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Show HILLTOP TIMES IDEA REWARDED TIMES June 17,2010 New provision regarding dependents per Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Employee's Health Benefits Open Season — which starts on Nov. 8, 2010 — with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2011, according to the advisory. Procedures for the implementation of the new program are still being developed, however. "The Office of Personnel Management is currently working to establish guidance and procedures for implementation of the program," the advisory adds. "0PM will publish this information in time for the 2011 Open Season." Once guidance is received and procedures are developed, the Benefits and Entitlements service team will update all information regarding the new option to add children under the age of 26 to FEHB. A benefits bulletin will also be released that will include directions on actions required to add children to the FEHB coverage BY CATHERINE MCNALLY Hilltop Times staff I n March 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. Though some parts of the act will not take effect until the year 2014, many major provisions dealing with health care coverage are becoming effective now. One such provision "allows employees to maintain health benefits coverage for a dependant child until the age of 26," Human Resources advisory No. 2010-25 states, "The effective date of this provision is the first day of the plan year that is six months following enactment of the law." Federal employees should note that this stipulation means that coverage for children cannot be processed until the 2011 Federal ALEX R. LLOYD/U.S. Air Force i Mark Johnson, Ogclen Air Logistics Center executive director presents Steve ! Charnews, 75th Air Base Wing, with a check from the Idea program for I $10,000. Charnews found concrete around the base of runway lighting ', fixtures was deteriorating with the potential for foreign object damage to ] aircraft on runways. He proposed using elastometric concrete to repair the | deteriorating runway due to its fast cure rate, ability to be used in all types i of areas and in all climates and that it was less costly. His suggestion was j approved saving the Air Force as much as $110,983. Air Force MIAs Vietnam War ale identified Air Force News Service WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office announced June 14 that the remains of four Airmen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and Returned to their families for burial with full military honors. .They are: Capt. Peter H. Chapman II, of Centerburg, Ohio; Tech. Sgt. Allen J. Avery, Auburn, Mass.; Tech. Sgt. Roy D. Prater, Tiffin, Ohio; and Sgt. James H. Alley, Plantation, Fla. Prater is to be buried in Columbia City, Ind., on Saturday, June 19. Other burials are being scheduled individually by the families of the Airmen. On April 6,1972, six Airmen were flying a combat search and rescue mission in an HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant over Quang Tri Province in Vietnam when they were hit by enemy ground fire and crashed. Joint U.S. and Socialist Republic of Vietnam field investigations froml989 to 1992, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, yielded evidence leading to an excavation at the crash site in 1994 as well as two reported burial sites. Team members recovered human remains and personal effects as well as aircraft debris. As a result of these recoveries, all six men on the aircraft were accounted-for in 1997 and buried as a group at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Three were individually identified at that time. Recent technical advances enabled JPAC officials to identify additional remains to be those of Sergeant Prater. In 1988, the SRV turned over remains SENIOR AIRMAN STEPHANIE WADE/U.S. Air Force Airmen and Soldiers are shown participating in a POW/MIA remembrance ceremony Sept. 18, 2009, at Osan Air Base, South Korea. Soldiers wearing historical military uniforms are seen in the reflection of the POW/MIA memorial. they attributed to an American service member, however, the name did not match anyone lost or missing from the Vietnam War. The remains were held by JPAC officials pending improved technology which might have facilitated an identification later. In the mid-2000s, JPAC laboratory officials gained increased scien- tific capability to associate the 1988 remains to the correct loss. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory members tested these remains against all those servicemembers who were MIA from the Vietnam War with negative results. In 2009, AFDIL officials expanded their search to make comparisons with previously resolved individuals. As a VA to cut insurance premiums for families Department of Veterns Affairs W ASHINGTON — Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced recently that military personnel insuring their families under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program, which is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, will have reduced out-of-pocket expenses beginning Jufyl. "VA hopes these reductions will allow more military personnel to S5bti affordable life insurance covShinseki. "Without insurance protection, life after the loss of a spouse can be not only challenging emotionally, but can place a severe financial strain on a family." Family SGLI (FSGLI) monthly premium rates will be reduced for all age groups by an average of 8 percent. The new rates are based on revised-estimates for the cost of the program. This is the third time that premiums have been reduced since the FSGLI program began in November 2001. Spousal premiums were previously reduced for all age groups in 2003 and 2006. FSGLI coverage provides life insurance protection to military personnel for their spouses and children. Children are automatically insured for $10,000, with no premiums charged. Based on the coverage of service members, spouses may be insured for up to $100,000. Military personnel pay age-based premiums for spousal coverage - the older the spouse, the higher the premium rate. The premium reduction ensures FSGLI remains highly competitive compared to commercial insurers. FSGLI coverage is available in increments of $10,000. The current and revised monthly premium rates per $10,000 of insurance, along with other information, are available on the Internet at www.insurance. va.gov. result of AFDIL's mitochondrial DNA testing, JPAC scientists determined that these remains were associated with four of the six Airmen from the 1972 crash. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/ dpmo or call (703) 699-1169. Volunteer opportunity pending to help AADD T here will be a volunteer opportunity open to anyone on June 25-27. Airmen Against Drunk Drivers needs both drivers and dispatchers. To volunteer contact Senior ' Airman Zahira Martinez at (801) 775-4551. You may volunteer for the whole night or for just a few v hours. To volunteer anytime for the AADD Program please contact your AADD unit representative, • your first sergeant or any AADD Council Member. Thanks to helping Keep Team: . Hill safe! ^ . .-,~. >U•s^ti |