F e l lo w s hi p - L eg is la t i on - B e ne f i ts - Su p p o r t REACHING OUT NARFE Chapter 7 National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Next meeting: Saturday, Dec. 13 Holiday Luncheon Social time: 11:30 a.m. Lunch: noon Rock Bottom 4238 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA Speaker: Charles Clark Author of Arlington County Chronicles (reservations required; see page 2) Executive Board meets Dec. 18, 10 a.m. Welcome, new members Eileen Parish Welcome, reinstatements Mary A. Barrett Helen DeThomas Patricia G. Garfinkel Bernardo J. Guiliano Alice G. Tenenbaum In Memoriam Phyllis Jean Lee Margaret I. Rodger December 2014 President’s message: Wrapping up another year By Mark McLachlan At our November General Meeting, we swore in the chapter’s officers for 2015: President, Mark McLachlan; First Vice President/Legislative Chair, Ed Weiler; Second Vice President/ Membership Chair, John Harms; Secretary/Web Coordinator, Nancy Palmerino; and Treasurer, Bill Thomson. They will take office in January. Meanwhile, the new NARFE National officers took office on November 1. We now have only two National officers: the Secretary and Treasurer positions were merged and the Vice President position was eliminated. Dick Thissen is now President; he’s been the National Treasurer since 2011. And, Jon Dowie is the new Secretary/Treasurer. Save-the-dates: The VA Federation of Chapters (VFC) is hard at work planning the annual convention. This year it will be held in Fredericksburg (fairly close to home) on April 13-15, 2015. The theme will be “NARFE - Embracing Change.” Plan to attend and hear the latest; last year Senator Warner gave us his perspectives - nothing like hearing it directly from someone in the middle of it all. Also, the National Legislative Training Conference will be held March 14-17, 2015, in Crystal City (very close to home). Held every other year, the conference addresses the issues facing the federal community, NARFE’s leg- islative agenda, and how to organize locally. Please contact me for more details on either event. Gift-giving-made-easy: A NARFE membership makes a perfect gift! Give a gift that keeps on giving for 12 months. Introduce a friend or relative to the benefits of a NARFE membership. Contact our Membership Chair, NARFE HQ (703/8387760), or me for more information. And, finally, my column wouldn’t be complete without an appeal for help! We need folks to volunteer for our Audit Committee (takes only a couple of hours to look over the books for 2014); the Publicity Committee (takes a little bit of time each month to send news about the chapter (meetings, etc.) to various media outlets); and the Social Committee (makes sure we have refreshments before our monthly meetings; arranges the June and December luncheons). Please let me know if you can help the chapter. Happy Holidays! Recruiting bonus extended through 12/31/14 Recruit a new member for NARFE by December 31, and National NARFE will pay you a $10 bonus. In addition, National NARFE will award a Kindle Fire tablet to one randomly selected recruiter. Good luck! PAGE 2 R E A C HI NG O U T NA R FE C HA P T E R 7 Notes on legislation from NARFE Headquarters Lame Duck  The Lame Duck session is not expected to be a cantankerous session, nor is it expected to go later then mid-December. their own is enough to oppose the larger bill. NARFE members should be using this time to let their Senators know they oppose the bill. Re-Employed Annuitants  One of the top priorities for the Lame Duck Con-  gress will be to pass an appropriations package. The current continuing resolution expires on December 11 and Congress will have to pass legislation to take us into the New Year.  They can pass another CR and let the new Congress pass a package to finish FY16 or they can pass an omnibus package that will include spending through the end of the fiscal year.   One piece of legislation that may be debated during the Lame Duck is the postal reform bill pending in the Senate, S. 1486. NARFE opposes the bill for a variety of reasons, all of which on  Language allowing for the 5-year extension of the Re-Employed Annuitants provision has been included in the Senate Manager’s Amendment of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). A must-pass piece of legislation, it is expected to pass the Senate during the Lame Duck. There will either be a conference committee between the House and Senate to iron out any differences or the House can pass the Senate’s bill. The legislation allows agencies to hire retirees on a limited, part-time basis without a reduction in their salary. (Continued on page 3) Last call for the Dec. 13 holiday luncheon; Charles Clark will be our speaker By Nancy Palmerino This year our holiday luncheon will be on Saturday, December 13, at the Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 4238 Wilson Blvd, Arlington. VA. Social time will begin at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be at noon. Our guest speaker for the event will be Charles Clark, a journalist with the Falls Church News-Press, who writes the column “Our Man in Arlington.” His talk will contain anecdotes from his recently published book, Arlington County Chronicles, which features vignettes from the County’s history dating back to colonial times. For lunch you may choose from the following menu options: Mac and Cheese – Cavatappi pasta tossed in house made cheese sauce. Tuscan Chicken Pasta – Linguini pasta in a balsamic tomato sauce with grilled chicken. Sautéed Tilapia – Fresh Tilapia sautéed and served with lemon rice. Chicken Fried Chicken – Chicken breast golden fried topped with chicken gravy. Served with mashed potatoes. All entrees include a salad served with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, a non-alcoholic beverage and a dessert brownie. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase. The restaurant is located on the first floor of Ballston Common Mall and is accessible through the mall. Persons may also be dropped off on Glebe Road and enter directly into the restaurant from Glebe Road. Parking is available for $1 on the upper levels of the parking garage. We hope you will join us. The price is $20. ALL RESERVATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 5. Sorry, no refunds To reserve, make check payable to "NARFE Chapter 7" and mail to: Nancy Palmerino, 4503 4th Road N., Arlington, VA 22203. December 13, 2014 - Luncheon Reservation Name: ___________________________________ Entrée: Mac/cheese___ Pasta ___Fish___ Chicken___ Name:___________________________________ Entrée: Mac/cheese___ Pasta___ Fish___ Chicken___ Price: $20 per person. No refunds. Total Enclosed: $________ Make check payable to “NARFE Chapter 7.” Mail to: Nancy Palmerino, 4503 4th Road N., Arlington, VA 22203. Questions? Special dietary needs? Call Nancy at (703) 243-6546 ALL RESERVATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY DEC 5. NA R FE C HA P T E R 7 PAGE 3 R E A C HI NG O U T Legislative corner: Outpatient Observation Status: a controversial hospital billing practice incites growing clamor for legislative redress By Ed Weiler Imagine this scenario. You spend several days in the hospital, receiving a physician’s care, diagnostic tests, medications, food, and you even sport the hospital wristband. Only when you get home and the bills start coming do you learn that you weren’t “hospitalized,” but instead the attending physician had classified you as an “outpatient” under “observation status.” As a cognoscente of medical billing practices, you’re aware that Medicare Part A covers hospital costs...so long as you have been admitted. But if you’ve only been “under observation?” Ooops! In this case, Part B kicks in, assuming you have Part B, which many FEHB retirees do not. Depending upon the specifics of your plan, your share of this anomalouslylabeled outpatient care could be hefty. Moreover, outpatientobservation care does not count toward the 3-day inpatient care required before Medicare will pay for post-hospital rehabilitative and/or nursing care. It is with all of the above considerations in mind that, as part of its 2015 Legislative Program for the Virginia General Assembly, the Northern Virginia Aging Network (NVAN)* has called for legislation that would require hospitals to provide patients with written notice when they are placed under “observation status.” While such notice won’t help pay the bills, at least you would have the opportunity to explore other treatment options in order to pre-empt a nasty cost-sharing surprise after the fact....assuming you’re in an adequate state of mental acuity at this point. OK, maybe not full resolution of the problem, but a reasonable start. On the federal level, companion bills have been in the hopper since early 2013: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013 (HR 1179; S 569). Specifically, these bills would amend Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act by deeming an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital to be an “inpatient” for purposes of Medicare’s 3-day inpatient hospital re- quirement regarding eligibility for post-hospital extended care coverage in a skilled nursing facility. Here again, only a partial solution, in that these bills do not address the potentially hefty cost-sharing issue noted above. Although neither of these bills have been sprung from committee since their introduction, they have been slowly gaining co-sponsors over the past two years (some as recently as last month) from both sides of the aisle. It’s reasonable to expect they will be reintroduced in the next Congress. Outreach on your part to Congressman-elect Beyer and Sens. Warner and Kaine could help make this happen. * NVAN includes the Commissions on Aging and Area Agencies on Aging of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, as well as regional service and advocacy organizations (of which VANARFE is one). For more information, see: www.Novaregion.org . Legislative Notes Capitol Hill on March 17. Hotel registration is available online. NARFE negotiated a reduced rate of $175 a night, plus fees and taxes. (Continued from page 2) Legislative Conference   NARFE’s Legislative Training Conference will be held March 14 – 17, 2015 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel. The three-day conference includes training opportunities, national speakers, and the opportunity to network with fellow NARFE grass-roots activists. The conference culminates in a visit to Capitol Hill, where you will take your new skills and meet with your legislators. Online Registration is available now. The $175 registration fee includes six meals, all of your training materials and transportation to and from Looking Ahead  The remainder of the 113th Congress will probably bring little excitement, as the Lame Duck session is expected to end mid-December.  Next year, however, will be anything but slow, as the budget process will begin in early February. Now is the time to plan and prepare so that you are able to take quick grassroots action when asked by the Legislative Department. (from Monthly Legislative Update for NARFE Chapters, November 2014) NONPROFIT US POSTAGE PAID Merrifield, VA Permit No. 942 NARFE Arlington Chapter 7 P.O. Box 100971 Arlington, VA 22210 Return Service requested Last call for holiday luncheon, see page 2 Please deliver by Dec. 5 Chapter 7 Officers President Mark McLachlan 703-528-3158 [email protected] 1st VP & Legislative Chair Edward Weiler 703-241-8798 [email protected] 2nd VP, Membership Chair John Duran 703-528-6510 [email protected] Sunshine Chair Madge Selinsky 703-527-2182 Program Chair Norbert Erickson 703-528-1168 Alzheimer’s Chair Bonnie Franklin 703-578-1935 [email protected] Historian Elsie Cunningham 703-370-4062 [email protected] Secretary /Web Coordinator Nancy Palmerino 703-243-6546 [email protected] Past President Max Scruggs 703-536-9148 [email protected] Treasurer John Harms 978-235-3633 [email protected] Social Chair William (Bill) Thomson 703-358-9549 [email protected] Parliamentarian/Service Officer Richard Simpson 703-527-3867 [email protected] Newsletter Editor/Distribution Mgr Mary Knox 703-524-3499 [email protected] Contact your elected officials United States Senate The Honorable Tim Kaine B40C Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Ph: 202-224-4024 Fax: 202-228-6363 Web: www.kaine.senate.gov The Honorable Mark R. Warner 475 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Ph: 202-224-2023 Fax: 202-224-6295 Web: www.warner.senate.gov United States House of Representatives (District 8) The Honorable James P. Moran 2252 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Ph: 202-225-4376 Fax: 202-225-0017 Web: www.moran.house.gov