OneZero

An update. I checked on the STATUS of my application, STEP 4, ACTION /View and noted that a document review screener made the following comment ref self-funding medical insurance, quote: "Financial evidence showing a deposit of no less than 100,000 USD which has been held for no less than 12 months at the time of application. For this one, it must be cash only. Do you have TRICARE Overseas health insurance?" My DFAS pension may have alerted them to the possibility that I had TRICARE coverage. So, I successfully uploaded my Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) letter proving my current coverage. Note that after I had already submitted my original application, I went back and tried to upload that same letter before, prior to being asked for it, and the already submitted application would not successfully upload any new documents. Once a screener specifically asked me for it, the screener also provided a location for me to upload what they asked for.

Culture is indeed slow to change. A root cause is that corruption is fostered by the heavy influence of Patronage in Thai culture. The Patronage aspect of Thai culture starts at the top. The very very top. I think you know what I mean without saying so (Les majeste you know).

Just reporting on the timeframe to receive my emailed TRICARE current coverage verification letter: 34 hours (from call Thai time Mon 2130 to email receipt Wed 0730 hrs). Well done TRICARE.

If 90 day report folks are waiting outside, and renewal can go in the exit door, then what are the long ques for?

Using Skype free call to a US toll free number, I called TRICARE +1-800-538-9552 at 9:15 pm Thai time. Smooth as silk, as Pib has already described. Within 5 minutes the lady put in the order to email me the TRICARE Current Coverage verification letter. She said it could take 2 to 3 days to arrive. Since Pib got his within 8 hours, I'm guessing that I will also. I'll update this post stating how many hours it took to arrive. Painless and cost free. How easy once one has established exactly how to do it. Hope the word spreads to everybody needing such a letter.

Using Skype to call US is free for a toll-free number (800, etc) I tried it & got a recording which I expected with office closed. So, M-F next week I will call back 5am-5pm Pacific Coast Time. Using Skype the number has a "+1" prefix, so: +1-800-538-9552. But Skype automatically adds the "+1" itself when you ID on pull down screen that you are calling the US. This will help many people looking for proof of TRICARE coverage. Thanks for your knowledge & experience Pib.

I should have added: I will use SKYPE on my pc or laptop, not on my mobile phone (using Skype, I don't know if that would make any difference or not).

Learn something every day. I have Skype already. So, does that means that as long as I have some money in my Skype account, I can use the keypad to dial the TRICARE landline? Assuming Yes, which number would I use: 800-538-9552 or 1-800-538-9552 or some other prefix-800-538-9552? I'd test it out myself right now, but I have to top up my Skype account first. I'm traveling for a couple weeks & purposely left my US credit card at home because I didn't think I'd need it.

Aha, I didn't know that. I guess I have "TRICARE For Life" (TFL) plan. I see the monthly costs are roughly equivalent to Medicare Part B ($170/Mo range), which "Select Overseas" doesn't have to pay. But "Select" cost start much earlier in Life. Is "TFL" not available to everyone, or are there other reasons a person would choose "Select" instead of "TFL" plan?

Pib, Excellent explanatory post, thank you. I'm not sure where you find the time to be so continually up to date and helpful on a myriad of issues. I will try the options in the links for calling US when I'm back from traveling. How does one become enabled to a US VOIP number (excuse my ignorance).

That's exactly the number I called on my mobile, actually twice: 18005389552 and also just 8005389552. Both times I got a Thai recording saying in English that the number does not exist. I just tried again with the same recording. What could I be doing wrong?

Excellent Pib, Thanks. For all readers future reference, exactly what phone number did you use?

Hi Pib, I tried calling an 800 number shown at the bottom of letter TRICARE sent you (pg 57 long thread that you referred me to. Couldn't get through. I'm completely locked out of milconnect/DSLogon now. Out of extreme frustration (perhaps due to own ignorance) I said to hell with it and filled my application with BOI using the self insured option just like you did. If BOI refuses that I'll start the TRICARE letter exploration dilemma all over again later BTW, your pg57 long thread discussion of BOI approving TRICARE now was very good, thank you for that; and thank BOI as well.

I have already applied for the BOI LTR 10 Yr Visa (Wealthy pensioner), using the $100K reserve self-funding method. However, it is worth continuing research to answer the question of how to obtain approval for TRICARE coverage. Pib has reported that BOI is “Sympathetic” to approving TRICARE for a LTR 10Yr visa if US Military Retirees can prove their TRICARE coverage is consistently current year to year. BOI will likely want an annual official TRICARE document explicitly certifying TRICARE coverage is Current. How can US military retirees easily access such proof annually? One issue is that BOI could become “Unsympathetic” at any time in the future if they change their minds about the adequacy of documentation retirees are able to obtain from official TRICARE sources /milconnect - DMDC websites. A second issue is that it is currently difficult, if not impossible, for retirees to Logon /gain access to those unfriendly websites, because they now demand a US address & phone# for enhanced security /identity verification. A third issue: Military retirees under age 65 are entitled to free overseas TRICARE health care funding, but at age 65+ TRICARE coverage stops if they do not voluntarily pay SSA Medicare “Part B Insurance” premiums. Even though they are still entitled to lifetime military retired pay, retirees will indeed lose TRICARE coverage if they don’t voluntarily pay. We don’t want anybody who has lost TRICARE coverage to represent themselves to BOI as still having it, based solely upon the DFAS document (1 below) certifying current /lifetime receipt of military retired pay. If mis-representation is discovered, BOI could become unwilling to consider granting approval for true TRICARE covered recipients In light of the above issues, it is very doubtful, but perhaps worth asking BOI to accept the following 2 documents (edited copies attached): (1) An easy download DFAS letter that certifies a named individual is on the lifetime military Retired pay Rolls. (2) An easy download “SSA Benefit Verification Letter” proving Medicare “Part B Insurance” payments are current. Having both letters is implicit evidence, but not Explicit proof, the individual currently has TRICARE coverage. If in future anybody identifies what specific TRICARE documents BOI will accept, & how US military retirees can easily annually access such documents, please share that information in this or a new thread, & unburied in other threads. Quote Pib 31Jan2023: “IMO the DFAS prior year 1095B or DFAS letter saying you are receiving retirement pay wouldn't hack it with BOI as evidence you have the required health care coverage. But that's only my opinion. Yes, the 1095B is just fine to prove prior year health care coverage for U.S. tax law purposes, but I seriously doubt it would be accepted by BOI since it does not provide any details on the coverage such as the name of the insurer (e.g., Tricare), amount of coverage, whether coverage applies to Thailand, etc.” “Now even the Tricare enrollment/coverage benefits letter you can get from DEERS does not mention coverage amount or coverage area but it does say you are enrolled in Tricare. And per my emails and face-to-face meeting with BOI, Tricare is now accepted since around the Dec 2022 timeframe as I posted about on page 57 of the other LTR thread.” It's very easy to get locked out of DS Logon milconnect. I would only recommend using DS Logon if you have no other choice because once you connect to a certain website via DS Logon that website will then only allow you to use DS Logon vs a separate logon acct you may have had. milConnect also used to allow a connection via DFAS credentials, but I don't think that's allowed anymore...now I think it just DS Logon or active duty CAC ID card.” “I would recommend you call the Benefits Support phone number at milConnect to see if you can request a Proof of Health Care Coverage Letter via phone....like the example I gave in the other thread.. Humans are supposedly at that number (after going thru the interactive prompts) from 5am to 5pm "Pacific Time" Mon-Fri. You may be able to request the letter that way and they would hopefully mail it to you. https://milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/ “ Unquote Pib. (My edit: if anyone tries this, please report back outcome) Edited 2023 SSA Benefits Ltr Verifies Medicare++.pdf

Yes, thank you Pib for your tireless assistance to many many people.

PIB, My Schwab held ROTH is not holding cash. It is an ETF of stocks valued at over $100K. Perhaps that is not acceptable to BOI. What do you think?

PIB, thank you for your lengthy & well explained reply. If Boi will indeed accept self-insure by a ROTH acct held by Schwab in US, then I can self-insure. However, if anybody identifies what TRICARE documentation BOI will accept, and how we can easily /readily access such documentation, then please pass this information on to the rest of us. Self-insuring increases the amount of money we must lock-up from 800K THB to 100K US$ (roughly 3 million THB). Ridiculous. Do you think it would be acceptable to BOI if I provide two Schwab status statements, one at start & one at end of a selected 12 month period, with that selected period ending as close as possible to the date I upload documents to BOI?

Sorry, but I have unintentionally oversimplified the problem of proving TRICARE coverage for US military retirees. The complication arises because at age 65 military US military retirees will lose their overseas TRICARE benefits unless they make Medicare part B contributions (approx $170/month, minimum), which can be deducted from Social security pension.. Since Medicare does not cover US citizens overseas, some military retirees will be tempted to not make those payments, and thus forego TRICARE coverage. All we need is a few bad apples getting BOI approval for TRICARE, to later be caught without coverage, and BOI would perhaps throw up their hands and not want to be bothered with the TRICARE approval headache. What is needed is a simple way for US military retirees to get downloadable documentation that their TRICARE coverage is indeed CURRENT. I can not access the the DS Logon milconnect site because it no demand from me a US address & ph# for enhanced identity verification. In order to not further highjack this thread, and to keep pertinent TRICARE replies focused in one central location, the special/unique problem for US military retirees to prove TRICARE coverage deserves it's own dedicated thread.

Sorry, but I have unintentionally oversimplified the problem of proving TRICARE coverage for US military retirees. The complication arises because at age 65 military US military retirees will lose their overseas TRICARE benefits unless they make Medicare part B contributions (approx $170/month, minimum), which can be deducted from Social security pension.. Since Medicare does not cover US citizens overseas, some military retirees will be tempted to not make those payments, and thus forego TRICARE coverage. All we need is a few bad apples getting BOI approval for TRICARE, to later be caught without coverage, and BOI would perhaps throw up their hands and not want to be bothered with the TRICARE approval headache. What is needed is a simple way for US military retirees to get downloadable documentation that their TRICARE coverage is indeed CURRENT. I can not access the the DS Logon milconnect site because it no demand from me a US address & ph# for enhanced identity verification. In order to not further highjack this thread, and to keep pertinent TRICARE replies focused in one central location, the special/unique problem for US military retirees to prove TRICARE coverage deserves it's own dedicated thread.

The following letter addressing the Current Year is also available at mypay website: DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Retired and Annuitant Pay 8899 E 56th Street - Retired Pay Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200 https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/ January 29, 2023 NAME & ADDRESS OF SUBJECT INDIVIDUAL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Reference is made to your request for certification regarding receipt of Military pay in the account of subject individual. This is to certify that the member is on the Retired rolls of this Center and is currently entitled to pay at the gross monthly rate of $x,xxx.00 which is normally payable during his/her lifetime. Sincerely, Retired Pay Department

DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Retired and Annuitant Pay 8899 E 56th Street - Retired Pay Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200 https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/ January 29, 2023 NAME & ADDRESS OF SUBJECT INDIVIDUAL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Reference is made to your request for certification regarding receipt of Military pay in the account of abcdefg This is to certify that the member is on the Retired rolls of this Center and is currently entitled to pay at the gross monthly rate of $x,xxx.00 which is normally payable during his/her lifetime. Sincerely, Retired Pay Department

The https://mypay.dfas.mil site will also provide a current year letter for military pay to include the statement as follows: ...."normally payable during his/her lifetime." Unfortunately there is no similar TRICARE letter. Perhaps if BOI were "Educated" they would accept the current year military pay letter as evidence that a military retirees TRICARE benefit would also tag right along with the military pay "during his/her lifetime". Edited DFAS Verify Pay CY2023.pdf

Pib, Thank you for your research & comments ref TRICARE. I will apply for LTR (Wealthy Pensioner) & am assembling documentation. My only concern about that is satisfying proof for my TRICARE coverage. If & when the TRICARE issue firms up, I will be eager to hear about it. To compound the TRICARE proof issue for me: I can't even get the one-page DEERS letter you referenced, because I can't get into a DS logon milconnect account I thought I had established years ago. However, at https://mypay.dfas.mil military retirees are able to download a 1095B proving (to IRS & anybody else concerned) that DOD did indeed sponsor medical coverage for the Prior Year (But not the current year). Wish I knew if that will be acceptable to BOI because it is all I have at the moment. 2022 Form 1095-B (irs.gov)

Pib, Thank you, & I apologize for not doing full homework reading the ASEANOW and BOI links before asking questions. Yes, I am going to apply for the LTR (Wealthy Pensioner) and am assembling documentation. My only concern about that is satisfying proof for my TRICARE coverage. I read your comments on pg57 above link, that BOI will accept TRICARE coverage, but currently there is still uncertainty about what evidence /proof is definitely acceptable to BOI. If & when the TRICARE issue firms up, I will be eager to hear about it. To compound the TRICARE proof issue for me: I can't even get the one-page DEERS letter you referenced, because I can't get into a DS logon milconnect account I thought I had established years ago. However, at https://mypay.dfas.mil military retirees are able to download a 1095B proving (to IRS & anybody else concerned) that DOD did indeed sponsor medical coverage for the Prior Year (But not the current year). Wish I knew if that will be acceptable to BOI because it is all I have at the moment. 2022 Form 1095-B (irs.gov) Sorry I got two threads going. I'm considering copying and pasting these comments to the lengthier thread.

They work for me. Perhaps (?) because the BOI website recognizes that I have already opened /registered a BOI account. If one wants to follow-up. perhaps the first thing they should do is go to BOI website & registers online. Then the following link is helpful: LTR Visa Thailand - Contact (boi.go.th)