AAFMAA Blog

Mother’s Day is coming up. Have you thought about how you’re going to celebrate? The mothers in our lives have always been there for us to give us strength, hope, and courage. From the care package she sent while you were away at school and the letters and emails sent while on active duty, you are always in her thoughts. Now it’s time to show how much she’s in yours.

As of May 1, 2012, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Inc. (MetLife) is the new TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) contractor.

Defense Finance and Accounting Service official recently released a statement warning of email scams targeting military members, military retirees, and civilian employees. For more details, see the official press release below from DFAS's website.

 

 

Governor signed bill to waive fees to ease the licensing process for veteran jobseekers. For more details, see the official press release below from Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Get Premier Services for less than 20 cents a day!

Connect with the IRS via Social Media.

As the summer is approaching, Military families can get a head start on their planning today by applying for the National Military Family Association’s Operation Purple Summer Camp program.

The U.S. Army Human Resource Command - Human Resource Service Center provides Soldiers, veterans, families, and civilians with military related human resources inquiries.

 

Read full blog post for the list of FREE services.

Through a partnership with the Department of Defense and Military OneSource, the Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, wants to help parents and children communicate with a program called "Talk, Listen, Connect," a bilingual educational outreach initiative designed for military families and their young children to share. Resources are available for parents consist of a bilingual (English/Spanish) multimedia kit with DVDs starring Muppets from Sesame Street, print materials and American Greeting postcards featuring Sesame Street characters for parents and their children to stay connected. The kit materials are available free online, or on the Military Families Near and Far website.

If you are planning to buy a savings bond: Starting January 1, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury will no longer sell paper Series EE and I savings bonds over-the-counter through financial institutions and by mail order.  



You can buy, manage, and redeem electronic savings bonds at www.treasurydirect.gov, plus: Convert paper savings bonds into electronic savings bond Purchase electronic savings bonds as gifts Purchase other Treasury securities, including bills, notes, bonds, and TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities)  

If you already have existing paper savings bonds:

They are still valid and will continue to earn interest for 30 years from the date of issue or until they are redeemed.  

If you want to give a savings bond as...

We sure don’t look like it, but AAFMAA turns 133 today!

On January 13, 1879 an organizational meeting occurred which resulted in the adoption of a Constitution and Bylaws that created the Army Mutual Aid Association. Lieutenant Colonel Roger Jones, Assistant Inspector General of the Army, chaired the Committee that prepared the documents and become the first President of the Association. They expressed the purpose of the Association as “to aid the families of the deceased members in a prompt, simple and substantial manner”. That remains a core purpose to this day and is one of the things that make
AAFMAA unique to the military community.

The first Certificate of Membership and Insurance was issued, not surprisingly, to the same Roger Jones on February 3, 1879.

133 Years later, AAFMAA proudly serves nearly 100,000 members, spouses and children (99,907 lives to be exact!), services over 122,100 policies and maintains over $24.2 BILLION of insurance in force. Our investments are near $1 BILLION and we continue to grow.

We have a rich heritage at AAFMAA of doing the right thing, caring for our members and offering compassion and assistance to their survivors.

In honor of our 133rd birthday today, we're giving you a gift! We've had this video made which captures the American spirit, our American values and the unfurling of the World's Largest American Flag that AAFMAA sponsored out at Fort Carson in September. Enjoy and thank you to our many long standing, loyal members and friends. Click link to view the video: goo.gl/jPmFu

Lisa

New year, new start. That also means a lot of changes will affect the military and the family members. As some of you might have heard, Walgreens is no longer a TRICARE pharmacy network provider. So now what? No need to panic. As beneficiaries, you can find a nearby network pharmacy using the “find a pharmacy” feature at the ESI website: http://www.express-scripts.com/tricare. ESI provides step-by-step instructions to transfer prescriptions currently being filled at Walgreens. In addition to 56,000 network pharmacies, TRICARE beneficiaries have other pharmacy options, including military pharmacies at no cost; and convenient, low-cost TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery. Hope this will help you to prepare for the new year.

Cost-Of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information For 2012

As our plane touched down in Denver on Thursday afternoon, the anticipation of the upcoming weekend’s events in Colorado Springs was exciting. After getting our rental car we headed down to the Springs to get settled. My two traveling companions, Winnifred Tse from AAFMAA and Theresa Kattula from MetroStar Systems, had never even been to Colorado before, so for them, this was all new!

We arrived at our hotel, checked in and then met with Mitch Mann from the Air Force Academy sports program to hammer out the details for Friday’s Coaches Luncheon and Saturday’s Fan Fest and game. Everyone had high expectations. We were not disappointed. The Coaches Luncheon in the Falcon Stadium Press Box was great. We met some of our members and potential new members, heard from the Air Force coaches and even got some good, free food! Proudly displayed next to the podium was the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. (At that time, it was still up in the air as to who would be taking it home this year!)

Football season is a time for friends and family to cheer on their favorite sports teams and reminisce about games over hot cider and loaded cheese dogs. It’s that one time of year when nothing gets in the way of the game.

To show our love for football, AAFMAA is sponsoring the 2011 Army vs. Air Force football game and giving you the chance to prove your “fandom”.

Upload a photo of you, your friends, or your family in fan gear to UltimateFanChallenge.com, rally support from your friends, and compete for the Ultimate Fan Party Pack Prize:

• 42” LCD HD TV
• $200 gift card to your local supermarket to stock up on food and drinks
• $100 gift card to deck yourself out in the best fan gear!