MILITARY OFFICERS CALL

Sun City Center Chapter Military Officers Association of America

P. O. Box 5693, Sun City Center, FL. 33571

Volume 33 Number 12 December 2018

President’s Message Benny Blackshire, LTC USA (Ret

Thank you to all who attended our November meeting. It was special on two accounts. First, Major Robert Ura, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, was our guest speak-er and his talk about his USAF days as a boom operator and his 20 plus years in law enforcement were both in-formative and entertaining. Deputy Jeff Merry accompa-nied Major Ura and spoke about the “Deputy Darlins” pro-gram they do each year. Checks from MOAA and MOWW for the “Deputy Darlings” were presented to them after their talk. Second, this was our Annual Meeting where our officers and directors for 2019 were elected. They will be installed at our December meeting by the President of the Florida Council of Chapters, Col. Len Friedlander, USAF (RET). All of the officers and directors were re-elected for another year with the exceptions of the 2nd VP and Treasurer. Cliff Korn will be replacing Charley Collins as 2nd VP and Bob Cochran will be replacing D.Kay Benson as Treasur-er. We gratefully appreciate the service of Charley and D.Kay for our chapter. On the recommendation of our chapter board, a motion was made and approved to raise our chapter dues, effec-tive 1 January 2019, from $15 to $20 for regular member-ship and from $12 to $15 for auxiliary membership. This will allow our chapter to continue to support community charitable organizations that support our veterans. Our chapter also supports the JROTC program at nine local high schools. All dues paid before 1 January 2019 will be at the current rate of $15 for regular and $12 for auxiliary membership. This is an incentive to pay your dues early and save. “Hi Neighbor” on November 1st was another successful event for our chapter. Three people completed their appli-cation and paid their dues for 2019 at the event. Four oth-ers gave us their information so we can follow up with them and we provided information to several others about our organization. Thanks to Jim Haney and Ferris Garrett for helping to man the table for MOAA & MOWW. The SCC Veterans Memorial is under construction in front of the South Community Hall on South Pebble Beach Blvd. The underground electrical work was installed and the concrete for the base of the memorial has been laid. It will take some time for the concrete to cure before work

A Brooklyn NY native, Len Friedland-er enlisted in the US Air Force in 1958, and served tours as a radar operator in Germany and Montauk Point, NY. He was selected for the Airman’s Education and Commission-ing Program and was commissioned in 1967, he performed various intelli-gence, automation, and command & control functions within Strategic Air Command, Air Force Intelligence Ser-

vice, US Air Forces Europe, Air Force Communications Command, and Hq US Air Force. His last assignments were in Turkey as Commander, 2003rd Communications Group and Vice Commander of The US Logistics Group; and Deputy Director, Standard Systems Group at Maxwell AFB, AL. He retired from the Air Force in 1994 as a Colonel with 36 years of continuous active duty and subsequently held managerial and executive Information Technology posi-tions with TRW, Northrup Grumman, Apple, RS Infor-mation Systems & K12, before moving to Sarasota FL. Colonel Friedlander earned a BS degree from Syracuse University in 1967, and an MBA from Michigan State Uni-versity in 1971. He is a graduate of the Air Force Squad-ron Officers School, Air Command and Staff College, and the Air University. Len became a member of the Military Officers Associa-tion of America (MOAA) in 1983, and has been actively involved in the Sarasota chapter (MOAS) since 2004; serving MOAS as Vice President, President, and Immedi-ate Past President, and was the editor of the chapter’s monthly newsletter from 2007 to 2018. He has served as the Florida Council of Chapters (FCOC) Southwest Area Vice President, Council Vice President, and was elected FCOC President in June 2018. can continue. The estimated completion date is mid-December and the dedication ceremony is scheduled for January 10, 2019 at 10 am. More information will be pub-lished as we get closer to the event. You can still pur-chase bricks. As your chapter president I wish to thank you for your support during the last year and look forward to another great year in 2019. Menu on page 2

DECEMBER SPEAKER

Col Leonard Friedlander, USAF, Ret

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$15.00 DEC. 5TH LUNCHEON $15.00

♦(813) 642-0497♦

Salad Bar & Fresh Fruit with Assorted Dressings

Carved Prime Rib with Horseradish

Chicken Marsala

Salmon with an Almond Sauce

Dessert Bar: Chef’s selected desserts

Beverages: Decaf Coffee, Iced Tea, and Ice Water

DUES NOTICE DUES NOTICE DUES NOTICE

It is that time of year again.

Time to pay your dues for 2019

Members ………………………..$15.00

Auxiliary …………….….……….$12.00

You may Pay at the luncheon or mail to

our PO Box:

Military Officers Association of America Post Office Box 5693 Sun City Center, FL 33571-5693

November 7th Monthly Meeting

Major Robert Ura, HCSO, featured speaker at MOAA luncheon

Robert Ura, from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), was the featured speaker at the Military Officers Asso-

ciation of America (MOAA) luncheon held on November 7th at the South Side Atrium Florida Room.

Major Ura is a twenty-year law enforcement veteran having begun his career at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

(HCSO) in 1997. He has served in the patrol and motor units, and as an undercover narcotics detective.

He joined the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) in 2002, as a Special Agent, and was assigned to a Drug En-

forcement Administration’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Methamphetamine Task Force. He later transferred

to the Lakeland Field Office to focus on Homicide investigations in Polk and Hardee Counties.

In 2007, Major Ura was promoted to Special Agent Supervisor over Public Integrity and Officer Involved shooting investi-

gations. He rejoined the HCSO in 2011 and was the Criminal Investigations Division Commander since 2012 to 2018.

Major Ura is a proud veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a graduate of Ball State University. He is also a graduate of the

Southern Police Institute’s 136th Administrative Officers Course and FDLE’s Foundational Leadership Course.

Deputy Jeff Merry, the Sun City Center Community Resource Deputy, and Major Ura, both involved in the collection of toys

for the HCSO, s “Deputy Darlins” program were presented with donation checks from MOAA and the Military Order of the

World Wars (MOWW) at the luncheon. From left in photo, Deputy Jeff Merry; Major Ura; Benny Blackshire, president of the

local chapter of MOAA; and Jim Haney, commander of the local chapter of MOWW, present donation checks to the HCSO

for the program. Each holiday season, churches and fellow deputies provide Deputy Darlins with a list of families in need.

Many are considered "working poor," people who are doing their best to provide for their family, but don't qualify for other

state resources.

Chapter Officers PRESIDENT LTC Benny Blackshire, USA (Ret)……………260-3105 bwblacks@aol.com 1st VP MAJ James Haney, USMC (Ret)……………..220-8758 jhhaney1@gmail.com Membership Chairman 2nd VP

LTJG Charley Collins, USN (Fmr)… …..404-0059 Charleycollins.kw@gmail.com SECRETARY LTC Ed Mooney, USA (Ret)………………….751-6844 edmllc@yahoo.com ASSISTANT SECRETARY Lt Col Ferris Garrett, USAF (Ret)……….…….841-0532 garrett4@tampabay.rr.com TREASURER D. Kay Benson (Aux).…………………...….… 938-3030 mamby45@hotmail.com ASSISTANT TREASURER

1st Lt Bob Cochran USA (Fmr)..…………..…….. 677-2606 boblo15@msn.com DIRECTOR LT Dave Floyd, USN (Fmr)... ……….………...334-7797 DavidFloyd2012@yahoo.com DIRECTOR Doris Glass (Aux)…………………………....….642-0497 Luncheon Reservation Coordinator dobygl@juno.com DIRECTOR CAPT Frank Kepley, USN (Ret) ……… ……..642-0801 Public Affairs Officer Legislative Affairs Publisher/Editor Officers Call Newsletter dkepley@tampabay.rr.com DIRECTOR Jane Foppe (Aux) ……………………….….....541-2618 ljcfoppe@aol.com Surviving Spouse Liaison PAST PRESIDENT LTC Charles Conover, USA (Ret)…..….…......260-3257 charlierconover@gmail.com DIRECTOR CDR Ed Socha, USN (Ret) …………...……. .634-4957 Personnel Affairs Proofreader (newsletter) ejsfalcon1@frontier.com JROTC Coordinator Lt Col James Warchol, USAF (Ret)………..…633-1063 wjammer39@gmail.com CHAPLAIN Assistant Personal Affairs Lt Col Samuel Rorer, USAF (Ret)…..………. 260-3882 srorer@hotmail.com

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.

David J. Gauthier

Certified Public Accountant—Sun City Accounting

Sun City Center, Florida 33573

(813) 634-9500 (813)642-8112-Fax

Income Tax Preparation

Corporate and Business Taxes

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Financial and Investment Planning

Planning for Freedom Plaza Entrance Fees

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SUN CITY CENTER 1653 Sun City Center Plaza Sun City Center, FL 33573

P: 813-633-7333 F: 813-633-61-20

SARASOTA 6371 Business Boulevard

Suite 200 Sarasota, Florida 31-21-0

P: 800-330-4248 tpayant@payantwealthmanagementgroup.com WWW.PAYANTWEALTHMANAGEMENTGROUP.COM

Securities and Insurance Services offered through SagePoint Financial, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Payant Wealth Management

Group, a registered investment advisor not affiliated with SagePoint Financial, Inc.

James A. Haley director presents second Town Hall

A second James A. Haley Veterans Town Hall, featuring the clinics progress and an enrollment opportunity, was held at the Sun City Center Community Hall on 24 October 2018. The earlier Town Hall did not provide an enrollment opportunity so a second one was held primarily for that pur-pose. The event was once again packed with interested veterans. Bill Hodges, (photo right) who provides the ‘Veterans Corner’ radio program, was the MC and deliv-ered his usual superb performance. It was also Bill who organized this event. Mr. Battle (photo left) was then intro-duced, and guests, including County Commissioner Stacy White, and individuals who assisted with the event were identified and thanked. Mr. Battle then outlined the pro-gress of the clinic, what services it will provide for the pa-tients, and a timeline on its opening. The event was billed as an Enrollment Fair and flu shot opportunity. Flu shots were offered on-site to anyone wish-ing one. Before discussing the new Riverview clinic, Joe provided some information on the new Bed Tower at the James A. Haley hospital. It will consist of 245,000 sq. ft with all private rooms. The all new Intensive Care Unit will have 10 beds. It is anticipated that the Bed Tower will open in the spring of 2021. He also commented on the difficult parking at Haley, which will have several sites available and all will have a shuttle service to the hospital. The new Riverview Clinic will be 50,000 sq. ft. of net usa-ble space. it will be located on the corner of 301 and Sum-merfield Crossing Blvd. in Riverview. There will be two primary care teams and a women’s primary care team. Services that will be available include: mental health; audi-ology; radiology, (MRI, CT, ultrasound studies); podiatry; physical therapy; and pharmacology. It will not have an eye clinic. After a summary of the services the event was open to all questions. Mr. Battle also stayed after the presentation to answer any additional questions. The director said there were two ways to register as a patient. Contact your current primary care team or register right there that day. There was a separate room set up with Haley employees to assist with the registrations. Also, Bill Hodges subsequently checked with the Enroll-ment Office at the Haley hospital and was advised that: a. If you are already enrolled with the Haley VA and are

on one of their teams, you must call that team and tell them you would like to get on the list for the new clinic. They will take the name and advise you when the switch will take place. Keep in mind that it is likely the Clinic will not be on line prior to the April/May time

period. b. If you are a VA enrollee from any other VA hospital you

must call Haley Enrollment at 813-972-2000 and dial either extension 1710 or 5902.

c. And If you are not enrolled in VA Health Care use the

same procedure as in (b.) above and the enrollment offic-ers will walk you through the registration process. In all likelihood if you are not now enrolled the walk- through will entail travel up to Haley to be assigned a Pri-mary Care team. The construction will be complete in the fall and activa-tion will take place in the spring of 2019.

Veterans generally happy about their health, study says

Veterans may have a high-er risk of significant health issues including arthritis, mental health conditions and cancer, but they tend to be optimistic about their health anyway, according to a survey by the United

Health Foundation and the Military Officers Association of America. The survey also noted that smoking and drinking rates for veterans are down compared with recent years. Military Times (tiered subscription model)

Publisher/Editor

CAPT Frank Kepley, USN (Ret)

We need your input about member activities associ-ated with MOAA and articles of interest to the mili-tary community. Contact Frank at: dkepley@tampabay.rr.com 813-642-0801

MOAA 5 Star

Newsletter Communication

Award 2015 — 2017

Sun City Center MOAA Website

Don’t forget to visit our new website. The link to the

website is: http://moaafl.org/chapters/SunCity/ You

will find much membership information, photos, cal-

endar of events, past newsletters and more. If you

would like to suggest topics for inclusion contact Jim

Haney at jhhaney1@gmail.com

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DUES NOTICE DUES NOTICE DUES NOTICE

It is that time of year again.

Time to pay your dues for 2019.

If you would like to make a donation please indi-

cate if you wish it to be applied to My Warriors

Place or Operation Warmheart. We support both

annually.

LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

Frank Kepley, CAPT USN (Ret)

Military death benefits won’t be stopped by government shutdowns anymore

Military death gratuities will be ex-empted from future government shutdowns under a provision includ-ed in the defense appropriations deal recently announced. The move means a permanent fix for an infrequent but devastating

problem facing grieving military families caught up in nation-al political budget fights. In each of the last two partial gov-ernment shutdowns, widows of troops killed on duty were forced to wait several days for the military’s automatic finan-cial assistance because federal rules prohibited the pay-outs. Language in the defense minibus bill, expected to be passed by the House and Senate, will now create an ex-emption for those families. Even if other military services and benefits are shuttered, the death gratuity payments will still be processed. The death gratuity issue has been a particularly offensive example for many members of Congress.

Wilkie touts a calmer, reformed VA in his first congressional test

Wilkie, President Donald Trump’s re-placement for David Shulkin — the VA secretary he fired via social media this spring — was peppered with questions from skeptical senators at his first con-gressional hearing since taking over the

veterans bureaucracy. Several on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee con-fronted Wilkie over reports that a trio of businessmen with membership to Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago country club have had significant influence over past VA policy, including being involved in the firing of Shulkin. Wilkie said he has only met with the men once, an hour-long meeting when he was acting secretary, and insisted they have no policy role today. “I am committed to making sure I am the sole person ac-countable to you,” he said, adding that while he is open to outside advice, no VA staff are currently consulting with the men. Both the new secretary and president have repeatedly said they’re offering more “choice” to veterans in their health care options, and Congress in June finalized a series of sweeping changes designed to ease the path for veter-ans to get VA to cover the costs of a host of outside medical appointments. But developing the rule — a process expected to take months — will require carefully balancing issues of health care flexibility with concerns over privatizing much of the

VA’s core mission. Wilkie on several occasions, has said he is opposed to privatizing the department. Democrats in both chambers have said they fear the new standards, if written too broad-ly, could do just that. As he did in his confirmation hearing, Wilkie listed his top priorities as implementing the new community care reforms, advancing work on joint military and VA medical records, reforming department business practices and “to make ac-cessing VA services seamless, effective, efficient and emo-tionally resonant.” Editor’s note: It is clear that the controversial issue of pri-vatization will remain on the table. Time will tell.

Veterans, military retirees will see a 2.8 percent COLA boost for 2019

Veterans receiving disability pay and military retirees will see a 2.8 percent cost-of-living boost starting in December, their largest increase in six years. Social Security Administra-

tion announced that the cost-of-living adjustment for 2019 for their beneficiaries will be 2.8 percent, the biggest in-crease since 2012. Last year the increase was 2 percent, and the previous three years were only 2 percent combined. Under current law, annual cost-of-living increases are au-tomatic for Social Security benefits, meaning the executive branch can enact them without intervention from Congress. Certain other federal benefits, such as military retiree pay-outs, are also automatically boosted by that decision. But the Social Security announcement also serves as the baseline for a host of other federal benefits calculations that do require yearly reauthorization, including Department of Veterans Affairs payouts.

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MEMBERSHIP CORNER

The Membership Committee Chair is providing the follow-ing to update the Chapter membership regarding our Chapter LOE & MOAA rewards. Also, this article will list new Chapter members. — 195 Chapter members — 130 LIFE members — 29 PREMIUM members — 15 BASIC members — 21 non-MOAA members New Chapter member(s) last month: William Finley, CW3, USN (Ret) John “Jack” Killoran, 1LT, USA (Fmr) Vivian Killoran, 1LT, USA (Fmr) Robert “Bob” Linenweber, LTC, USA (Ret) William Martin, CDR, USN (Ret) Karen Weimar, 1LT, USA (Fmr) REMINDER: The Chapter reimburses $100 to members upgrading to LIFE when LIFE certificate is presented to the Treasurer.

VA won’t turn over documents related to outside businessmen’s influence on depart-ment policy

Veterans Affairs officials are declin-ing to give members of Congress doc-uments related to accusations that outside businessmen are unduly influ-encing department policy, citing legal ongoing disputes over the issue. In response, the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Commit-tee blasted the move as “an attempt to stonewall not only a member of Con-

gress, but the American public.” At issue are concerns raised by a ProPublica report this summer that identified three businessmen — Marvel Enter-tainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, primary care specialist Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, and attorney Marc Sherman — as key architects of a host of veterans policy decisions by Trump’s administration (see page 6) . None of the men hold official government positions, but all three are confidants of Trump and members of his ex-clusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Documents released by the news organization show frequent contact between the men and top VA officials last year, including discus-sions on policy matters and personal favors. Last month, at a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie told lawmakers he has only met with the men once, as a courtesy during a trip to Florida, and that they have no role in crafting department policy. But after House Democrats in August requested corre-spondence between the men and VA officials, Wilkie re-fused, citing “ongoing litigation alleging violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act” making them “not appro-priate for release at this time.” “We have received nothing from VA except excuses,” he said in a statement. “The reports of corruption and crony-ism are serious and we cannot allow VA to sweep this un-der the rug. This issue will remain a top concern of the committee until all our questions have been answered.” Editor’s note: I knew this situation was not going to quietly disappear into the night.

TriWest takes over VA community care programs nationwide

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials announced that TriWest Health Care Alliance will take over nationwide operations for the department’s main community care pro-grams despite concerns raised about over-

payments to the company. For the last five years, operations for the department’s primary two outside care programs — Patient-Centered Community Care and Veterans Choice Program — had been operated by TriWest and Health Net Federal Ser-vices. The new contract extends TriWest’s partnership and names them the sole provider until the two programs are replaced next year with a new overarching community care program mandated in the VA Mission Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law this summer.

VA officials praised the contract as ensuring that veter-ans will not see disruptions in their health care in the com-ing year. Just two months into his tenure leading VA, the new sec-retary promised significant culture changes for the depart-ment. “Extending the time and reach of our partnership with TriWest will ensure veterans get the care they need while the department transitions to delivering care under the Mis-sion Act next year,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement. The VA inspector general found that over a one-year pe-riod, TriWest officials filed more than 111,000 duplicate claims for outside care services and made mistakes in nearly 300,000 others, resulting in department overpay-ments of more than $45 million dollars. Similar errors by Health Net officials resulted in $56 mil-lion in overpayments, investigators said. In response, VA officials implemented new payment con-trols and recovered about $40 million of that money. Addi-tional reimbursements are being reviewed. Editor’s note: Hmmm! Seems like it pays to cheat.

Has combat arms gender integration been successful? The Army will let you know in 2020.

It’s been two years since the Army first started accepting women into its infantry, armor, fire support spe-cialist and special operator commu-nities, and, so far, hundreds have volunteered to be among the first. In late September, Defense Secre-

tary Jim Mattis told a group of Virginia Military Institute stu-dents that he wasn’t ready to give the effort a passing grade. The Army is also withholding an opinion. “It’s early in the process. It’s probably too early to call the ball, but we feel positive about what we’ve seen so far,” Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands told reporters Wednesday at the AUSA annual meeting in Washington. The Army’s integration plan is still in a pilot phase, he said, and the service will be “ready to make a determina-tion” when it concludes in 2020. The service has 15 studies going, looking into everything from readiness and injury rates to anecdotal testimony from men and women in inte-grated units.

Charity for veterans' funerals faces federal investigation Federal agents suspect the owners of Minnesota's Dog Tag Furniture pocketed funds that were supposed to pay for veteran funerals, according to court records. To hear Army veteran Troy D. Walker tell it, Dog Tag Furniture’s mission to aid vets began after a service buddy killed himself and the family couldn’t afford a funeral. But now, Walker, his wife Ranemma and Dog Tag Furni-ture are under investigation by the FBI and U.S. Postal Service amid allegations of money laundering and wire fraud in “a scheme to defraud donors who made charitable donations to their company,” according to court records. Dog Tag Furniture was founded in 2015 as a for-profit corporation.

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Tricare Updates Rules to Address Concerns About Access to Care

Officials on announced an addition to a list of circumstances under which users will be per-mitted to switch plans after a new rule takes effect late this year. Currently, military families enrolled in Tricare Select or Tricare Prime can change plans for

any reason. But a new rule ordered by Congress in 2016 and set to kick in late this year will block users from switching plans at will. Instead, users will be permitted to make plan changes only within a 90-day win-dow of a "qualifying life event" (QLE) or during an annual open en-rollment period. Those qualifying events include moves, the birth of a child, the loss of other health insurance, retirement, marriage and divorce. But early this year, military advocates raised concerns that the original QLE list, which was not dictated by Congress but instead set by Tricare policy, was not friendly to the special life circumstanc-es caused by military life.

GAO: DOD must take more steps to ensure quality community-based care

The DoD does not apply the same quality benchmarks to community-based health care providers as it does to military treat-ment facilities and needs to do more to ensure Military Health System beneficiaries receive quality care, according to a Govern-ment Accountability Office report.

Health Net and Humana rarely drop poorly performing providers from their networks, and the GAO recommended that Tricare East and West contracts require the contractors to take action against providers who fail to meet quality standards. "According to the Military Health System officials, the MHS does not require the contractors to ensure that each individual hospital, physician or other provider in these networks meets the perfor-mance standards related to the Purchased Care Dashboard measures," the report states. And while the contractors are expected to make sure military fam-ilies are receiving quality care, they aren't required to push out pro-viders who don't perform, it adds.

CDC: Alzheimer's, Dementia Rate Expected to Double by 2060

The share of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias is expected to more than double by 2060 as people increas-ingly survive into older adulthood, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention. An estimated 5 million older adults had

Alzheimer’s or a related dementia in 2014, and by 2060 that figure is expected to rise to 13.9 million, or about 3.3 percent of the U.S. population, according to the report, which evaluated health claims data for more than 28 million Medicare beneficiaries. Alzheimer’s – the fifth-leading cause of death for adults 65 and older and the sixth-leading cause of death for Americans overall – destroys memory and cognitive functioning and poses a greater risk as people age

Scientists create artificial skin with tactile stimuli for prosthetics

An artificial skin that can be used on prosthetics includes a flexible sensor that imitates the sense of feeling, according to researchers at Ningbo Institute of Materi-als Technology and Engineering in China. The sensor would enable nerve endings of the missing limb to interpret physiologi-cal signals from tactile stimuli.

Say 'Shoo' to the Flu with TRICARE The best way to keep the flu at bay is prevention. Make sure you and your family members use your TRICARE benefit and get a flu shot. You can also adopt good practices to avoid the spread of germs. Flu viruses are serious, contagious viruses that can lead to hospitalization or even death.

Air Force Special Operations School dean fired after using cannabis to treat cancer

SARASOTA, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — A Vietnam veteran and career educator at an elite military training school now finds himself resorting to a Reagan-era executive order in hopes of clearing his name. Henry Cobbs' crime — vaping a non-psychoactive form of cannabis to treat his prostate cancer. In 2016, the Kentucky native was diagnosed for

prostate cancer. Cobbs was preparing to endure radiation and chemotherapy when a doctor suggested alternative treatment. It involved dietary supplements incorporating citrus ingredients, non-psychoactive mushrooms and CBD. Cobbs' cancer is now in re-mission. Cobbs, 77, was forced out of his job last month as dean of aca-demics for the Air Force Special Operations School (AFSOS) at Hurlburt Field near Fort Walton Beach, a position he had retained since 2009. A 22-year military veteran with two master's degrees and a doc-torate in administration of higher education, the retired Air Force captain was issued a "Notice of Removal" in May for his "use of cannabidiol (CBD), a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance" by Lt. Col. Michael S. Lowe, citing a witness who saw Cobbs "smoke your 'medicine.'" The next step for Cobbs is an appeal for a hearing before the Merit Systems Protection Board, which considers grievances lodged by federal employees for unfair termination. If they uphold AFSOS' punishment, he vows to press his attack on Schedule 1. “My life has been sort of a storybook, to tell you the truth. I’ve been blessed,” said Cobbs, who also worked as executive assis-tant superintendent for computer technology services in the Atlanta public school system, as well as director for management infor-mation systems at Alabama State University. “But to end it on a note like this is reprehensible. What I’m trying to do is protect my legacy.” "I'll go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if I have to," Cobbs adds. "I was only concerned with getting rid of my cancer, and the CBD worked. So to hell with the law." Editor’s note: I think it is high time to recognize that cannabis used for the treatment of various medical conditions is here to stay --- and rightly so.

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MEMBER OF THE MONTH

George Bodmer, Maj. USA (Ret) George Bodmer was born and raised in North Dakota and graduated from North Dakota State University. After 10 years’ service in the US Army he re-signed his commission with the rank of Major. He owned and operated a fly fishing shop in Colorado for several years. He has been a real estate broker for 40 years. He moved to Florida in 1987 where

he and his wife are owners of Bayside Realty Group, Inc. He is a Past President of the Greater Tampa Realtors, Director of the State and National Associations and was selected as Realtor of the Year in 2016. He and his wife have five children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He has lived in Sun City Cen-ter since 2012, is active in the community and is an avid fisherman and Cowboy Action Shooter.

Veteran ID Card Program to Get Speed Boost Veterans who apply for ID cards through the Department of Veteran Affairs program rolled out last year should start to see a faster turnaround time. "VA is establishing a data-sharing part-

nership with the Department of Defense that will essentially automate much of the VIC eligibility determination process, thus substantially expediting card deliveries to Veterans," Curtis Cashour, a VA spokesman told Military.com. Current turnaround time for mailing the cards is typically "up to 21 business days from the time a veteran's applica-tion is approved," Cashour said. But application pro-cessing times can take up to six months, "depending on individual veterans' service circumstances." Not all individuals who have applied for the card qualified. Any honorably discharged veteran is eligible to receive one of the new veteran ID cards through a program estab-lished last year. Ordered by Congress in 2015, the cards are meant to serve as proof of military service at private businesses. They are not considered official forms of feder-al or state identification and do not entitle veterans to any VA or Defense Department services or benefits. Veterans should visit Vets.gov to apply for the card.

The end of HIV transmission in the U.S.: A once-unthinkable dream becomes an openly discussed goal

A mere decade ago, 45,000 Ameri-cans a year were contracting HIV. Since the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention started collecting data on HIV-related deaths just over 30 years ago, more than half a mil-lion of those people have died from

AIDS. And yet, today, the struggle against HIV may be undergo-ing a sea change.

U.S. health officials and HIV experts are beginning to talk about a future in which transmission in the United States could be halted. And that future, they say, could come not within a generation, but in the span of just a few years. “We have the science to solve the AIDS epidemic,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, himself a long-time HIV researcher and clinician, told STAT in a recent interview. “We’ve invested in it. Let’s put it into action.‘’ In the absence of a highly effective vaccine — and likely, even, in the presence of one — consigning the global HIV/AIDS epidemic to the history books would be impossible. And at the moment, that’s moot: Despite decades of re-search on HIV vaccines, the holy grail of HIV control re-mains an unmet goal. Still, even without a vaccine, experts believe transmission could be largely stopped in this country — a goal that until the past few years would have been unthinkable. In March, Redfield told CDC staff that he believed HIV transmission in the United States could be halted over the next three to seven years.

Hackers access healthcare, personal info from Toyota Hackers accessed information systems at Toyota Indus-tries North America, compromising personal and protected health information. The company, which has its North American headquarters in Indiana, estimates that infor-mation of about 19,000 individuals may have been affect-ed. Affected data may have included health insurance in-formation, company executives say. On August 30, the company learned that two weeks earli-er an unauthorized third party may have accessed the cor-porate email system. Toyota Industries engaged forensic experts to secure email, eliminate unauthorized access and determine what information may have been accessed.

Palo Alto Networks uncovers malware disguised as Flash Player update

Researchers at Palo Alto Networks uncovered cryptojacking malware that disguises itself as an Adobe Flash Player update. The malware downloads an actual Flash Player update "to hide distribution of cryptocurrency miners and other unwanted programs," said

Palo Alto intelligence analyst Brad Duncan. Crooks are attempting to spread their cryptojacking mal-ware to unsuspecting victims by disguising it as an update for Flash. The fake updaters are delivered to victims via web pop-up windows and use authentic-looking branding to increase the chances of a download. "This campaign uses legitimate activity to hide distribu-tion of cryptocurrency miners and other unwanted pro-grams," said Brad Duncan, threat intelligence analyst at Palo Alto Networks. It's highly likely that the user will never suspect their sys-tem has been compromised, as miners are designed to secretly operate in the background -- and it isn't in the in-terest of the miner to reveal themselves, as that will risk their scheme being shut down. Editor’s note: I get this bogus notice almost every day.

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Air Force on warrant officers: Thanks, but no thanks

The Air Force’s flirtation with reviv-ing warrant officers for the first time in six decades has come to an end. Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, the Air Force’s new personnel chief, said during a question-

and-answer session that reviving warrant officers wouldn’t help solve the service’s pilot retention and shortfall crisis, and plans to tell Congress that it won’t go that way. “Congress asked us [in last year’s National Defense Au-thorization Act], do warrant officers make sense to come in and help the Air Force with their pilot retention problem [and] pilot production problem?” Kelly said at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space, Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. “We’re going to go back and say, ‘No, they do not.’ ” Kelly cited a Rand Corporation report commissioned by the Air Force earlier this year that found warrant officers would not help pilot retention, and could in fact hurt. One of the problems, Kelly said, is that commissioned officer pilots are already paid much less than they can earn at commer-cial airlines. Warrant officers, whose pay maxes out at about what a captain makes, would have an even greater pay gap, Kelly said. And this would exacerbate the retention problem, he said.

100 years ago, US fought its deadliest battle in France

ROMAGNE-SOUS-MONTFAUCON, France — It was America’s deadliest battle ever, with 26,000 U.S. soldiers killed, tens of thousands wounded and more ammunition fired than in the whole of the Civil War. The Meuse-Argonne offensive of 1918 was also a great American victory

that helped bringing an end to World War One. World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York, earned the Medal of Honor for his efforts during the Meuse-Argonne battle. Sgt. York led an attack on a German machine gun nest, killing at least 25 enemy soldiers, and capturing 132 Germans. "It was the first real modern warfare that the U.S. was in. Machine guns, airplanes, tanks, mustard gas that killed many," York said. "In that area was the largest battle and the most casualties because you had men going up against machine guns. And machine guns were just mow-ing folks down." During seven weeks of combat, 1.2 million American troops led by Gen. John J. Pershing fought to advance on the entrenched positions held by about 450,000 Germans in the Verdun region. The offensive that started on Sept. 26, 1918, was one of several simultaneous Allied attacks that brought the war, which started in 1914, to an end, leading the Germans to retreat and sign the armistice on Nov. 11. Pershing said, "the success stands out as one of the very great achievements in the history of American arms." At the Meuse-Argonne cemetery the largest American cemetery in Europe, there are eight wide grave sections

with long regular rows of crosses stretching between the trees on the gentle slopes of a hill. On top is a chapel where the names of 954 missing American soldiers, whose bodies were never found or identified, are engraved.

Mattis: Jury is out on women succeeding in combat jobs

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is offering a dim view of females serving in infantry jobs, telling Virginia Military Institute students that the jury is out on whether women can succeed in combat.

Mattis says there are too few women in the infantry ranks to provide enough data on how it’s going. He says he has asked top Army and Marine leaders for information to determine if having women in the infantry is a strength or weakness. “There are a few stalwart young ladies who are charging into this, but they are too few,” Mattis said during a visit to VMI, which is in Lexington, Virginia. “Clearly the jury is out on it, but what we’re trying to do is give it every opportunity to succeed if it can.” The Army has seen an increase in the number of women in combat units, including in infantry jobs. In the Army, almost 800 women are serving in infantry, cavalry and fire support, across five divisions. Responding to a question from a male student, who de-scribed some of his female classmates as fierce, Mattis said the issue must be resolved by military officers who are objective and understand that the natural inclination is to have service open to all. But, he added, "we cannot do something that militarily doesn't make sense."

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JOIN TODAY

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become part of the strongest advocate for our mili-

tary's personnel and their families. The stronger our

membership is, the stronger our voice becomes.

Consider joining today because every voice counts.

LUNCHEON Wednesday Nov. 7th, 2018

♦Call 642-0497♦ Florida Room, Atrium

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Sunday, Dec 2nd, 2018 Please give full names of members and guests, total num-ber attending. Cost is $15.00 payable at the door in cash or check. Social hour begins at 11:00 a.m. Business meeting at 11:15 followed by lunch and a speaker. Remember, if you make a reservation and do not attend, you are expected to pay. Bring payment to next meeting or send check to:

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US government may gain new power to track drones and shoot them down

An aviation bill Congress is rushing to approve contains a little-noticed section that would give authorities the power to track, intercept and destroy drones they consider a security threat, without need-

ing a judge’s approval. Supporters say law enforcement needs this power to pro-tect Americans from terrorists who are learning how to use drones as deadly weapons. They point to the Islamic State terrorist group's use of bomb-carrying drones on battlefields in Iraq, and warn that terrorists could go after civilian targets in the United States. Critics say the provision would give the government un-checked power to decide when drones are a threat. They say the government could use its newfound power to re-strict drone-camera news coverage of protests or contro-versial government facilities, such as the new detention centers for young migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen wrote in a recent op-ed that the threat of drone attacks "is outpacing our ability to respond." She said criminals use drones to smuggle drugs across the border, but worse, terrorists like the Islamic State are deploying them on the battlefield. "We need to acknowledge that our first and last chance to stop a malicious drone might be during its final approach to a target," she wrote. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement this week that the measure "would finally give federal law en-forcement the authority we need to counter the use of drones by drug traffickers, terrorists and criminals."

Massive Facebook breach spurs calls for regulation

Facebook announced Sept. 28 that hackers compromised 50 million accounts, a move that will almost assuredly play into a storm of pro-posals from Congress to regulate the social media giant.

In a statement, the company said that “attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code” which allowed them to swipe the “digital keys that keep people logged in.” Users were automatically logged out of their accounts starting Thursday night, which allowed the company to re-set the compromised profiles. In a conference call with reporters Sept. 28, Facebook leaders said they notified as many as 90 million users about the incident. A spokesperson for the company said Face-book first noticed the breach in mid-September and saw “sophisticated adversaries” launch an attack Sept. 25. The event marks one of the largest breaches in the com-pany’s history. An investigation is in its early stages. It is not clear who the attackers are. Nearly immediately after news of the breach broke, at least two legislators, Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va. and Ed Markey, D-Mass., called for an immediate investigation. Federal Trade Commissioner Rohit Choopra’s demand was similarly straightforward; “I want answers.” In a Facebook post, U.S. Army Operations Securi-ty warned its followers about the hacking of Facebook ac-counts. There will be more and more investigations and calls for regulation both within the U.S. and overseas.

The Pentagon Is Making a Ray Gun to Stop Truck Attacks The van driver who killed 10 Toronto pedestrians on Mon-day showed that a terror technique that ISIS pioneered in Iraq and Syria in 2015 remains terrifyingly effective against unsuspecting urban populations. But the U.S. military is working on a new weapon to stop vehicle-born terrorist threats, one that could help police departments as well. The Defense Department’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program, or JNLWD, is pushing ahead with a new direct energy weapon that uses high-powered microwaves to stop cars in their tracks without damaging the vehicle, its driver, or any-one else. The jammer works by targeting the car’s engine control unit causing it to reboot over and over, stalling the engine. Like an invisible hand, the microwaves hold the car in place.

Space Force by 2020

Space Force by 2020! Vice President Mike Pence unveiled a plan to ask Con-gress for the authority and funds to set up the U.S. Space Force as a sixth branch of the armed forces, calling the proposal "an idea whose time has come," Defense One's Katie Bo Williams reports.

Now, the Defense Department will kick into action a series of steps that it can take without Congress by the end of the year, including the creation of a new combatant command for space and new space war-fighting and weapons-buying units that will eventu-ally become part of the Space Force.

What happens next: Trump will have to include his request for a full Space Force in the fiscal year 2020 budget request due to Con-gress in February, punting the real fight over a new service branch until late next year. Editor’s note: This proposal seems to be gathering some serious attention. Actually, we already have a space force run by the Air Force. It employs about 6000 people and is tasked with keeping tabs on and protecting our space gear, in particular our satellites. Trump’s plan is to expand on it, not create it.

Mattis sees the enduring costs of Vietnam War BIEN HOA, Vietnam — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis got a firsthand look at the enduring costs of fighting the Vietnam War. Mattis visited an air base north of Ho Chi Minh City that was heavily contaminated in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Ameri-

can forces through storage and spillage of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. Four years ago the U.S. pledged to clean and restore the parts of Bien Hoa (pronounced bee-yen WAH') air base that were con-taminated. The U.S. Agency for International Development soon will begin a soil restoration project at the base estimated to take several years and cost $390 million. The officials said soil excavation at the base is scheduled to start next year, with contractors arriving at Bien Hoa by December.

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Poor Hospital Compliance With Patient Record Requests

US hospitals continue to place cost and processing obstacles in the way of patients requesting their personal medical records, according to a study published online October 5 in JAMA Network Open. The study highlights the need for tougher

enforcement of state and federal policies on the accessibility of protected health information to ensure a smooth, timely, and af-fordable process for patients, write Carolyn T. Lye, BA, a medical student at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues. In its survey of 83 top hospitals across 29 states, the study re-ports that many facilities do not comply with the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. This federal law guarantees that patients have access to their protected health information within 30 days in their preferred format and at a reasonable charge. "We are also in an era in which patients are participants in their own health care. Inhibiting access for patients to their own medical records with complicated, lengthy, and costly request processes prevents patients from obtaining information that they may need to better understand their medical conditions and communicate with their physicians," Lye added in the news release.

A Secret to 5-Star Ratings: Prescribe Antibiotics A new study provides the secret to higher patient ratings. That secret? Prescribe antibi-otics. After the interaction with the physician, the patient rates their experience from 1 to 5 stars. Over a 6-month period, 85 physicians had 8437 encounters with patients for upper res-

piratory infections (URIs). Now, as we all know but frequently for-get in the heat of the moment, the vast majority of URIs are due to viral infections. Nevertheless, 66% of these visits resulted in an antibiotic prescription. And patients liked that a lot. As a matter of fact, 91% of patients who got an antibiotic pre-scription rated their encounter at 5 stars compared with 73% of those who didn't get a prescription. In fact, when the researchers looked at predictors of a 5-star rat-ing, nothing came close to that prescription. This study lays bare a rather uncomfortable truth: Physicians want their patients to like them. And sometimes that desire is in conflict with their other obligation to do no harm. Editor’s note: This is a very real problem. Antibiotic misuse can result in a resistance to the drug, which will render it ineffective when really needed.

'I can be a bad ass,’ top health official says, when it comes to making sure Tricare patients get good service

Some Tricare beneficiaries still have prob-lems trying to get medical care, and officials have taken actions to try to improve the per-formance of contractors, said Navy Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency.

Officials are closely monitoring the performance of the two U.S. Tricare contractors, Humana Military in the East region, and

Health Net Federal Services in the West region, said Bono, speak-ing at a family forum Monday at the 2018 AUSA annual meeting. She said she recently was impressing upon some senior spous-es that “it’s extremely important to me that we get the type of per-formance we need” from the contractors. And, she told them, “While I may not look like it, I can be a bad ass.” Defense health officials have issued several corrective action plans to the contractors, among other things. Through August, the contractors were meeting contract requirements at a level of about 80 percent. She said there are still challenges with the accuracy of the con-tractors' provider directories. Defense health officials have issued corrective action plans to both contractors regarding these issues. Families have had trouble finding area doctors and other medical providers who are in the Tricare network. Officials also issued a corrective action plan to Health Net regard-ing its customer call centers. Humana has corrective action plans regarding claims processing, correspondence, autism care/Applied Behavior Analysis therapy. Tricare underwent massive changes in January, as three regions were reduced to two, and Tricare Select replaced Tricare Standard and Extra. There have also been increases in some co-pays and some pharmacy costs.

Risk of Opioid-Benzodiazepine Overlap Up for Dual Prescribing Increased risk for overlap, high-dose overlap for those with dual use of VA and Medicare drug benefits

(HealthDay News) -- Receiving prescriptions from both the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare Part D is associated with increased risk for overlapping of opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions, according to a study published online Oct. 9 in the Annals of

Internal Medicine. Ron Carico, Pharm.D., from the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare Sys-tem, and colleagues examined the correlation between dual use of VA and Medicare drug benefits and receipt of overlapping opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions. Data were included for 368,891 veterans enrolled in VA and Medicare Part D who filled at least two opioid prescriptions in 2013. "These findings highlight the need to enhance coordination of care across health care systems to optimize the quality and safety of prescribing," the authors write.

Obesity Reduces Number of Disease-Free Years Regardless of Lifestyle

The researchers also evaluated whether the association between BMI and disease-free years was independent of lifestyle risk factors and socioeconomic patterning. Data showed that in both sexes severe obesity was associated with a loss of 7 to 10 disease

-free years in active and inactive individuals, smokers and non-smokers, and individuals in both high and low socioeconomic posi-tions. Several limitations were noted for this study, including heteroge-neity in some, which may have been caused by differences in as-sessment methods and variable definitions. The researchers said their results “provide consistent evidence of an association be-tween obesity and loss of disease-free years that exists in men and women, irrespective of position in the social hierarchy and lifestyle factors, such as smoking or physical activity.”

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Trump signs bills banning pharmacy 'gag clauses'

President Trump has signed two bills into law to block insurers from enforc-ing “gag clauses” that forbid pharma-cies from telling customers about how they can pay less for drugs. The Patient Right to Know Drug Pric-

es Act and the Know the Lowest Price Act are intended to help patients find out whether a prescription would cost less if they were to pay for it out of pocket rather than through their health plans. Trump had called for the bills to be passed as part of his administration’s larger commitment to reduce prescription drug costs for patients, and the bills had moved easily out of Congress. "If there's anything bipartisan, it's lowering drug prices," Trump said, adding that signing the bill representing him delivering on his healthcare promises. The first measure applies to people who are covered by private health insurance and goes into effect immediately. The second measure applies to patients who are covered by Medicare, the government program for adults 65 and older and for people with disabilities, and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

More doctor visits, more money: Obese sol-diers may be too expensive to keep, Army study suggests

Almost one in five active duty male soldiers in 2015 was obese, and one-half were over-weight. Now, for the first time, the Army is calculating the costs of those

added pounds to better understand: At what point is a sol-dier too expensive to keep? Army doctor Maj. Brian Shiozawa has led this effort, ana-lyzing the height and weight data of 429,793 active male soldiers in fiscal year 2015, then cross-referencing those records with the soldiers' visits to military treatment facili-ties, TRICARE data, and inpatient and outpatient medical claims during the same time frame. What Shiozawa found is that obese soldiers used almost double the medical resources than their normal-weight counterparts did in almost every medical category except multiple trauma — which he thinks may be an indicator that obese soldiers are not deploying to combat, where that type of medical emergency would be more likely. Shiozawa, a resident at the Uniformed Services Universi-ty of the Health Sciences, conducted the research on his own initiative. He was inspired to do it after serving as a battalion surgeon. “My goal, professionally, is to become an expert on Army obesity," he said, "It’s an epidemic that is facing us.”

Few female Marines are joining the infantry, but that was expected, top Marine says Only 27 women across the Corps don the 03-infantry oc-cupational specialty. That breaks down to 26 enlisted women and one officer

bearing the grunt title as of Aug. 28, according to data pro-vided by Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Only two women have successfully navigated the Corps’ 13-week grueling Infantry Officer Course, and only one of them is actively serving as an infantry platoon commander. In total, 113 enlisted women and 29 officers are serving in job fields that were previously restricted, according to Man-power and Reserve Affairs. But those numbers have seen a steady increase since 2015. The numbers are low, especially compared to the Army, where nearly 800 women are serving in combat jobs that were previously closed, to include 18 women who have graduated from the Army’s Ranger School, Army Times reported. But the low numbers of female Marines in previously closed jobs was expected, Gen. Robert B. Neller, told re-porters at a media roundtable event Wednesday.

FibriCheck's a-fib detection app scores 510(k) clearance, targets 2019 US launch

FibriCheck announced that it re-ceived FDA 510(k) clearance for its app, which uses a smartphone’s cam-era and artificial intelligence to monitor for heart rhythm disorders. With this,

the Belgian company expects to bring its product to the US market sometime in 2019. To identify atrial fibrillation, FibriCheck monitors the user's heart rhythm via photoplethysmography. From there, an algorithm within the app analyzes its measurements to de-termine whether the user’s condition is cause for concern. Of note, the tool does not require any additional hardware to measure its users. According to FibriCheck, FDA made the clearance deci-sion based on data showing that the app achieved similar accuracy results to another diagnostic device that relied on a smartphone and a single lead ECG. Why it matters Millions of people living in the US are estimated to have atrial fibrillation, and the largely asymptomatic condition is more prevalent among those who are older. An easy-to-use, smartphone-based screen that does not require the purchase or operation of any additional hardware could po-tentially help many of these people either identify or man-age their condition. Other consumer-friendly atrial fibrillation detection tools often require additional hardware such as AliveCor’s Kardio Mobile smartphone-connected ECG, are housed within a smartwatch like Apple’s latest offering, or like Zio involve a wearable patch.

Florida Council of Chapters Communiqué October 2018 Issue

See what the other Chapters are doing. The Florida Council of Chapter’s newsletter, the “Communiqué” can be accessed by clicking on the link below. After you click the link and then click Allow, it may take a minute or so for the newsletter to pop up. It is worth the wait.

Apr2014.pdfhttp:www.moaafl.org/communique

Editor—Polly Parks. Send articles and photos to:

Pollly Parks pparks@igc.org

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VA, DOD secretaries sign commitment to align EHR projects

James Mattis, secretary of the Depart-ment of Defense, and Robert Wilkie, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, signed a joint statement Sept. 26 pledging to align their Electronic Health Record (EHR) strategies. The joint statement, released Oct. 10, comes after the DoD and VA separately signed contracts to replace their legacy EHRs with a Cerner system. The

VA finalized its contract with Cerner in May, and said it planned to work with the DoD on the rollout. The DOD had begun its transition to Cerner in February 2017. By working together, the DoD and the VA hope to create an EHR system that allows the two departments to seam-lessly share patient data with one another. The VA also said, through the collaboration, it would be able to apply "lessons learned" from challenges in the DoD's EHR rollout to adapt its approach. "The joint statement between DoD and VA represents tangible evidence of our commitment to change how we deliver veteran-focused, provider-friendly care," Mr. Wilkie said in a news release. "This will ease the burden on ser-vice members as they transition from military careers and will be supported by multiple medical providers throughout their lives." Editor’s note: The VA and DoD have been trying to achieve this for at least 10 years, probably more. Looks like they are almost there.

Most Physicians Disenchanted With Their Profession: Survey

Seven out of 10 physicians would not recommend their profession to their children or other family members, and more than half are thinking about retir-ing within the next 5 years, including one-third of those under the age of 50, according to a new national survey by The Doctors Company, a physician-owned medical malpractice insurer.

Many physicians view the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and new reimbursement models as com-promising the traditional doctor-patient relationship and the ability to provide quality patient care, the authors say. More than half of physicians (54%) believe EHRs have had a negative impact on physician-patient relationships. "Doctors are concerned that EHRs are burdensome and distracting during patient interaction. One doctor suggested that the software causes major frustration to patients and physicians alike," the authors report. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of physicians believe EHRs are having a negative impact on efficiency and productivity. "Many comments suggest that doctors are frustrated with the functionality, reliability, and lack of interoperability with-in their EHRs," the authors note. Editor’s note: The EHR—- the docs don’t like them and the patients don’t like them, but legally they are here to stay.

Will the number of veterans in Congress rise next year? The number of veterans running for Congress this year isn’t significantly higher than in other recent election cycles. But the number who win in November could be. That’s because more veteran candidates — especially younger ones — are running in up-for-grabs districts with more ma-jor party backing than ever before. After decades of seeing the number of lawmakers with military experience in the House and Senate steadily dwin-dle, analysts believe the coming years may see those fig-ures hold steady or even increase slightly. “We’re seeing a sizable jump in the number of credible candidates running now,” said Seth Lynn, executive direc-tor of Veterans Campaign, which has tracked the number of veteran’s vying for congressional seats for the last dec-ade. “That’s a significant change. We’re no longer losing veterans in office like we were before.” This year’s mid-term election will feature 171 veterans with major party backing, a figure that Lynn and other cam-paign watchers said is about typical for the last few election cycles, in contrast to headlines all summer proclaiming a “surge” in veteran candidates. Even if every candidate won — an impossibility — the total number of lawmakers would pale in comparison to the 1970s, when nearly three in four members of Congress had previously served in the military But as recently as four years ago, outside experts won-dered if the figure would ever reach one in five again, as older generations of military members began to retire and younger generations were slow to engage in national poli-tics.

Monthly Member and Board Meetings

No deceased members reported

Luncheon: Wednesday Dec. 5th, 2018 11:00 am

Florida Room

Board Meeting: Wednesday Dec. 12th, 2018 10:00

am—Trinity Baptist Church

Membership Committee Mtg. Club Renaissance

3rd Wednesday Dec. 20th, 2018

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DUES NOTICE DUES NOTICE DUES NOTICE

It is that time of year again.

Time to pay your dues for 2019.

Members ………………………..$15.00

Auxiliary …………….….……….$12.00

If you would like to make a donation please indicate if you wish it to be applied to My Warriors Place or Operation Warmheart. We support both annually.

MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

MOAA: The SCC Chapter of The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)

membership is granted to Army; Navy; Marines; Air Force; Coast Guard; National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Public Health; the National; Guard or

Reserve components both active or retired; and former officers and Warrant Of-

ficers who were separated under acceptable conditions.

MISSION: The mission of Sun City Center FL chapter shall be to promote the pur-

poses and objectives of the Military Officers Association of America; foster frater-

nal relation among retired, active duty and former officers of active duty, retired

and reserve components personnel of the uniformed services and their depend-

ents and survivors; provide useful services for members and their dependents

and survivors and serve the community and the nation.

MEETINGS: A meeting is held monthly (except July/August) in the Atrium build-

ing in the Florida room at 11:00 a.m. and includes lunch and a guest speaker.

ACTIVITIES: Coordinate and sponsor Annual Memorial Day ceremony; provide

awards and honorariums to outstanding JROTC Cadets; contributed to Operation

Warm Heart and Helping Hand; contribute to My Warriors Place; provide funds for

MOAA scholarships and participate in numerous community activities.

Additional information can be obtained by calling 813-642-0801 or e-mailing

dkepley@tampabay.rr.com. You can also contact us by mail at Frank Kepley, 815

Freedom Plaza Circle, Apt 104 Sun City Center Fl. 33573.

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The Sun City Center, FL MOAA Newsletter is published by the Sun City Center Chapter, which is an affiliate of

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Opinions presented herein are those of the individual and not necessarily of the Chapter. Commercial solicita-tion of members using membership rolls and/or rosters is prohibited. Some articles may be taken from MOAA and DoD publications. The Chapter is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Codes.

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Inspector General Warns Public About Caller-ID “Spoofing” Scheme Misusing SSA Customer Service Number

The Acting Inspector General of Social Security, Gale Stallworth Stone, is warning citizens about an ongoing caller-ID “spoofing” scheme misusing the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) national customer service phone number. SSA has received numerous reports of questionable phone calls displaying SSA’s 1-800 num-ber on a caller-ID screen. This is a scam; citizens should not engage with those calls or provide any personal information. These reports indicate the calls display the 1-800-772-1213, SSA’s national customer service number, as the incoming number on caller ID. People who have accepted the calls said the caller identifies as an SSA employ-ee. In some cases, the caller states that SSA does not have all of the person’s personal information, such as their Social Security number (SSN), on file. Other callers claim SSA needs additional information, so the agen-cy can increase the person’s benefit payment, or that SSA will terminate the person’s benefits if they do not confirm their information. This appears to be a widespread issue, as reports have come from citizens across the country. SSA employees do not contact citizens by telephone for customer-service purposes, and in some situations, an SSA employee may request the citizen confirm personal information over the phone. However, SSA employ-ees will never threaten you for information or promise a Social Security benefit approval or increase in ex-change for information. In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up. The Acting Inspector General urges citizens to be extremely cautious, and to avoid providing information such as your SSN or bank account numbers to unknown persons over the phone or internet unless you are certain of who is receiving it. If you receive a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA, you should report that information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report

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