Readers of Tom Philpott's Military Update column sound off.

Those Who Exhausted MGIB Still Can Use New GI Bill

I was wondering about eligibility for new Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for soldiers who have used their Montgomery GI Bill benefit to get a degree, have been commissioned as officers and have reentered active duty to continue to serve. Will they be able to use the new education benefits?

HENRY A. VASQUEZ
Via e-mail
 

If members have used fewer than 36 months of their MGIB benefit, they will be able to convert those unused months to the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

However, a twist in the statute allows members who has used all 36 months of their MGIB to be eligible for an additional 12 months of Post-9/11 GI Bill.  So members who exhausted their MGIB entitlement, and had service after 9/11, will be entitled to more education help overall than members who used only 25 to 35 months of their MGIB. –Tom Philpott

I was on active duty in the Coast Guard from 1969 through 1972, completing a four-year commitment. I used the GI Bill for college. I then joined the Coast Guard Selected Reserve and retired in May last year with 20+ years. I was activated in February 2003 and served on active duty on for five-and-a-half years due to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Am I entitled to any additional education benefits and can I transfer them to my two children who are in college?

GERRY G. GINDER
Via e-mail
 

Under the Vietnam Era GI Bill, veterans were eligible to use 45 month of benefits so your eligibility for Post-9/11 benefits would depend on number of months used already.  You should apply to the VA for a formal eligibility determination.

Because you will not be on active duty or in the Selected Reserve on or after Aug. 1, 2009, you are not be eligible to transfer GI Bill benefits to your children. – T. P.

My husband was in the National Guard for nine years. He is an Iraq War veteran with a 60 percent service-connected disability. His VA doctors do not recommend his return to service and, because of traumatic brain injury, he also has been told it would be very hard for him to go back to school.

Is he able to transfer his education benefits to me? It would be a shame to let his earned benefits go to waste. He would have reenlisted if he had not come back with the issues he did. It would be unfair not to let veterans like him transfer Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

Surely someone has thought about this type of situation.

A. MEIER 

The new GI Bill statute does not allow for transferability unless a member is on active duty or the Ready Reserve on or after Aug. 1, 2009.  There are no exceptions to that requirement in the law. – T. P.

RELATED ARTICLE:
DoD Defines New GI Bill Transfer Rules

NO TRICARE FEES FOR FULLY RETIRED

I am in TRICARE's Uniformed Services Family Health Plan, which I believe to be the best program around. [USFHP beneficiaries receive care through in certain areas of the country through former U.S. Public Health facilities.] I have read complaints from all over about TRICARE but none are directed at USFHP.

My feeling is that any military retiree working in the private sector should share in paying higher TRICARE costs. But retirees who are totally retired shouldn't be charged any new fees.

JOHN W. HANS
Senior Chief Electrician's Mate, USN-Ret.
Highlands, Texas
 

MIGRATION OF HEALTH SERVICES

Thanks for your informative article on hospital realignment in the Washington D.C. as a result of base realignment actions. I understand that the new Fort Belvoir hospital will offer radiation therapy services for the first time, along with expanded Magnetic Resonance Imaging services.

I would assume location of these services may affect military member and family use patterns. Do you happen to know of any publicly available studies on this issue and how it might affect use of nearby civilian providers?

I am working with several civilian providers who are trying to plan for future utilization trends, and the plans for Fort Belvoir may affect them.

PETER M.
Williamsburg, VA

Officials with the Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical report that the radiation therapy services to be offered at the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital will be a relocation of services now available at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This is part of a larger redistribution of direct care services among three inpatient Military Treatment Facilities in the area.

Officials say that a huge percentage of the NCR's military population lives within the 40-mile "catchment area" of Belvoir's DeWitt hospital and its current network of health facilities. Many of these beneficiaries now must receive specialty care in the civilian community because there is not a military option nearby.

TRICARE's network of civilian providers fills gaps in health care when patients cannot get into military treatment facilities. Though continued use of this network is expected after the new Belvoir facility opens, a migration of patients back to the military for radiation services could occur.

"We will continue working hard to keep our Managed Care Support Contractor appraised of service changes to help it size and scope the network properly," said a task force official. – T. P.

Letters may be edited for clarity or length.  Write to Military Forum, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA  20120-1111, send e-mail to militaryforum@aol.com or visit www.militaryupdate.com.