jerrymahoney

Thank you. When reaching around age 65, I was back in the USA for a visit and talked on the phone to an SSA agent. She said, with my insurance (BUPA) and 501c3 affiliation, I definitely qualified. I said that I spoke to a few agents before her and none of them knew what I was talking about. She said that so few persons actually qualify that most agents have never had to deal with it.

to the above: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2008/06/27/E8-14040/medicare-program-special-enrollment-period-and-medicare-premium-changes ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This final rule provides a special enrollment period (SEP) for Medicare Part B and premium Part A for certain individuals who are sponsored by prescribed organizations as volunteers outside of the United States and who have health insurance that covers them while outside the United States.

Yes. Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 Section 5115 All CMS Provisions As of February 28, 2006 Waiver of part B late enrollment penalty for certain international volunteers. Provides for the waiver of the Part B late enrollment penalty and establishment of a special enrollment period for beneficiaries who are volunteering outside of the U.S. through a 12 month or longer program sponsored by a tax exempt organization defined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and who have other health insurance coverage. https://www.cms.gov/RegulationsandGuidance/Legislation/LegislativeUpdate/Downloads/DRA0307.pdf obsolete link

Unless you qualify for the Part B penalty exemption. https://www.uhc.com/news-articles/medicare-articles/how-to-avoid-the-medicare-part-b-late-penalty

Yes. And if you go back to US for treatment under Medicare, it makes a big difference whether you still maintain Plan B while living in Thailand. Plan B this year almost $2000 per year whether you use it or not. Some doctors, it seems, will only take on new Medicare patients who have Plan B.

I disagre.

People who self-insure get to say how smart they are so long as nothing real bad happens. People who buy health-insurance only get to say how smart they are (if they so choose) when something real bad happens and their claims paid out far exceeds their premiums paid in or they will ever pay in.

I moved to Thailand in my early 50's. My family was not happy. But one reason they acquiesced was that I was able to get a personal insurance policy (BUPA Thailand pre-Aetna) that was becoming exorbitantly expensive in USofA. That was almost 20 years ago and I am still insured in Thailand. 3 inpatient claims paid no problem.

Maybe they check for forged signatures?

I only got involved in this discussion because people were discussing a 7162 notification to SSA Wilkes-Barre or Baltimore via FAX. Not my choice.

That's terrible. Better luck for you this year.

Most years, the 7162 is the only piece of hard copy mail I send to the US. I have never received a follow-up letter that my 7162 was not received. You do it your way -- I'll do it mine.

My experience is that even if there is no signature, they still get it and I have had no problems. If not registered, one cannot be sure that it ever made it out of Thailand..

You may be right. I do the registration for me so I know that it got to Wilkes-Barre.

No problem. Letters<at>washingtonpost.com to reply to the former US Prosecutor experienced in Espionage Act cases.

Opinion Trying Trump under the Espionage Act will be trickier than you think The charges in the indictment against Donald Trump might seem simple: Trump finished his term as president, became an ordinary citizen, yet retained 31 classified documents that, under the Espionage Act, he should have returned to the government upon demand. Trump’s defense attorneys will probably comb the internet to demonstrate that the information in the classified documents was public and therefore could not have harmed national security. The amount of material out there is remarkable, and based on my experience, it would not be unusual to find that much of the information in the 31 retained documents — especially the older ones — is already publicly available. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/21/trump-prosecution-espionage-act-tricky/ https://archive.is/UJhXJ NB as per Twitter: “retweets do not imply endorsement.”

From the June 26 Court Order: " Upon review of the foregoing materials, the Government's Motion 33 is denied without prejudice," ... Without prejudice meaning it can be re-filed with amendments if the Prosecution so chooses.

Legal experts said Cannon’s ruling on the witness list was routine and does not illuminate much about how she will handle the case. “There are going to be a lot of ministerial orders that are administrative or scheduling or procedural. This is a trial, and not everyone agrees how these things should be done,” said David Aaron, a former Justice Department lawyer who prosecuted national security cases. “So people shouldn’t get too excited about each one of these.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/26/trump-witnesses-cannon-order-pretrial/ .... As with most of the previous posts.

Along the lines above : Opinion Before condemning the Titan’s pilot, consider his side of the story “You know, and I know, the cause of this accident,” thundered Lord Brabazon of Tara, a daring aviator who held the very first official pilot’s license in the United Kingdom. “It is due to the adventurous, pioneering spirit of our race. It has been like that in the past, it is like that in the present, and I hope it will be in the future.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/24/titan-submersible-pilot-stockton-rush-explorer/ https://archive.fo/P79An

NBC News ran an article on the disparity of treatment. But look at the picture of a similar refugee boat: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/syria-migrants-boat-sinking-titanic-submersive-missing-rcna90336

US NASA learned that hard lesson in 1986 Challenger disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_McAuliffe

Well not to belabor this, but it used to be after your 7162 letter back to USofA was accepted at the Thailand Post and moved out from Suvarnabhumi, it went into the great abyss as it could be days or up to a week before it would show up on the USPS system. Now it shows up on both systems at once:

Great. As Tom Petty sang: The wai-ai-ting is the hardest part.

You're welcome. Mr. Shawshank