710 BSB FRSA FLASH

For the Week of March 2012

UPCOMING EVENTS March 23, 2012: No School for Carthage Central Students March 26, 2012: Division DONSA March 30, 2012: No School for Carthage Central Students April 2-6, 2012: Spring Break for most local schools April 6, 2012: Division DONSA April 9, 2012: No School for Carthage Central Students April 9, 2012: Division DONSA March 30-April 29, 2012: Block Leave May 24, 2012: Spring Extravaganza (Formal)

th

Flyers Included:
Page 2: Easter Services Schedule for Fort Drum Page 3: EFMP Autism Drama Clinic (March 24) Page 4: Maple Days (March 24) Page 5: Womens History Month (March 29) Page 6: Family Wellness Group (March 29) Page 7: ACS Master Resiliency (April 9) Page 8: Spring Clothing Giveaway (April 27) Page 9: Arbor Day Poster Contest (Deadline April 9) Page 10: International Food Festival (April 20) Page 11: USO Ice Cream Social (April 28) Page 12-13: ACS April Calendar Page 14: Youth Center Newsletter Page 15: USO Oxygen Seminar (May 17-18) Page 16: Strongest Warrior (June 9) Page 17: Returning from War Group Page 18-19: Public Notices about items that affect Fort Drum Page 20-21: Information from a Spouse on change to Dental Program.

Mount Belvedere Drainage Work

Drainage work outside Mt Belvedere entrance gate has been delayed from 19 Mar 2012 until the 26th of March 2012, this work will take three weeks to complete. Closing of roughly 1000 feet of one lane will take place on a daily bases during the median work. They will pull the barrels and signs into the median each night and reopen all lanes. Road construction of the intersection of Military Rd and Mt Belvedere will start immediately after and will last approximately two weeks.

Construction at Gas Alley Gate and Iraqi Freedom Gate

Road construction in the area of Gas Alley and Iraqi Freedom( new entrance lanes) will restart on 12 March 2012. Construction will not interfere with traffic entering either entrance. This work will provide an additional entrance lane and has a completion date of June 2012.

Date for Post Wide Yard Sale Announced

Looking to clean out your garage? Are you PCSing prior to June? The post wide community yard sells are coming to the neighborhoods the weekend of June 2-3 for Adirondack Creek and Rhicard Hills and the weekend of June 9-10 is Monument Ridge and Crescent Woods!

Fort Drum Spouse Publishes Childrens Book & Book Signing

Theres an A Co., 3-10 GSAB spouse who just wrote a childrens book. Shes going to be reading at story time and will have a book signing at the PX next week. Im going to feature her in the March 29 paper. Fort Drum spouse promotes first childrens book
Mindy Whitten will be selling and signing copies of her first published book, An Alpaca in My Pocket, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 30 and 31 at the Post Exchange. Whitten also will read her book during story time at McEwen Library March 23, April 17 and June 12. For more information or to purchase a book, email Whitten at AnAlpacaInMyPocket@gmail.com <mailto:AnAlpacaInMyPocket@gmail.com > .

PW Informational Update to Garrison Commander Mount Belvedere and Po Valley Road 24 Hour Shoppette Affected
The Exchange Mini-Mall HVAC project is scheduled to start on Monday, 02 April. The project is a base initiative to upgrade the HVAC in the existing Mini-Mall complex. One of the requirements for the work to be completed is to have the retail sales floor closed for a 30-day period while the contractors complete the ductwork in the main retail sales floor. The Exchange understands closure of the retail sales floor will affect the service to the community. In order to minimize a disruption of service, the Northgate Express will open 24 hours during the timeframe the Mini-mall is under renovation during the month of April. My proposal is the following:. . Beginning Monday, 02 April: Mini-mall hours of operation will be 0600 - 2000 hrs for a minimum of 30 days during the construction period. . Mini-mall will be limited to a very small assortment of retail items (tobacco, and carbonated beverages). . Popeye's will not be affected by the project and will be open regular hours of operation. . Barber Shop, Laundry/Alternations and Laundromat will not be affected during this period. . Northgate Express will begin 24 hour operation starting on Monday, 02 April until the Mini-mall project is completed. . We will provide appropriate marketing initiatives to inform the community of these changes.

Information about Dental Plan Coverage Change from United Concordia to MetLife
Good Morning.. I wanted to share something that I've been told was coming for about a year now. United Concordia is no longer being granted the contract for dental coverage for our Uniformed Military Service Families. Instead, as of 1 May 2012 the coverage will go to Metlife. I've included a website with all the pertinent information. You can also go and find out which dentists have picked up as a Metlife PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). There are some dentists who are not going to change over and pick up the dental plan due to the insurance PPO dictating as to what they will charge. To some dentists they will not even be making any money off of the service which is a no win situation for the dentist. As an example. My mother works for a dentist in Omaha that they have decided after long discussions and analysis to pick up as a Metlife PPO for a six month trial basis and could end up at the end of the trail no longer honoring or being a Metlife PPO. I currently go to the Black River Dentist off of Route 3 and called to see if they were going to pick up the plan. At this time they are not listed on the site as being a provider, but have said they put in their paperwork and it should be listed on the site soon. I urge anyone to check with their current dentist to see if they are picking up the plan. What bothers me is that United Concordia nor Metlife have sent anything out to United Concordia patients letting them know this was going to happen as they've known about this for at least a year. http://www.tricare.mil/TDPcontract/ http://www.metlife.com/tricare/index.html#welcome Hope this information helps. Have a great day!!! Kimberley Williams 3-6 Field Artillery, FRSA

Information about Dental Plan Coverage Change from United Concordia to MetLife (cont.)
I've been digging around on some of the information regarding this new dental care plan and wanted to share some things I've found out. You can also go to their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=674425969#!/MetLifeTDP. Mainly we will know more on the 21st of March and they are supposed to release their benefits booklet that day as well. I asked the other day on Facebook what their coverage would be if a patient was seen at a dentist office that did not take up the insurance. Their answer is below of what the cost out of the patients pocket would be. See below their response. - Facebook post from MetLife TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) Kimberley, when using a non-network dentist you will be responsible for paying your cost share plus the difference (if any) between the dentist's charges and the reasonable and customary amount. Cost Shares rank E1 - E4: Diagnostic/Preve...ntative: 0% Sealants/Basic Restorative: 20% Enddontic/Periodontic/Oral surgery: 30% Other Restorative/Implant Services/Prosthodontics: 50% Cost Shares rank E5 and above: Diagnostic/Preventative: 0% Sealants/Basic Restorative: 20% Enddontic/Periodontic/Oral surgery: 40% Other Restorative/Implant Services/Prosthodontics: 50% The benefits booklet will be available online 03/21/12. We will post a reminder with a link at this time. Also, below from another Facebook post to them I asked what their phone numbers were to ask questions. Their call center is not live till the 21st of March, but at least we can start fielding this from the information they are putting out. - Facebook post from MetLife TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) Yes, you can reach our customer service center by calling: CONUS: 1-855-MET-TDP1 (1-855-638-8371) OCONUS: 1-855-MET-TDP2 (1-855-638-8372) MetLife TDD/TYY Service for the Hearing Impaired: 1-855-MET-TDP3 (1-855-638-8373) Our Phones will go live on 3/21/12. Hope this may be of some use to help us understand some of the changes further. Vr, Kim Kimberley Williams 3-6 Field Artillery, FRSA