Posted on Mar 31, 2018
Did you know All Retired Military on Medicare got hit with a reduction in benefits?
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The bill was attached to the back page of another bill, subsequently was passed and took effect 2-1-18 removing free mail order prescription coverage for Generic Formulary drugs. I was told a Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee meeting was held and Tri-care was there also and agreed to getting this bill passed. So Express Scripts lobbied someone to quietly attach this bill to the back page of another bill. When it passed Express Scripts started billing for this change on 2-1-28. A company named Cigna was in the process of making an offer to by Express Scripts prior to the passage of this bill and the news reported the offer as $32 to $34 Billion. The bill took effect and just 5 weeks later the final offer from Cigna was $67 Billion. A nice $33 Billion profit based on the new law removing a benefit we earned. I contacted Express Scripts when I filled my first prescription at the end of February and got billed for it. They say it is just $7 to $53 for each prescription. This adds up fast for us on Medicare. It is a fact that the older you are the better your chances of taking more medications. I take 9 per month myself. Now that they have taken away our benefit we can expect the price to climb each year without having to get Congress approval.
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Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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SCPO James Williams
I agree we all must band together our they will take way all our benefits to help some corporation make a dime off us.
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SCPO James Williams
Just got bill on my wife's heart medication that was on the formulary and did have a $0 co-pay. It is no longer on the formulary and now cost $53.00. Getting impossible to keep our heads above water with all these new changes.
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SFC Jon Vandeyacht
How can we fight it when the WWP and American Legion are not just supporting but actively seeking Veterans to write letters to GET the choice program increased and make bigger. When I asked the WWP person WFT they were doing, they honestly believe this is better. easeir to get closer care faster? Really? I use the VA, I get care as fast as i need it. so I wait a week, big deal, when I have an emergency, they get me in. Granted Fayetteville NC VA Hospital is pretty much the worst in the nation, but ath is an exception not a norm. We get much better thorough all around care from the VA. We don't get that from civilian doctors, they just want to push procedures that get them the most money. We cant beat those huge Veteran organizations pushing for it. The best thing for us is that we die a quick painless death.
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I do find that of interest....on many levels....does thst also apply in any way to those on VA disability? I'll research the bill, however, as I'd read what you'd said, I'd wondered about that aspect, also, you know?
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SCPO James Williams
Yes I think there may have been a little help from Tricare to get this bill shoved thru and thus allowed Express Scripts to recover losses by selling their business for a profit rather than the loss that was originally reported in the news when the offer was only $32 to $34 Billion but ended up being $67 Billion. A big jump with the passage of a bill allowing millions of retired military to have to start paying for medications that were free. May have been worth more than the $33 billion difference in price before the bill and after the bill's passage.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Imfolpow, imteresting, manynthamls, look up!CHAMPVA, relatively to Tricare, you might find some interesting comparisons I'll try to find more about the bill, many thanks....
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SCPO James Williams
Just got bill on my wife's heart medication that was on the formulary and did have a $0 co-pay. It is no longer on the formulary and now cost $53.00. Getting impossible to keep our heads above water with all these new changes.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Yeah, well, we've had more than our share of that el garbage with other insurance for my wife...been there, done that (BTDT)…..however, we obviously therefore commiserate, oh fellow traveler....
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Here we go, the sorry bastards in Congress are doing everything they can to screw us. I keep hearing all this noise about various schemes to destroy the VA Medical System either one piece at a time or in total. Makes me angry especially since I am helpless to do anything about it. Sorry Senior to hear about this. You are so very correct. When we enlisted (albeit 60 years ago) we entered into a contract with the United States of America. In exchange for our commitment to lay it all on the line, to offer ourselves up to and including our very lives, certain long-term benefits were it expressly promised or insinuated. Now, here we are ready to reap the harvest of our just dividends as payment for our sacrifices and the wonderful idiots running our government just say to us "Oh, we said that, oh, well, we were just kidding." We can't take back our service (not that I would even consider that - I would do it all over again.)
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SCPO James Williams
Just got bill on my wife's heart medication that was on the formulary and did have a $0 co-pay. It is no longer on the formulary and now cost $53.00. Getting impossible to keep our heads above water with all these new changes.
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Lots of incorrect information regarding lifetime medical benefits. Here is the cold hard facts.
https://www.military.com/militaryadvantage/2012/05/is-there-a-promise-of-free-health-care-for-life
https://www.military.com/militaryadvantage/2012/05/is-there-a-promise-of-free-health-care-for-life
Was Free Health Care for Life Promised?
A reader of Tom Philpott's"Military Update" recently wrote him commenting on Senator Lindsay Graham's remarks about the promise of free health care for life for military retirees.
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SCPO James Williams
So why did they have to very quietly get a bill passed to benefit Express Scripts to set prices for items that were free. And obviously this bill helped Express Scripts raise their net worth so that the sale price jumped $33 billion from the first offer after the bill took effect. Was all of this coincidence. or dirty politics.
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MCPO Roger Collins
My post was related to the guaranteed lifetime benefits. Not potential shenanigans by the two private concerns. Still free if you can go to a MTF, so they say. Very seldom does coincidence have anything to do with it.
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SCPO James Williams
Just got bill on my wife's heart medication that was on the formulary and did have a $0 co-pay. It is no longer on the formulary and now cost $53.00. Getting impossible to keep our heads above water with all these new changes.
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Just got bill on my wife's heart medication that was on the formulary and did have a $0 co-pay. It is no longer on the formulary and now cost $53.00. Getting impossible to keep our heads above water with all these new changes.
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MCPO Roger Collins
Was that Expresscripts? We keep hearing thank you for your service, while sending us a bill.
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Tricare for Life Users Surprised by Drug Cost Increase
Although Tricare for Life users were mostly protected from Tricare's Jan. 1 changes, they are always subject to the separate pharmacy co-pay increases.
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SCPO James Williams
Can they arbitrarily just remove a popular medicine from their formulary so they can charge the maximum co-pay now when it was free just 2 months ago.
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MCPO Roger Collins
SCPO James Williams - Most of these increasing costs are passed by the Armed Services Committees, so the answer is yes. Our problem, as service members and former service members is that we don't vote as a bloc and they only respond to things that hurt their chances of reelection.
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SCPO James Williams
MCPO Roger Collins - Crying shame the retired get used as pawns in a "get reelected game" for them. We need to figure out how to vote as a block!
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MCPO Roger Collins
Just ordered a prescription refil from ExpressScript. Zero payment due, it was a generic.
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