Austin, Texas Chapter

The Association for all Military Officers
Companion Bulletin -November 2005

Commander's Comments    We anticipate sending students to the 2006p Youth Leadership Conference and the cost per student scholarship is $200. The cost will not be subsidized this year. Every year companions have helped MOWW fulfill its commitment top this outstanding Program by sponsoring a student and again this year your support would be appreciated. We would like to kick off the program at our November meeting. Again this month new membership must be emphasized. This is a major concern. It is very difficult to run our MOWW programs and enjoy the camaraderie without members attending meetings. Thanks to all who attended the last meeting. Hope you enjoyed Brig. Gen. Smith's presentation on the Military Preparedness Commission, Office of the Governor. Meeting. 10 Nov. 2005 Holiday Inn Northwest (Mopac & Hwy 183) The cost for the evening is $18.00. If you are not called by 6 Nov., contact COL Szendrey (388-1005). Menu Sliced Roast Beef w/Hunter Sauce, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Vegetables & Dessert

Speaker Chief Master Sgt. Gonda Moncada, Texas National Guard Chaplain's Selection "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and makes sense of . our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision of tomorrow." - Melody Beattie Schedule: 1830-1900-Social 1900-1905 - Invocation & Salutes 1905-1945-Dinner 1945-2000-Break 2000-2015- Awards & Festivities 2015-2045-Speaker 2045-2100-Adjourn Chapter Officers Commander - COL Szendrey  1st Vice Cmdr. - Vacant  2nd Vice Cmdr. - COL McVeigh  3rd Vice Cmdr. - COL Holland  Adjutant - COL Szendrey  Treasurer - LTC Kelso  Chaplain - CDR Cochran  Surgeon - MG Bernstein  Judge Advocate - COL Philips

LEGISLATION Medicare beneficiaries are facing a double digit increase in their Medicare Part B premiums. Similar to 2004, Congress is considering another increase for physician reimbursement under the Medicare program. This increase will raise Part B premiums from the current $78.20 a month to $88.50 in January 2006. This $10.30 increase will represent the third year in a row of double digit increases. Items of Interest * The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that recent jump in energy prices boosted the Consumer Price Index another 1.5% in September. That resulted in a 4.1% COLA. This increase will be applied as of December 1,2005. The increases will first appear in January 2006 paychecks. This is the largest COLA since the 1991 increase of 5.4%. "' VA's massive restructuring and aggressive commitment to electronic tracking of patient records over the last decade has made the nation's largest health care system a model for

the private sector. VA has doubled its patient load to 5.2 million since 1995. It also reduced staff by 12,000 and opened hundreds of outpatient clinics, while cutting patient costs by half. Meanwhile, patient care has improved through electronic tracking of patient records. VA's 75,000 full-time physicians have instant access to patients' medical histories, medications, treatments and surgeries. Medicare officials concede that VA's electronically coordinated treatment system with all its physicians working for the same organization provides more feedback for doctors than Medicare. * The number of military families on food stamps has steadily declined over the years. In 1991, there were 19,400 servicemembers on food stamps. In 2002, the number was 2,084 members on food stamps. The decrease was primarily due to the increases in basic pay and housing allowances, and to a lesser extent to the Family Supplemental Subsistence Allowance (FSSA). Another reason for the decline in eligibility for food stamps has been the privatization of military housing.

 

Service members living in privatized housing receive Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), just like families who live off the installation. BAH is included in the income calculation used to determine food stamp eligibility, thus excluding most families even at the junior ranks. * Veterans who fill their prescriptions through the VA are being warned about a fraudulent company called Patient Care Group, which is calling veterans and claiming the VA has changed the way it dispenses prescriptions. These phony representatives claim veterans now must use Patient Care Group to get their medications. Beneficiaries then are asked for a credit card number to ensure they continue to get their prescriptions. Please be aware the VA has not changed the prescription process in any way.

China * The mounting energy needs are prompting China to seek an atomic partnership with Australia. Beijing, which has already announced plans to supplement its nine existing nuclear- power plants with forty to fifty additional facilities over the next two decades, has entered into negotiations with Canberra regarding the acquisition of uranium. If concluded, the deal would substantially expand ties between China and Australia - which retains 41 percent of the world's easily extractable uranium and already serves as an energy supplier for the PRC. The negotiations have raised new fears of nuclear proliferation in Asia, and of the potential benefit to China's nuclear weapons arsenal. Australia's Foreign Minister has assured the Australian parliament that the uranium deal would only go ahead with the proper safeguards to ensure that the uranium would not be used to build nuclear weapons and not be given to other countries. There are fears that such safeguards would be inadequate, and that the arrangement would create a dangerous precedent of selling nuclear materiel to a new country which is not an open society.