Northwest Colorado veterans continue struggles, this time battling for insurance coverage
Steamboat Pilot & Today
Teeter family/Courtesy photo
Craig resident Eugene Teeter, now 93, served in the U.S. Air Force for more than 20 years including during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
“In his 17th year of his military career, he left his pregnant wife with three children at home to serve in Tuiwa, Vietnam,” said Teeter’s daughter, Bonnie Hickey of Craig. “Tuiwa military base was heavily sprayed with dioxin, or Agent Orange, and due to this exposure, my father suffers every day from many effects of it and is considered a 100% disabled veteran.”
Hickey said her dad always told her, “When I signed up for the military, I was promised if I had 20 years and retired, I would receive health benefits for life.”
Now Hickey has been helping take care of her elderly parents, who have been married 64 years. Her mom Mary, 84, who grew up in Craig, also served for several years in the military and now is undergoing chemotherapy battling bladder cancer.
Yet, Hickey and her parents had to deal with another level of stress due to battles for health care coverage.
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In early September, Hickey took her dad to the ER at Memorial Regional Health because he was experiencing chest pains. The immediate thought was a possible heart attack because Teeter has two stents in his heart.
“I had my father in the wheelchair wanting to be rushed into a doctor, and the young lady at the desk, upon instruction, told me that, ‘We don’t take TriCare for Life.’ I looked at her and asked, ‘You want me to drive him to Steamboat?'” Hickey recalled. “I said, ‘Just take him back, and I’ll figure it out later.'”
Hickey, who works for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Craig, remains frustrated with her struggle to make sure the military health care coverage was honored at the Craig hospital. The process kicked off hours of research for Hickey and weeks of back-and-forth with the hospital and federal insurance representatives.
“Mrs. Hickey’s reading of federal regulations is absolutely correct,” Jennifer Riley, CEO at Memorial Regional Health, said Monday, Veterans Day. “Veterans enrolled in TriCare for Life can access care anywhere Medicare is accepted. The breakdown is with the contractors hired by the Veterans Administration to process claims. The staff and MRH continue to work closely with patients, the VA and its contractors to ensure proper payment of claims.”
Riley also wrote an email to officials with the Military Health System on the matter
“It has been very difficult for this family, and Ms. Hickey has spent a great deal of time researching what should be happening with her father’s coverage,” she wrote.
Hickey explained that, as outlined in the coverage handbook, TriCare for Life is Medicare-wraparound coverage for TriCare beneficiaries who have both Medicare part A and B, and it pays out-of-pocket costs in original Medicare for TriCare covered services. To qualify for TriCare for Life an enrollee must be 65 or older and have retired from military service.
“You are correct — if they take Medicare, TFL is automatic, nothing additional required,” Peter Graves, a representative for the Military Health System, noted on Oct. 17. “Our people will be contacting MRH to clarify.”
Although the Teeter family’s health care claims for service at MRH have now been handled, Hickey remains upset with the situation.
“I had to do their job,” Hickey said of verifying coverage. “It’s an MRH job to figure out this paperwork stuff.”
CEO Riley said MRH staff have been working since April to get the coverage issue resolved.
Hickey wrote that neither of her elderly parents “have the capacity or energy to challenge their erroneous medical bills received from MRH.”
“It wasn’t until my parents received thousands of dollars in medical bills from MRH that I had to become involved and research the law and statute,” Hickey said. “The bills have been corrected, resubmitted to Medicare and TFL, leaving my parents owing nothing. My concern, though, is for those retirees who have TFL and do not have someone to assist them to ensure they are not paying out-of-pocket expenses.”
With more than 2,100 veterans living in the Yampa Valley, Hickey wants to make sure retired veterans and their families know “if a hospital or clinic takes Medicare A and B, it also takes TriCare.”
“The hospital tried to deny it, and it’s guaranteed under law,” Hickey noted. “MRH offers care from some of the best doctors and nurses in the valley, and this community should feel at ease knowing that MRH is doing everything in their ability to ensure they are only paying what is required.”
Hickey said her parents have not received a bill from any other hospital or clinic regarding doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, diagnostic procedures, ambulatory services or medical equipment.
The veteran couple’s son David Teeter originally reached out to the Steamboat Pilot & Today in early September, clearly frustrated and concerned about other veterans in the community who received care at Memorial Regional Health, especially veterans on a fixed income. At the time the family was concerned about more than $5,000 in medical co-pay bills not being covered.
Another veteran from Craig, who did not want to go on the record, said he also dealt with the issue where MRH did not initially recognize TriCare for Life coverage.
Sheli Steele, marketing and communications director at MRH, said fewer than a dozen families have been affected by the TriCare for Life coverage difficulties at MRH.
CEO Riley wrote to Hickey last month: “I am very sorry for the hurt and frustration MRH has caused you and your parents. I do take very seriously the obligation MRH has to provide care to all members of our community, especially our veterans. I truly wish the insurance process was less complicated and opaque, and we are doing what we can to get this resolved quickly for you and your parents.”
Loretta Kuhlman, secretary/treasurer of the Veterans Center in downtown Steamboat Springs, noted U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics from fall 2021 showed 820 veterans live in Moffat County and 1,319 in Routt.
For military veterans in need of assistance from a veterans service officer, Moffat County VSO Ron Epplin currently is assisting both in Routt and Moffat counties while there is a vacancy in Routt. Epplin can be reached by emailing veterans@moffatcounty.net or phoning 970-824-0384.
