Newsbytes August 30, 2024
In this issue:
Repeal 180-day delay for Retirees
Marines and Sailors get Training on Political Activities
Express Scripts App
FRA NHQ Closed on Labor Day New FRA NHQ
Repeal 180-Day Delay for Retirees
Legislation has been introduced in the House and the Senate that will
repeal the requirement for those retiring from military service to wait
180 days before entering Department of Defense (DoD) civil service
General Schedule (GS) positions for GS-13 and below. The House-passed
version of the FY 2025 Defense Authorization bill (NDAA-HR 8070) also
includes this provision. The 180-day waiting period has resulted in a
talent management problem for hiring officials who are grappling with an
antiquated hiring process that takes too long to hire a qualified
candidate with a current security clearance.
Please use the Action Center to urge your Senators to support this NDAA provision: https://www.votervoice.net/FRA/Campaigns/101086/Respond
Marines and Sailors Get Training on Political Activities
The Marine Corps and Navy have ordered all Marines, sailors, and federal
civilian employees to undergo training about off-limits political
activities this summer, ahead of the presidential election. In an August
12 message, Marine Corps staff director Lt. Gen. Gregg Olson ordered
commanders to train units on the do’s and don’ts of political
involvement by September 15. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro set the same
deadline in a message issued on July 17. The orders come after the
DoD’s Office of Inspector General reported in May that the Pentagon had
failed to properly train and guide troops about partisan political
activities before the 2024 campaign season.
A Pentagon
policy adopted in 2008 encourages service members to vote, serve as
election officials, and sign political petitions as private citizens
rather than as representatives of the military. Troops should not
participate in those activities while wearing their military uniforms,
the rules stipulate. The list of off-limits actions includes fundraising
for political candidates, participating in letter-writing campaigns,
soliciting votes for a political party or candidate, attending political
events as official military representatives, and displaying large
political signs, banners, or posters on their private vehicles, among
others.
The complex
policy also states, broadly, that “any activity that can be reasonably
viewed as directly or indirectly associating the DoD with partisan
political activity” should be avoided. In his message, Olson said
Marines and sailors should ask legal staff before engaging in political
activities they have questions about.
Stay on Top of TRICARE Prescriptions with the Express Scripts App
Do you need help managing your prescriptions? Express Scripts, the
TRICARE pharmacy contractor, has a free, easy-to-use app that can help.
The Express Scripts Pharmacy mobile app is a secure way to stay on top
of taking your medication. The app is full of useful features. Here’s a
look at some of the ways the app can help you:
See your prescriptions and order them:
Go to “Prescriptions” to find a list of all your prescriptions. From
here, you can see how much money you can save if you fill your
prescription through TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery. You can also order
your prescription from this menu.
Approve your refills:
If you need to refill your prescription, you must approve it before
Express Scripts will mail it to you. The Express Scripts mobile app
makes it easy to approve refills.
Check your order status:
Want to keep track of when you’ll get your home delivery prescription?
Go to “Recent Orders” to see when your order is placed, processed,
shipped, and delivered.
Manage your delivery address:
Need to change your shipping address? You can do this in the app. You
can even set up shipments to a temporary address during deployment,
relocation, or vacation. Keep in mind that there are some limits to
using home delivery overseas. Go to Home Delivery to learn more.
Make payments:
Go to “Pay a Bill” if you need to pay for your prescription or set up
automatic payments for your home delivery orders. Note: You may also be
able to get prescriptions from a non-network retail pharmacy. At
non-network pharmacies, you’ll pay full price for your prescription.
Then you can file a claim for reimbursement. Reimbursements are subject
to cost-shares, copayments, deductibles, and other costs.
Set dose reminders:
Need help remembering to take your prescription? Go to “Dose Reminder”
to set up automated reminder alerts. Alerts can be daily, weekly, or
monthly.
You can
download the Express Scripts Pharmacy mobile app from the Apple App
Store or the Google Play Store. The app is free, and you can sign in
with your TRICARE Express Scripts username and password. If you don’t
have an Express Scripts account, you can create one. To learn more, go
to tricare.mil/pharmacy and the TRICARE Express Scripts website. If you have pharmacy questions or need help, call Express Scripts at 877-363-1303.
FRA NHQ Closed on Labor Day
In observance of the Labor Day holiday, the National Headquarters will be closed on Monday, September 2, 2024.
New FRA Headquarters!
As noted in earlier Newsbytes,
FRA HQ is in the process of moving to its new home at 1600 Duke Street,
Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314. We will be offline until September 3,
2024. We will attempt to keep things as normal as possible; however,
some tasks may take a little longer than usual to complete as we prepare
for the move. Some of our IT processes may be down for a few days. We
will need to shut down servers, move them, and then bring them back
online. Our goal is to minimize the amount of time that systems,
including the phone system, will be out of order. (Our phone numbers
will remain the same.) We ask for your patience during this time.