Medicare nationwide. A caller will usually identify themselves as being an official Medicare vendor, and will then offer to sell you back braces. The caller may have spe-cific information that makes the call seem official, typically your address, phone numbers and doctor’s name. The caller is hoping this will convince you they are a legitimate vendor and that
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you will give them your social security number and additional personal infor-mation.
If you receive a call like this, DO NOT give any of your personal identifiable information, such as birth date, social security number or banking information. TRICARE never asks beneficiaries for this information when calling for an official Department of Defense survey. The Defense Health Agency (DHA) Pro-gram Integrity Office is closely monitoring this situation. If you receive a call of this nature, please do not pro-vide your information and contact the DHA Program Integrity Office directly. For more information on fraud and abuse reporting visit: www.TRICARE.mil/fraud
Easy Access to TRICARE’s “First Eight” Mental Health Appointments Courtesy TRICARE
Do you know? Counseling, psychothera-py, and family therapy are covered benefits under TRICARE. It’s no secret—the first eight appointments with a TRI-CARE authorized provider do not require a Primary Care Manager (PCM) referral, just your military identification card.
Don’t wait until your family has an emergency, take your time and find a provider that makes you comfortable. Your PCM or family doctor can give a recommendation. If you are unsure of the differences in provider types, their education, treatments, and ability to prescribe medication, use the “Find a Doctor” tool on the TRICARE website.
For the first eight mental health care appointments, you can see TRICARE authorized clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse spe-cialists, TRICARE certified mental health counselors, marriage and family thera-pists, pastoral counselors, and supervised mental health counselors—all are licensed and meet quality re-quirements. All can be accessed easily online, with mobile applications, or by phone.
Your Managed Care Support Contrac-tor’s website also has a “Find a Provider” link with a directory, contact details, and the providers’ specialty areas. Remember, if you find yourself in an emergency situation, for example, an individual believes he or she will harm himself, herself or others, go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.
To schedule your first eight mental health appointments, go to:
• North Region: Health Net Federal Services, Mental Health Care (1-877-874-2273)
• South Region: Humana Military, Mental Health Care (1-800-700-8646)
• West Region: UnitedHealthcare Military & Veterans, Mental Health Care (1-877-988-9378)
• Overseas: International SOS
Keep in mind, nine or more appoint-ments require authorization from your PCM. All appointments with pastoral counselors and supervised mental health counselors must have prior au-thorization. Active Duty Service Members (ADSM) must seek mental health care in their military treatment facilities, but can participate in family
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therapy sessions with TRICARE author-ized mental health providers. Learn more on the Covered Treatments page in the Mental Health Care section of the TRICARE website.
SOURCE: TRICARE News Release at: www.tricare.mil/EasyAccess032615
Air Evacs Are Covered When Medically Necessary and Only to the Nearest, Safest Place Courtesy TRICARE
Following retirement from active ser-vice, many retirees and retiree family members decide to travel or live over-seas. If they do, it is important they understand that if they need air ambu-lance services (aeromedical evacuation or “air evac”), TRICARE only pays if the transport is medically necessary and to the closest, safest location for medical care.
Retirees overseas have to pay for the service upfront and then file a claim for reimbursement. TRICARE won’t cover the cost for non-medically necessary air evacuation and won’t move a patient to a location of their choosing. TRICARE won’t pay to move a retiree or retiree family member from overseas back to the U.S., unless the medically necessary care is not available in their current location or the U.S is the closest loca-tion that can provide the necessary care. If retirees want to return to the U.S. from overseas for personal reasons (e.g., to be closer to family), they pay the air ambulance company and TRI-CARE won’t reimburse them. Air ambulance service can be very expen-sive. If you are planning to live or travel
overseas, you may wish to consider other options for coverage of air transport for circumstances not covered by TRICARE.
Active-duty family members (ADFMs) using TRICARE Standard should also consider health care costs before opting for air evacuation. ADFMs using TRI-CARE Standard may have to pay up front for the air evacuation; the evacua-tion must be medically necessary; and must be to the nearest facility capable of providing the needed care in order for TRICARE to cost-share on the aeromed-ical evacuation.
For more information about receiving care overseas, visit the TRICARE Over-seas Program page on the web.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
New VA Surviving Spouse Website (Courtesy of the 131st Bomb Wing RAO Newsletter)
The Department of Veteran Affairs has created a new internet website for sur-viving spouses and dependents of military personnel who died on active duty and for survivors and dependents of veterans who died after leaving the service. The site is organized into two
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broad categories-death in service and death after service. It provides visitors with information and about a wide range of benefits for surviving spouse, de-pendent children, and dependent parents of diseased veterans and active duty personnel. The site also has infor-mation from, and links to, other federal agencies and organizations that offer benefits and services to survivors and dependents. Several options also apply to surviving retirees participating in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), where the spouse is lost through death, divorce or annulment, and the retiree later remar-ries. Unless the former spouse coverage elected as part of the divorce, retirees who remarry have two choices. They can: Resume the prior level of cover-age; Elect not to resume spouse SBP coverage, (this election is irrevocable), this election will not affect child cover-age; or if the original election was for reduced coverage, the retiree may re-quest the base amount be increased. There is also a link to frequently asked questions, and answer most questions. For more specific questions the site tells how to contact the VA directly. The new website can be found at: www.vba.va.gov/survivors
Some of the topics found on this page include:
• Dependency and Indemnity Com-pensation
• Parents’ Dependency and Indem-nity Compensation
• Survivors Pension • Home Loans • Dependents’ Educational Assis-
tance Program • Educational and Vocational Coun-
seling
• Beneficiary Financial Counseling • Civil Service Preference • Commissary and Exchange Privi-
leges • Children of Vietnam Veterans
with Certain Birth Defects • Fiduciary Services
National Cemetery Burial Eligibility The National Cemetery Scheduling Of-fice has the primary responsibility for verifying eligibility for burial in VA na-tional cemeteries. A determination of eligibility is usually made in response to a request for burial in a VA national cemetery. To schedule a burial fax all discharge documentation to 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
Eligible people include veterans and members of the Armed Forces, mem-bers of reserve components and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, com-missioned officers of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public Health Service, WWII Merchant Marine, certain members of the Philippine Armed Forces, spouses and dependents, and parents of service members. All the above categories are subject to certain conditions and restrictions. Details re-garding the above categories can be accessed by clicking on in the below link.
To view this document in its entirety refer to VA-NCA-IS-1 Interments in VA National Cemeteries. www.cem.va.gov/CEM/pdf/IS1_Jan_2011.pdf
RAO Note: The above article was consolidated to save space. Please click on the http link to read the
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entire article. If you cannot access the link by clicking on it, please copy and paste into your browser.
Applications Accepted for 2015 National Veterans Golden Age Games in Omaha, Nebraska, Aug. 8 – 12. Washington – The Department of Veter-ans Affairs (VA) is currently accepting applications from Veterans interested in competing in the 2015 National Veter-ans Golden Age Games. Applications can be completed online at www.-veteransgoldenagegames.va.gov, and will be accepted through May 15. Veter-ans ages 55 and older who are enrolled for VA care are eligible to participate.
The 2015 National Veterans Golden Age Games takes place in Omaha, Nebraska, Aug. 8-12. Nearly 800 athletes are expected to compete in the national multi-event sports and recreational competition for senior Veterans. The event encourages participants to make physical activity a central part of their lives, and supports VA’s comprehensive recreation and rehabilitation therapy programs. Competitive events include air rifle, badminton, bowling, cycling, dominoes, field, golf, horseshoes, nine ball, shuffleboard, swimming, table tennis and track.
VA research and clinical experience verify that physical activity is important to maintaining good health, speeding recovery and improving overall quality of life. The games also serve as a way for participants to continue in local sen-ior events in their home communities.
VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System will host this year’s games. The health care system provides care for more than 55,000 Veterans from 101
counties in Nebraska, western Iowa and portions of Missouri and Kansas.
For more information visit www.-veteransgoldenagegames.va.gov and follow VA Adaptive Sports on Twitter at @VAAdaptiveSport or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vaadaptivesports.
VA Eliminates Net Worth as Health Care Eligibility Factor Courtesy VA
Washington – The Department of Veter-ans Affairs is updating the way it determines eligibility for VA health care, a change that will result in more Veter-ans having access to the health care benefits they’ve earned and deserve.
Effective 2015, VA eliminated the use of net worth as a determining factor for both health care programs and copay-ment responsibilities. This change makes VA health care benefits more accessible to lower-income Veterans and brings VA policies in line with Sec-retary Robert A. McDonald’s MyVA initiative which reorients VA around Veterans’ needs.
“Everything that we do and every deci-sion we make has to be focused on the Veterans we serve,” said VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald. “We are working every day to earn their trust. Changing the way we determine eligibility to make the process easier for Veterans is part of our promise to our Veterans.”
Instead of combining the sum of Veter-ans’ income with their assets to determine eligibility for medical care and copayment obligations, VA will now only consider a Veteran’s gross house-hold income and deductible expenses
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from the previous year. Elimination of the consideration of net worth for VA health care enrollment means that cer-tain lower-income, non-service-connected Veterans will have less out-of-pocket costs. Over a 5-year period, it is estimated that 190,000 Veterans will become eligible for reduced costs of their health care services.
In March 2014, VA eliminated the annu-al requirement for updated financial information. VA now uses information from the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration to auto-matically match individual Veterans’ income information which reduces the burden on Veterans to keep their healthcare eligibility up to date. That change better aligned VA’s health care financial assessment program with other federal health care organizations.
Veterans may submit updated income information at www.1010ez.med.va.-gov, or by visiting their nearby VA health care facility. For more infor-mation, visit www.va.gov/healthbenefits or call VA toll-free at 1-877-222-VETS (8387).
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Tax Information Attention Retirees Living Abroad Who Have Foreign Bank Accounts Courtesy: MSgt Joe Roginski, Misawa AB RAO Newsletter
Most of us retirees living in Japan who are resident aliens (i.e. not under the SOFA) maintain a local bank account to pay our utilities and bills, or just to save a little cash in the foreign currency. Prior to 2014, you were allowed to have an amount over $200,000 in a foreign account without having to report it but now, if, during the tax year, your for-eign bank account or cumulative total of foreign bank accounts was U.S. $10,000 equivalent or more, you now have cer-tain other and additional filing responsibilities. Specifically, you must also file a declaration called Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. A substantial penalty of $5000 or more can result from willfully not reporting. Here is the quote from the IRS guide-lines for 2014: FinCEN Report 114, Report FinCEN Report 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) (formerly TD F90-22.1), must be filed if you had a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other financial ac-count in a foreign country, the value of which exceeds $10,000. You do not have to file the report if the assets are
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with a U.S. military banking facility operated by a U.S. financial institution or if the combined assets in the ac-counts are $10,000 or less during the entire year. You must file this form by June 30 each year with the Department of the Treasury at the address shown on the form. The FBAR form is not a tax return, so do not attach it to your Form 1040. Effective July 1, 2013, filers must electronically file the FBAR through the BSA E-File System. If unable to E-file, filers may contact the FinCEN Regulato-ry Help-line at 800-949-2732 to request an exemption. Help in completing the FBAR is available Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at (866) 270-0733 (toll-free inside the U.S.) or (313) 234-6146 (not toll-free, for callers outside the U.S.). Questions regarding the FBAR can be sent to [email protected]. Filers residing abroad may also contact U.S. embassies and consulates for assistance. For E-Filing system questions, call the FinCEN E-Filing Help Desk at (866) 346-9478, option 1 (M-F, 8-6 Eastern time) or email at [email protected]. In addition, you may be liable for filing Form 3520 or Form 3520-A if you made contributions to or received income from a foreign trust or received a gift from a foreign person. From IRS.gov website & Joe Roginski.
RAO Note: This article was prepared for Misawa Japan RAO readers, but it applies equally to us here in Thai-land.
Tax ID Theft Source: IRS
The IRS stops and flags suspicious or duplicate federal tax returns that falsely represent your identity, such as your name or social security number. If the IRS suspects tax ID theft, the agency will send a 5071C letter to your home address. If you receive this letter, verify your identity at idverify.irs.gov or call the toll-free number listed in the letter. If you are a victim of state tax ID theft, contact your state’s taxation depart-ment or comptroller’s office about the next steps you need to take.
Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)
2015 Cost of Living Adjustment Source: DFAS
Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index, there will be a 1.7 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for most retired pay and Survivor Benefit Plan annuities. Retirees will see the change on their Dec. 31, 2014 payment and annuitants on their Jan. 2, 2015 payment.
Educate Your Beneficiaries Source: DFAS
It’s important for your survivors to un-derstand how the Survivor Benefit Plan
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(SBP) works. Please print this page and share it with your designated benefi-ciary.
The Nature and Extent of the SBP Benefit The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) pro-vides eligible beneficiaries with a monthly payment known as an annuity. The amount of the benefit is a percent-age of your retired pay, and it depends upon whether you choose full or re-duced coverage. The recipient of your SBP annuity is referred to as the annui-tant.
The Benefit’s Duration The SBP entitlement begins upon your death and ends either when your elect-ed beneficiary becomes ineligible to receive the annuity or when your bene-ficiary dies.
Reasons Payment May Be Temporarily Stopped Each year we mail annuitants a Certifi-cate of Eligibility (COE). We use the information we request on that form to determine an annuitant’s continued eligibility for monthly payments. If we don’t receive the COE to by the deadline on the form, we will stop all payments until we receive a properly completed COE (see instructions). If you have not received a COE from us recently and feel you should have, please call us to request one at 800-321-1080.
Reasons Payment Can Be Permanently Stopped Annuity payments stop when your beneficiary dies or becomes ineligible to receive the annuity. For example, pay-ments stop for children covered under the SBP annuity when they reach age
18. Payments also stop for spouses covered under SBP if they remarry be-fore age 55.
Continuing Children’s Benefits after Age 18 Payments typically stop for children covered under SBP when they reach age 18. If a child attends school in a full time status at an accredited college or university, the payments will continue until they reach age 22. Each semester, we mail a Child Annuitant’s School Cer-tification form to verify the child is still enrolled. If we don’t receive the form by the deadline listed, we will stop all pay-ments until we receive a properly completed form (see instructions). The SBP annuity will terminate at any time the child remarries. If you have not received a School Certification recently and feel you should have, please call us to request one at 800-321-1080.
Effects of Remarriage on an Annuity If the annuitant remarries before age 55, annuity payments will stop. Howev-er, if the annuitant’s marriage later ends, for any reason, even after age 55, the annuity payment will restart from the date the marriage ends. The annui-tant is responsible for notifying DFAS Cleveland of any changes to their mari-tal status.
Benefits from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Dependency and Indemnity Compensa-tion (DIC) is an award offered by the VA. Annuitants cannot receive both SBP and DIC concurrently. When DFAS is informed that an annuitant is eligible to receive DIC from the VA, DFAS will deduct the amount of DIC received from
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the amount of SBP. For example, if an annuitant receives a monthly annuity of $500 from DFAS and becomes eligible to receive a monthly DIC award of $400 from the VA, DFAS will deduct the $400 DIC from the $500 SBP and pay the remaining $100 to the annuitant. If the SBP is greater than the DIC award, a partial refund of premiums paid into the program during the service member’s retirement will be made. If the DIC payment is greater than the SBP pay-ment, SBP will be stopped completely and all basic spouse premiums paid into the program during the service mem-ber’s retirement will be refunded. To receive concurrent SBP and DIC pay-ments, the annuitant must not only be eligible for both, but the DIC entitle-ment must be a result of a remarriage after the age of 57.
What initiates the SBP benefit and what will my beneficiary have to do? Your designated beneficiary becomes eligible to receive SBP benefits on the day after your death. The first step a beneficiary must take to initiate receipt of benefits is to report your death. Please visit our Reporting a Death page for step-by-step instructions.
What happens if there is a delay in reporting a retiree’s death? Late notification of a retiree’s death may result in burdensome consequences, including delays in finalizing a member’s account, payment of arrears of pay and the establishment of an SBP annuity. A retiree’s entitlement to retired pay ends on the date he or she dies. Therefore, delayed reporting of a retiree’s death may result in an overpayment that will
be collected from a financial institution, the member’s estate, or from the annui-tant if the annuitant is found to be in receipt of the retired pay funds.
Learn more about SBP
• Advantages & disadvantages – Things to consider before enrol-ling
• Enroll – How to set up your SBP account
• Eligible beneficiaries – Find out who can be covered
• Cost – What SBP costs at the dif-ferent coverage levels
• Paying for SBP – How you can pay
• Update beneficiary – How to up-date beneficiaries or update contact information
• Change or stop coverage – When you can change coverage or ben-eficiary
• What happens when you die – Next steps for your beneficiary
Read about these topics at SBP over-view.
New DFAS SmartDocs email Courtesy DFAS
Beginning May 16, DFAS “SmartDocs” emails will be sent from a new address, [email protected]. These emails contain important, and sometimes vital, information to help you manage your pay. Make sure they aren’t going to your junk folder so you know when your pay and tax statements are available in your myPay account, you stay up-to-date on recent policy changes, or you know when your attention is needed to update a portion of your pay account management choices.
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Upgrade Internet Explore to contin-ue using myPay
myPay users: Effective April 21, 2015, if you are using an older version of the Internet Explorer web browser (7.0 or earlier), you will need to upgrade to a newer version of Internet Explorer (8.0 or later) in order to continue accessing myPay. Read more for more infor-mation on browser security.
Social Security Administration (SSA)
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information for 2015 Source: SSA
Monthly Social Security and Supple-mental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 64 million Americans will increase 1.7 percent in 2015.
The 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjust-ment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 58 million Social Securi-ty beneficiaries receive in January 2015. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2014.
Space A Travel
Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam Effective 26 January 2015 Hickam Pas-senger Terminal went to limited services from 2200-0400.
• Passenger Service Center, lobbies and lounges will be unavailable during these hours.
• For Space A roll calls between 2200-0400 the terminal will open 1 hour prior to the roll call time.
• As always, passengers are able to sign up for travel using the re-mote sign-up process.
• All flight information will remain available through social media and pre-recorded telephone ser-vices.
Contact information (Dated 11 March 2014) for lodging, ground transportation and other relevant information for Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam can be accessed here.
RAO Note: What the above means is that all transiting personnel will leave the PAX terminal and the doors will be locked from 2200 – 0400, except when roll call is being held for a departing flight with seats available. Keep in mind that you are in Hawaii. There is on base lodging, thousands of hotel rooms are available in town, some taxis
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can come on base, there are bus lines that stop in front, and there is a local rental car office on site. So you have plenty of options. It is advisable that you record the phone numbers in your smart phone/ lap-top/tablet so that you can contact transportation in advance of arrival. You should not be surprised if you did some basic research before-hand.
My Space A Travel Report My wife and I went on a trip to Japan for ten days in early May. I registered online on March the 27th to fly Space A using the Take-A-Hop application from my desktop computer. Please note that Take-A-Hop is not a DoD affiliated or-ganization. But it is free and has always worked for me.
Before I get into the specifics of my trip, I think it is useful to review how to sign up for Space A flights. Retirees can register for Space A travel up to 60 days before your planned travel dates Sign-ing up is easy. You can also sign up directly with the on base passenger terminals on the bases you intend to travel to. There are many sources where you can go to find contact infor-mation for these terminals. Many have Facebook pages. The USAF Air Mobility Command website is a very useful start-ing point. You can also connect through several private websites that are dedi-cated to military Space A travel, such as Peppard.com or Space A.net. All these sites inform you of what documentation you will need to travel internationally via Space A.
We live in Thailand. There are no Space A flights originating here. So we went
commercial air to Singapore. We spent one night in a hotel and took a taxi to the PAX terminal at RSAF Paya Labar. I have made six taxi trips to the PAX terminal now. Each time, the drivers knew exactly where to drop me off.
The final thing I want to tell you about traveling in Tokyo is how easy it is to get around. There are a lot of MWR transportation options between Yokota Air Base, the New Sanno and Narita. There are other means to connect with other military facilities, but I did not use those so I cannot speak from personal experience about them. Now let’s move on to what I do know about. You can catch a private hourly bus from the New Sanno to Narita if commercial air is the way you are leaving Japan. This bus costs 3100 yen per person. We took it. It works great. You can make reserva-tions through the concierge at the New Sanno. If you are leaving via Yokota, there are daily MWR buses that connect Hardy Barracks, the New Sanno, and the Kanto Lodge. Costs are around $8 per person. There are three buses that leave the Kanto Lodge for Narita every day. The trains are another way to get around. I have not tried them, but eve-ryone says they are great, with frequent runs and great city coverage. You can get to Narita and close to Yokota AB using the trains.
We are back in Thailand now. We flew back commercial. Our last few days were spent at Hardy Barracks. Hardy Barracks reminds me of the E7 quarters I used to stay in back in the day. One bedroom suites; a living room and a bedroom, separated by a bathroom. It is nice. The location is excellent, close to the Roppongi Hills district, which has
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many restaurants and shops. The rate I paid was $55.00 a night. There is a small NEX on the site that provides many convenience items. Taxis are plentiful. You are ten minutes by taxi from the New Sanno hotel. You can connect very easily from Yokota Air Base to New Sanno, then over to Hardy.
American Citizen Services and Consular Affairs
Outreach visits for remainder of the year
• Friday, July 10, 2015, Pattaya • Friday, July 17, 2015, Khon Kaen • Friday, July 24, 2015, Phuket • Friday, October 9, 2015, Pattaya • Friday, October 16, 2015, Udorn • Friday, October 30, 2015, Phuket
The following consular services will be available:
• Passport renewal applications • Notarial services • Embassy registration and/or ad-
dress change for on-line information
• Social Security, VA or other fed-eral benefits questions
NOTE: Applications for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad cannot be accepted during consular outreach trips.
The venue and hours of each visit will be announced individually a few weeks before each date.
Appointments are not needed for consu-lar services during outreach visits. If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or call the American Citizen Services Unit at 02-205-4049.
We look forward to seeing you during our outreach visits.
Sincerely, American Citizen Services U.S. Embassy Bangkok
US Embassy Holiday Schedule for Remainder of the Year
May 25 Monday Memorial Day
July 3 Friday Substitute day of Independence Day, Saturday July 4th
August 12 Wednesday Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday
September 7 Monday Labor Day
October 12 Monday Columbus Day
October 23 Friday Chulalongkorn Day
November 11 Wednesday Veterans Day
November 26 Thursday Thanksgiving Day
December 7 Monday Substitute day of His Majesty the King’s Birthday, Saturday De-cember 5th
December 10 Thursday Constitution Day December 25 Friday Christmas Day
December 31 Thursday New Year’s Eve
For after-hours emergency assistance, please contact the Embassy operator at 66-2-205-4000.
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Command Staff Colonel Desmond “DES” Walton
Chief, JUSMAGTHAI
Mr. Victor J. Loschinkohl, GS-14 Deputy Chief, JUSMAGTHAI
RAO Coordinator
Services Contact Information
HQ JUSMAGTHAI Retiree Activities Office (RAO)
Integrity – Service – Excellence
HQ JUSMAGTHAI MAGTJS-RAO
APO AP 96546-5000
Tel: 02-287-1036 Ext. 165 Fax: 02-285-6228
Email: [email protected] Web:
http://www.jusmagthai.com/rao.html Hours: Tues-Wed-Thurs, 0930-1430
JUSMAG TRICARE Health Benefits Advisors
(Rm. J-202, Ext. 512) Retiree Hours: Tuesday-Wednesday-
Thursday, 0800-1100 Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.jusmagthai.com/medical.html
JUSMAG – DoD ID Card Issue & DEERS Updates
(Rm. E-206, Ext. 180) Retiree Hours: Tuesday-Wednesday-
Thursday, 0800-1100 Email: [email protected] /
JUSMAG: DEERS & DoD ID Cards
JUSMAG - Unit Mail Room (Rm. C-109, Ext. 168 – Please Call after
1300) Hours: Monday through Friday, 1030-
1200 & 1300-1600 (Retiree Policy)
American Citizen Services, U.S. Embassy, Bangkok
Mon-Fri, 0730-1100, 1300-1400 (By Appt.) (Closed Last Friday of Month) Tel: 02-205-4049 / Emergency After-
Hours, Tel: 02-205-4000 Email: [email protected] /
Announcements: http://tinyurl.com/2vbja6l
Web: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service.html
(Closed Holidays)
American Citizen Services, U.S. Consulate, Chiang Mai
Mon-Fri, 0730-1630 (By Appt.) (Closed Last Friday of Month)
Emergency Tel: 05-310-7777 / Email: [email protected]
Web: http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service.html
(Closed Holidays)
Other Federal Services
• DFAS: Customer Inquiry, Tel: 1-216-522-5955 or 1-800-321-1080
• SSA Manila: Email: [email protected], Tel: +63-2-301-2000 (Ext. 9)
• TRICARE Overseas: Email: [email protected], Tel: +65-6339-2676
• VA: General Inquiry: https://iris.custhelp.com/, Tel: 1-800-827-1000
• VA Pension Management Center: Inquiry: IRIS, Tel: 1-877-294-6380
HQ JUSMAGTHAI MPS RETIREE ACTIVITIES OFFICE (RAO) 7 SATHORN TAI RD. BANGKOK 10120 OFFICIAL BUSINESS
JUSMAGTHAI
UNIT MAIL ROOM
BOX-R RECIPIENTS
