The financial burden felt by military members across the world is felt even more during the holiday time. The grocery bills increase with larger meals and visiting family or friends, and the cost of holiday gifts or out-of-the-area travel leads to larger than normal expenses. One of the larger expenses is the holiday meal. There are several programs developed for military families, specifically with a gift for a turkey and/or holiday meal.

Turkey for Troops from the USO

Many branches of the USO have holiday meal programs. For instance, the USO-Metro offers holiday meal baskets to active duty service members ranked E1-E6 stationed in the area. Registration for their program opens mid-October, and those chosen will be notified the first week of November. The program also includes crafts and family activities. Check your local USO here.

Operation Homefront

The Holiday Meals for Military Program from Operation Homefront provides holiday meals for military members with deployed service members.  Holiday meal sign-ups are open NOW, and can fill quickly, so make sure to check out the eligibility criteria and sign up if you meet the criteria. Some programs are open to all ranks and include veterans, and some areas are open to E1-E6 only.

To volunteer to help with the program, click here.

Those who want to provide corporate sponsorship can click here.

Churches

Many churches around large military bases have programs for military families. Watch for flyers or posts on local social media for alerts. This is a way for the local area to share and show support for military families, so be sure to keep an eye out and share with your local unit.

Housing Agencies

If you are living in military housing, keep a watch out for giveaways or programs from the military housing agencies for meal giveaways. Partnering local organizations sometimes reach out to the housing agency on base because they have a direct link to military families to provide a giveaway.

Holiday Events

Another link to military families is the holiday events that are held on installation.  The local community will sometimes connect with the service branch community services or Fleet and Family Services for giveaways during the holiday event. Pies, turkeys, or holiday groceries are sometimes given away. If you are planning to attend a holiday event on base, listen to the schedule for the event.

The annual period where you can change your health coverage for the next calendar year is open from November 14 – December 13, 2022. Any changes made to enrollment during this period will be effective starting January 1, 2023. Anyone currently enrolled in or eligible for a TRICARE Prime or Select healthcare plan option is able to change enrollment among these plans.

3 Options During Open Enrollment:

1. Stay in your plan. For those eligible, to stay in your plan you do not need to do anything.  
2. Enroll in a plan for the first time. If you are eligible for TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select but are not currently enrolled, open enrollment is the time to do so.
3. Change plans. During open season, you can change from TRICARE Prime to TRICARE Select, or vice versa. You can also switch from individual or family enrollment. 

Enrolled Retirees enrolled in TRICARE Prime or Select have annual fees that increase annually.

Can you make changes outside of open enrollment?

In order to make changes outside of open enrollment, you must have a Qualifying Life Event (QLE). A QLE includes but is not limited to a relocation to a new location, marriage, birth of a child or retirement from active duty. A new pregnancy no longer counts as a QLE. Within the 90 period from those events, you can make enrollment changes as eligible.

FEDVIP Enrollment

FEDVIP is the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program. Eligibility for this program runs from November 14^th – December 12, 2022. This is program is a supplemental program on top of the vision coverage offered through TRICARE and dental coverage currently offered through United Concordia. Check eligibility and compare plans here.

What are the TRICARE plans?

There are several TRICARE health plans. Active Duty military and their families living at most military bases are eligible for TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select. Read more about each plan to know what you are eligible for and what it covers.

The basic plans are TRICARE Prime and Select, with branches off of those based on locations.

TRICARE Prime – Active Duty are automatically enrolled in this program. For families, this program provides are with a military or network provider without copays except in cases of using point-of-service options. Primary Care Managers provider care and referrals as needed to specialists.

TRICARE Prime Remote – Command-sponsored active duty and family members whose sponsor’s home and work addresses are more than 50 miles from a military hospital or clinic.

TRICARE Prime Overseas – Command-sponsored active duty and family members living overseas are seen by military or network providers.

TRICARE Prime Remote Overseas – Command-sponsored active duty and family members living in remote locations overseas including Eurasia-Africa, Latin America, Canada and areas in the Pacific.

TRICARE Select – Family members and retirees are seen by Tricare-authorized providers chosen by them, and no referrals from a primary care manager are required. A deductible, cost share and enrollment fees may be required.

TRICARE Select Overseas – Family members can see any overseas provider without referrals. A deductible, cost share and enrollment fees may be required.

The following healthcare plans can be enrolled in outside of open enrollment if eligibility criteria are met per the links provided below.

TRICARE For Life – TRICARE eligible beneficiaries who have Medicare A and B.

TRICARE Reserve Select –  Qualified Selected Reserve members and their families are eligible for this healthcare plan.

TRICARE Retired Reserves – Retired Reserve members are eligible to purchase this healthcare plan.

TRICARE Young Adult – This premium-based insurance is available for adult children through age 25.

US Family Health Plan – Enrollment is available to those who live in an area where this care is available. Outside of the enrollment period, you can make changes to your health plan when you or your family have a Qualifying Life Event (QLE). Examples of QLEs include marriage, birth of a child, retirement, or a move.  Changes can be made within 90 days after the QLE

Halloween is coming! According to the Census Bureau, an estimated 73.1 million children under 18 in the U.S. may trick-or-treat this year. That is a lot of candy and foot traffic.

Know the Dates and Time

In an effort to keep Halloween trick-or-treating festivities on the weekend, many military bases may shift trick-or-treating to the Saturday before the actual Halloween date, especially if the 31^st falls on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. This allows military members to participate if they are home and allows for an earlier start time. It allows for increased patrol coverage by the military police, as the weekends allow for more flexibility in their support.

Check out your military installation social media page for the times that trick-or-treating will run so you can be prepared and have your kids ready to participate.

Off-Limits

On most military bases, trick-or-treating in the barracks or dormitories (depending on the service branch) is not allowed. Office buildings are also typically off-limits.

Preparing for Trick-or-Treaters

If you want to open your home for trick-or-treaters, base recommendations include:

• Keeping the porch area well-lit
• Keep the light on during trick-or-treating hours, so children know the home is participating
• Clear the porch and sidewalk of any possible tripping hazards (this includes sweeping away wet leaves)
• Be prepared to answer the door to trick-or-treaters
• Secure pets to avoid them from running out the door or potential scaring trick-or-treaters

Know the Basics

The basic rules for trick-or-treating apply:

• Homes with lights on indicate that the home can be visited for trick-or-treating
• Children and adults with them should carry glowsticks and flashlights (with new batteries) and wear reflective wear to ensure maximum visibility
• Stick to sidewalks
• Avoid walking close to luminaries or candles
• Make sure costumes are fire-resistant
• Don’t wear costume pieces that block your vision
• Cross at cross-walks

Drivers

Drivers driving through base neighborhoods should drive 10 mph below the posted speed limit due to increased pedestrian traffic and carefully enter and exit driveways or alleys through neighborhoods.

It should go without saying if you are going to a Halloween party and having an alcoholic drink, designate a sober driver in advance.

The key to trick-or-treating on base is to follow the installation’s social media or check their website for dates, times, and specific information. If you are living on base, the base housing office will typically send out specifics. Once you have secured that all your safety plans are intact, have a great time!

In late September, the DOD announced in a press release multiple programs and initiatives intended to offload the economic stress of recent price hikes across the board for military families. The initiatives specifically address the challenges in four areas: spouse employment, childcare, PCS costs, and basic needs for service members and their families.

Spouse Employment Initiatives

Military families have the unique challenge of often being a one-income family. The lack of employers understanding the nomadic demands of the military job has led to difficulties for military spouses to find employment. Or employment is forgone as it is difficult to find flexible work that accommodates the ever-changing, unpredictable military schedule. To specifically address these issues, specific initiatives are directed.

– The Secretary of the DOD has directed the DOD to accelerate the development of additional occupational licensure interstate compacts for multiple professions. Many professional positions require not just national licensure but state licenses. These add extra cost and delay time for the military spouse to get a job as they await licensing.

– The Secretary of the DOD has directed the DOD to use non-competitive, direct hiring authorities to hire military spouses for the DOD specifically and to expand remote work and telework options which allow for portable careers no matter where the military sends the family

– The Secretary of the DOD has directed the DOD to launch a pilot initiative to match military spouses with paid private-sector fellowships. The pilot initiative is slated to begin in January 2023.

– The Secretary of the DOD has directed the DOD to increase the number of partners in the Military Spouse Employment Partnership by 10% before January 2023.

Childcare/Parental Leave

Another hurdle for military families with children is finding childcare – and at that, affordable healthcare. The Secretary of the DOD has directed the DOD to:

– Invest in Child Development Program (CDP) facilities and infrastructure to expand the capacity for childcare

– Standardize a 50% discount for the first child of Child Development Program direct-care workers to attract talented staff to increase capacity. It was noted this would take effect in October 2022.

– Improve access to child care programs like Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood and expand the in-home child care fee-assistance pilot program in additional states

It was noted that the CDP families have extended their hours to account for the long hours of service members’ schedules.

It was further noted that the parental leave policies were expanded to the birth or adoption of a child for active duty and eligible reserve component service members. They also established a New Parent Support Program and updated policies for breast milk shipment for nursing service members on mandated temporary duty travel.

PCS Costs

The military move, or PCS, is funded by the government. In recent years, the lack of workers or available companies has led military families into Personally Procured Moves. Even with a government-contracted move, many items must be replaced with each move that the government doesn’t reimburse. A significant upfront cost of moving can be financially burdensome to many military families. Initiatives specifically to assist with the PCS process include:

– TLE permanently increased to 15 days for CONUS moves and up to 60 days if a service member is in a specified Military Housing Area with a housing shortage. This takes effect on October 2022.

– Increase Dislocation Allowance (DLA) for service members E1-E6 to offset the personal expenses. This takes effect on October 2022.

– Continue to develop improvements to the Military OneSource online moving and housing tools

Secure Basic Needs

All have felt the cost increase of housing and groceries, but for military families who are living in places where they are told, it can feel like an extra crunch. Moving during this increase in cost places a burden on military families. Per the press release, “to”help secure affordable basic needs, the Secretary has directed the Department to:”

-” Review the prospective 2023 Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) tables to ensure that the recent changes in housing prices are taken into account

– Institute automatic BAH increases in 28 Military Housing Areas that have “experienced an average of more than 20 percent spike in rental housing costs this year above this year’s BAH rates.”

• 28 areas include:
  • Vandenberg AFB, California
  • 29 Palms MCS, California
  • Dover AFB/Rehoboth, Delaware
  • Patrick AFB, Florida
  • Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  • Orlando, Florida
  • West Palm Beach, Florida
  • Volusia County, Florida
  • Fort Myers Beach, Florida
  • Kings Bay/Brunswick, Georgia
  • Maui County, Hawaii
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Boston, Massachusetts
  • Cape Cod/Plymouth, Massachusetts
  • Martha’sMartha’sneyard, Massachusetts
  • Brunswick, Maine
  • Coast Maine
  • Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
  • Helena, Montana
  • Wilmington, North Carlina
  • Northern New Jersey
  • Newport, Rhode Island
  • Providence, Rhode Island
  • Beaufort/Parris Island, South Carolina
  • Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Houston, Texas
  • Quantico/Woodbridge, Virginia

– Fully fund commissaries with a goal of at least 25% savings on grocery bills compared to the local marketplace

– Provide Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) to eligible service members beginning in January 2023.

It is noted that a 4.6% pay increase for service members is included in the President’s budget at the time of the press release.

Leaders at the DOD are aware of the financial burden on military families. These programs and initiatives have a goal to ease that.