Don’t look now, but your military benefits are under attack again.
This task force has decided that you’re getting too good of a deal and want to change the rules mid-stream. They say the American taxpayer is fed up with paying the health care bill for its military and especially for retired military folks (they seem to forget that retired military are also taxpayers). The cost of maintaining a volunteer military is tremendous and so is the sacrifice you and I made to be a part of it. With my advanced degrees (I have a masters degree and a law degree) I could have made a lot more money than I did serving my country. I would have had a better retirement and better health care benefits but the Task Force doesn’t look at that issue. No, they just want to screw us out of what little we have.
Military medical costs (including Tricare for active, reserve and retired) have doubled in the past six years from 19 billion in 2001 to about 40 billion in 2007. You politicians should have thought of that before you contracted with us to go lay our butts on the line for you. You sent taxpaying Americans into the battlefield, many never to return, and many to meet with shrapnel and bullet holes with the promise that you would provide medical care for them and their dependents for their willingness to sacrifice. Now you want to break faith with us. I don’t care how much it costs to provide medical benefits, the United States government made a promise and now must keep it regardless of cost. If our politicians don’t want to pay the price, they should cancel the current wars, bring everyone home and seriously downsize the military until 911 becomes a weekly event. If the taxpayers don’t like paying for the medical benefits for their military, then they really won’t like what America becomes with a diminished military. America’s taxpayers should be glad they have jobs and live in a free society where they can excel and gain wealth and prosperity. But, don’t forget that you come by this privilege because of the blood of American veterans. When you politicians undermine and steal the benefits of the veterans you sent to war you have blood on your hands!
The Task Force has recommended that retirees under 65 should have an annual buy-in on top of cost sharing. Unbelievably, they claim that you paying more out of your pocket to get the health care you were promised, will somehow be better for you. They also want those of you who are employed (because your retirement benefit is not enough to live on) to use your employer health care first and Tricare second. This is already law because the politicians are bent on breaking faith with veterans but they have not been able to enforce it. They propose spending more taxpayer money to set up another layer of bureaucracy to find you and punish you. What they don’t understand is that by using your so called “employer” benefit you have to pay a big percentage of your already measly paycheck to get into the insurance program. That’s why you use Tricare, because it's the most cost-effective for you, the taxpaying beneficiary. Read the Task Force report in it’s entirety here
Task Force Report PDF. I would encourage you to read it and when you become completely enraged, write a letter to your congressman/woman and tell them how you feel about it. Don't just email them, write them a letter ( a real letter from a real voter is much more effective). Keeping you informed - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing
Labels: Health Care
If you've never seen the Giant Redwoods at Sequoia National Park you are in for a treat. Stay at the Lemoore Naval Air Station Campground and use it as a base to make a day trip to see the park. While visiting Sequoia, be sure to take time to climb Moro Rock (400 steps) for a spectacular view and hike around Crescent Meadow referred to by John Muir as, "the gem of the Sierra". To find NAS Lemoore take CA-198 east from I-5 for approximately 17 miles or west from highway 99 about 25 miles. 
Enter at the main entrance and take the truck entrance on the left and be prepared for a security inspection. Go north on the Enterprise then trun right onto Franklin Avenue. Turn right onto Hancock Ave. just past McDonalds and make the first left turn into "The Village" parking lot where you'll see the RV park. The commercial phone number for MWR is (559) 997-7000 (option 3) monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. There are 18 sites with 50 amp/30 amp/ and 110 along with water, sewer and free cable. 
Each site had a cement pad, picnic table, BBQ and trash can. Daily $23, weekly $140 and monthly $140 (2007 rates). Within walking distance are several eating establishments, a bowling ally, theater, clubs, hospital, chapel, post office, tickets and tours and much more. The exchange and commissary are are new and a short drive from the campground. The gas station is directly across the street. For more shopping the town of Hanford has a Super WalMart, a mall and many other national brand stores.
