Military and CF

Nicole · Apr 4, 2008

We had a discussion similar to this awhile back--about how different branches of the military run the EFMP (by the way, it's now called something different--don't know if it's just AF that changed the name though) program differently. I believe Julie (Navy) was saying that her husband was given a number rating but in the AF there is just a letter (Q, I believe) in the sponsors file that says he/she has a dependent in the program. My understanding is that they don't give you a rating based on the severity of your illness.

I think most of you are enlisted? My husband is an officer so I don't know, maybe that makes it a little easier for us to get to the higher-ups for the information we need? But the best thing you could do is to ask your husbands commander to get in touch with the person who runs the EFMP at your current base. Once you have made that contact, ask them to get in touch with the possible gaining bases EMFP director. You can tell them your situation and see (unofficially, of course!)if they will approve the assignment. Some will tell you right off the bat that you can not go (we had a possible assignment to Japan and there's no way they would let us go). We also had a possibility of going to Dover. They told us that we could go but that they would have serious reservations about sending us there because we would have to travel, in their opinion, too far for CF care. At least maybe you can get some sort of idea.

Hope this helped a little bit!

Nicole · Apr 4, 2008

We had a discussion similar to this awhile back--about how different branches of the military run the EFMP (by the way, it's now called something different--don't know if it's just AF that changed the name though) program differently. I believe Julie (Navy) was saying that her husband was given a number rating but in the AF there is just a letter (Q, I believe) in the sponsors file that says he/she has a dependent in the program. My understanding is that they don't give you a rating based on the severity of your illness.

I think most of you are enlisted? My husband is an officer so I don't know, maybe that makes it a little easier for us to get to the higher-ups for the information we need? But the best thing you could do is to ask your husbands commander to get in touch with the person who runs the EFMP at your current base. Once you have made that contact, ask them to get in touch with the possible gaining bases EMFP director. You can tell them your situation and see (unofficially, of course!)if they will approve the assignment. Some will tell you right off the bat that you can not go (we had a possible assignment to Japan and there's no way they would let us go). We also had a possibility of going to Dover. They told us that we could go but that they would have serious reservations about sending us there because we would have to travel, in their opinion, too far for CF care. At least maybe you can get some sort of idea.

Hope this helped a little bit!

Nicole · Apr 4, 2008

We had a discussion similar to this awhile back--about how different branches of the military run the EFMP (by the way, it's now called something different--don't know if it's just AF that changed the name though) program differently. I believe Julie (Navy) was saying that her husband was given a number rating but in the AF there is just a letter (Q, I believe) in the sponsors file that says he/she has a dependent in the program. My understanding is that they don't give you a rating based on the severity of your illness.

I think most of you are enlisted? My husband is an officer so I don't know, maybe that makes it a little easier for us to get to the higher-ups for the information we need? But the best thing you could do is to ask your husbands commander to get in touch with the person who runs the EFMP at your current base. Once you have made that contact, ask them to get in touch with the possible gaining bases EMFP director. You can tell them your situation and see (unofficially, of course!)if they will approve the assignment. Some will tell you right off the bat that you can not go (we had a possible assignment to Japan and there's no way they would let us go). We also had a possibility of going to Dover. They told us that we could go but that they would have serious reservations about sending us there because we would have to travel, in their opinion, too far for CF care. At least maybe you can get some sort of idea.

Hope this helped a little bit!

Nicole · Apr 4, 2008

We had a discussion similar to this awhile back--about how different branches of the military run the EFMP (by the way, it's now called something different--don't know if it's just AF that changed the name though) program differently. I believe Julie (Navy) was saying that her husband was given a number rating but in the AF there is just a letter (Q, I believe) in the sponsors file that says he/she has a dependent in the program. My understanding is that they don't give you a rating based on the severity of your illness.

I think most of you are enlisted? My husband is an officer so I don't know, maybe that makes it a little easier for us to get to the higher-ups for the information we need? But the best thing you could do is to ask your husbands commander to get in touch with the person who runs the EFMP at your current base. Once you have made that contact, ask them to get in touch with the possible gaining bases EMFP director. You can tell them your situation and see (unofficially, of course!)if they will approve the assignment. Some will tell you right off the bat that you can not go (we had a possible assignment to Japan and there's no way they would let us go). We also had a possibility of going to Dover. They told us that we could go but that they would have serious reservations about sending us there because we would have to travel, in their opinion, too far for CF care. At least maybe you can get some sort of idea.

Hope this helped a little bit!

Nicole · Apr 4, 2008

We had a discussion similar to this awhile back--about how different branches of the military run the EFMP (by the way, it's now called something different--don't know if it's just AF that changed the name though) program differently. I believe Julie (Navy) was saying that her husband was given a number rating but in the AF there is just a letter (Q, I believe) in the sponsors file that says he/she has a dependent in the program. My understanding is that they don't give you a rating based on the severity of your illness.
 
 I think most of you are enlisted? My husband is an officer so I don't know, maybe that makes it a little easier for us to get to the higher-ups for the information we need? But the best thing you could do is to ask your husbands commander to get in touch with the person who runs the EFMP at your current base. Once you have made that contact, ask them to get in touch with the possible gaining bases EMFP director. You can tell them your situation and see (unofficially, of course!)if they will approve the assignment. Some will tell you right off the bat that you can not go (we had a possible assignment to Japan and there's no way they would let us go). We also had a possibility of going to Dover. They told us that we could go but that they would have serious reservations about sending us there because we would have to travel, in their opinion, too far for CF care. At least maybe you can get some sort of idea.
 
 Hope this helped a little bit!

GrimmsWifey · Apr 6, 2008

With my husband's job our options are wide open for the most part. He is CE~ Civil Engineer so that gives us a lot of options. The reason we are going to be moving is 1- My husband i going to re-enlist, 2- they just A76 CE at Schriever where we are. Which means they are getting rid of all active duty CE and bringing in civilians. So we are going to do our base of choice before we get somewhere I cant go or we dont want to go.

Dover- We were actully talking about today because our friends just went there.

GrimmsWifey · Apr 6, 2008

With my husband's job our options are wide open for the most part. He is CE~ Civil Engineer so that gives us a lot of options. The reason we are going to be moving is 1- My husband i going to re-enlist, 2- they just A76 CE at Schriever where we are. Which means they are getting rid of all active duty CE and bringing in civilians. So we are going to do our base of choice before we get somewhere I cant go or we dont want to go.

Dover- We were actully talking about today because our friends just went there.

GrimmsWifey · Apr 6, 2008

With my husband's job our options are wide open for the most part. He is CE~ Civil Engineer so that gives us a lot of options. The reason we are going to be moving is 1- My husband i going to re-enlist, 2- they just A76 CE at Schriever where we are. Which means they are getting rid of all active duty CE and bringing in civilians. So we are going to do our base of choice before we get somewhere I cant go or we dont want to go.

Dover- We were actully talking about today because our friends just went there.

GrimmsWifey · Apr 6, 2008

With my husband's job our options are wide open for the most part. He is CE~ Civil Engineer so that gives us a lot of options. The reason we are going to be moving is 1- My husband i going to re-enlist, 2- they just A76 CE at Schriever where we are. Which means they are getting rid of all active duty CE and bringing in civilians. So we are going to do our base of choice before we get somewhere I cant go or we dont want to go.

Dover- We were actully talking about today because our friends just went there.

GrimmsWifey · Apr 6, 2008

With my husband's job our options are wide open for the most part. He is CE~ Civil Engineer so that gives us a lot of options. The reason we are going to be moving is 1- My husband i going to re-enlist, 2- they just A76 CE at Schriever where we are. Which means they are getting rid of all active duty CE and bringing in civilians. So we are going to do our base of choice before we get somewhere I cant go or we dont want to go.
 
 
 Dover- We were actully talking about today because our friends just went there.

Liza · Apr 7, 2008

Hi Joy, We were stationed NATO when we went to Germany. We were at a small base called Geilenkirchen NAB, in north western Germany on the German/Dutch border. When my husband put in for this assignment (he was an officer) we had researched where the closest CF center was. Germany and the Netherlands have their own versions of CFF. We thought we'd go to the center in Aachen which is in Germany only to find out when we arrived that it was closer to go to the Dutch CF center in Maastricht, NL. It probably helped that two of the people working in the TriCare office were Dutch. In Europe your civilian care was paid at %100, nothing was out of pocket, even the usual $11/day hospital stay was not charged. Our only difficulty, if you want to call it that, was getting the same enzymes as we got stateside. My girls are on Pancrease MT16 and they did not have that option in GE or NL. At first we just went ahead and switched to a different enzyme but for Anna it wasn't working out. So we tried the new mail order pharmacy. Biggest mistake in the world! They sent generic when we called for a refill, that was after they said we couldn't refill it because it was too soon AND they had readjusted the dose from w/meals to once/day! After that, we just got it filled at a stateside pharmacy and had my mom pick it up and mail it. A hassle at first but then we got the swing of it.

Someone mentioned being told you wouldn't be able to go overseas. We were told the same thing and had just come to accept that we were never going to get to go until this assignment popped up. First let me say, we avoided CHAP (that's what the AF called it back then, children have a potential) We did not want to hinder my husbands career in any way by allowing ourselves to be put in this program. We had decided we would handle how ever far we'd have to travel for CF care. You have to understand though, we both come from military backgrounds, we were both AF Brats. When this assignment came up we decided that he'd apply for it. We'd always been told we wouldn't get approved to accompany him and that he couldn't go but we'd never know for sure until we tried. So he did, and he got it and then the leg work started on getting us approved to accompany him. YES, it could have backfired and they could have denied us and he would still have had to go. But we did our homework before he ever applied so we were ready as soon as he got the word.

Joy, with your husband being in CE, you're right, you could go almost anywhere. My one bit of advice is to look at where you'd LIKE to go (obviously where there are CE jobs) see what centers are closest. How far of a drive is it to get there, what kind of traffic might you have? Are those all things you can live with and then number your choices from 1-5 or however many choices you have for his "wish list". It's been so long since my husband did a "wish list". He did one when we got our first assignment to Seymour Johnson, NC and then he had to number from 1-10 with two wild card bases when he finished PA school. Don't let anyone tell you, you never get your first choice. We got our first choice right out of PA school. You never know if you don't try.

Alot of people have talked about military CF centers. We have never been to a military CF center. In fact we never knew they existed until we were looking to head back to the states. We always just went to our PCM, we liked to pop in every few months or so just to check in and so they could put a face on all the prescriptions and referrals. We never had a problem getting a referral for the CF center. But it seems to me that you already know about that part since you probably already have to do that. It's no different. But also know, you can request a copy of your military records for personal use and you can request to hand carry your records to your gaining base. Depending on who's on duty, sometimes they will comply and sometimes they insist on sending it. That's where having a personal copy comes in handy. They can get lost. Mine did once, but they were found. I have my original records from when I was a dependent child. Not from birth though, I don't know what happened to those. Lost I assume.

Liza · Apr 7, 2008

Hi Joy, We were stationed NATO when we went to Germany. We were at a small base called Geilenkirchen NAB, in north western Germany on the German/Dutch border. When my husband put in for this assignment (he was an officer) we had researched where the closest CF center was. Germany and the Netherlands have their own versions of CFF. We thought we'd go to the center in Aachen which is in Germany only to find out when we arrived that it was closer to go to the Dutch CF center in Maastricht, NL. It probably helped that two of the people working in the TriCare office were Dutch. In Europe your civilian care was paid at %100, nothing was out of pocket, even the usual $11/day hospital stay was not charged. Our only difficulty, if you want to call it that, was getting the same enzymes as we got stateside. My girls are on Pancrease MT16 and they did not have that option in GE or NL. At first we just went ahead and switched to a different enzyme but for Anna it wasn't working out. So we tried the new mail order pharmacy. Biggest mistake in the world! They sent generic when we called for a refill, that was after they said we couldn't refill it because it was too soon AND they had readjusted the dose from w/meals to once/day! After that, we just got it filled at a stateside pharmacy and had my mom pick it up and mail it. A hassle at first but then we got the swing of it.

Someone mentioned being told you wouldn't be able to go overseas. We were told the same thing and had just come to accept that we were never going to get to go until this assignment popped up. First let me say, we avoided CHAP (that's what the AF called it back then, children have a potential) We did not want to hinder my husbands career in any way by allowing ourselves to be put in this program. We had decided we would handle how ever far we'd have to travel for CF care. You have to understand though, we both come from military backgrounds, we were both AF Brats. When this assignment came up we decided that he'd apply for it. We'd always been told we wouldn't get approved to accompany him and that he couldn't go but we'd never know for sure until we tried. So he did, and he got it and then the leg work started on getting us approved to accompany him. YES, it could have backfired and they could have denied us and he would still have had to go. But we did our homework before he ever applied so we were ready as soon as he got the word.

Joy, with your husband being in CE, you're right, you could go almost anywhere. My one bit of advice is to look at where you'd LIKE to go (obviously where there are CE jobs) see what centers are closest. How far of a drive is it to get there, what kind of traffic might you have? Are those all things you can live with and then number your choices from 1-5 or however many choices you have for his "wish list". It's been so long since my husband did a "wish list". He did one when we got our first assignment to Seymour Johnson, NC and then he had to number from 1-10 with two wild card bases when he finished PA school. Don't let anyone tell you, you never get your first choice. We got our first choice right out of PA school. You never know if you don't try.

Alot of people have talked about military CF centers. We have never been to a military CF center. In fact we never knew they existed until we were looking to head back to the states. We always just went to our PCM, we liked to pop in every few months or so just to check in and so they could put a face on all the prescriptions and referrals. We never had a problem getting a referral for the CF center. But it seems to me that you already know about that part since you probably already have to do that. It's no different. But also know, you can request a copy of your military records for personal use and you can request to hand carry your records to your gaining base. Depending on who's on duty, sometimes they will comply and sometimes they insist on sending it. That's where having a personal copy comes in handy. They can get lost. Mine did once, but they were found. I have my original records from when I was a dependent child. Not from birth though, I don't know what happened to those. Lost I assume.

Liza · Apr 7, 2008

Hi Joy, We were stationed NATO when we went to Germany. We were at a small base called Geilenkirchen NAB, in north western Germany on the German/Dutch border. When my husband put in for this assignment (he was an officer) we had researched where the closest CF center was. Germany and the Netherlands have their own versions of CFF. We thought we'd go to the center in Aachen which is in Germany only to find out when we arrived that it was closer to go to the Dutch CF center in Maastricht, NL. It probably helped that two of the people working in the TriCare office were Dutch. In Europe your civilian care was paid at %100, nothing was out of pocket, even the usual $11/day hospital stay was not charged. Our only difficulty, if you want to call it that, was getting the same enzymes as we got stateside. My girls are on Pancrease MT16 and they did not have that option in GE or NL. At first we just went ahead and switched to a different enzyme but for Anna it wasn't working out. So we tried the new mail order pharmacy. Biggest mistake in the world! They sent generic when we called for a refill, that was after they said we couldn't refill it because it was too soon AND they had readjusted the dose from w/meals to once/day! After that, we just got it filled at a stateside pharmacy and had my mom pick it up and mail it. A hassle at first but then we got the swing of it.

Someone mentioned being told you wouldn't be able to go overseas. We were told the same thing and had just come to accept that we were never going to get to go until this assignment popped up. First let me say, we avoided CHAP (that's what the AF called it back then, children have a potential) We did not want to hinder my husbands career in any way by allowing ourselves to be put in this program. We had decided we would handle how ever far we'd have to travel for CF care. You have to understand though, we both come from military backgrounds, we were both AF Brats. When this assignment came up we decided that he'd apply for it. We'd always been told we wouldn't get approved to accompany him and that he couldn't go but we'd never know for sure until we tried. So he did, and he got it and then the leg work started on getting us approved to accompany him. YES, it could have backfired and they could have denied us and he would still have had to go. But we did our homework before he ever applied so we were ready as soon as he got the word.

Joy, with your husband being in CE, you're right, you could go almost anywhere. My one bit of advice is to look at where you'd LIKE to go (obviously where there are CE jobs) see what centers are closest. How far of a drive is it to get there, what kind of traffic might you have? Are those all things you can live with and then number your choices from 1-5 or however many choices you have for his "wish list". It's been so long since my husband did a "wish list". He did one when we got our first assignment to Seymour Johnson, NC and then he had to number from 1-10 with two wild card bases when he finished PA school. Don't let anyone tell you, you never get your first choice. We got our first choice right out of PA school. You never know if you don't try.

Alot of people have talked about military CF centers. We have never been to a military CF center. In fact we never knew they existed until we were looking to head back to the states. We always just went to our PCM, we liked to pop in every few months or so just to check in and so they could put a face on all the prescriptions and referrals. We never had a problem getting a referral for the CF center. But it seems to me that you already know about that part since you probably already have to do that. It's no different. But also know, you can request a copy of your military records for personal use and you can request to hand carry your records to your gaining base. Depending on who's on duty, sometimes they will comply and sometimes they insist on sending it. That's where having a personal copy comes in handy. They can get lost. Mine did once, but they were found. I have my original records from when I was a dependent child. Not from birth though, I don't know what happened to those. Lost I assume.

Liza · Apr 7, 2008

Hi Joy, We were stationed NATO when we went to Germany. We were at a small base called Geilenkirchen NAB, in north western Germany on the German/Dutch border. When my husband put in for this assignment (he was an officer) we had researched where the closest CF center was. Germany and the Netherlands have their own versions of CFF. We thought we'd go to the center in Aachen which is in Germany only to find out when we arrived that it was closer to go to the Dutch CF center in Maastricht, NL. It probably helped that two of the people working in the TriCare office were Dutch. In Europe your civilian care was paid at %100, nothing was out of pocket, even the usual $11/day hospital stay was not charged. Our only difficulty, if you want to call it that, was getting the same enzymes as we got stateside. My girls are on Pancrease MT16 and they did not have that option in GE or NL. At first we just went ahead and switched to a different enzyme but for Anna it wasn't working out. So we tried the new mail order pharmacy. Biggest mistake in the world! They sent generic when we called for a refill, that was after they said we couldn't refill it because it was too soon AND they had readjusted the dose from w/meals to once/day! After that, we just got it filled at a stateside pharmacy and had my mom pick it up and mail it. A hassle at first but then we got the swing of it.

Someone mentioned being told you wouldn't be able to go overseas. We were told the same thing and had just come to accept that we were never going to get to go until this assignment popped up. First let me say, we avoided CHAP (that's what the AF called it back then, children have a potential) We did not want to hinder my husbands career in any way by allowing ourselves to be put in this program. We had decided we would handle how ever far we'd have to travel for CF care. You have to understand though, we both come from military backgrounds, we were both AF Brats. When this assignment came up we decided that he'd apply for it. We'd always been told we wouldn't get approved to accompany him and that he couldn't go but we'd never know for sure until we tried. So he did, and he got it and then the leg work started on getting us approved to accompany him. YES, it could have backfired and they could have denied us and he would still have had to go. But we did our homework before he ever applied so we were ready as soon as he got the word.

Joy, with your husband being in CE, you're right, you could go almost anywhere. My one bit of advice is to look at where you'd LIKE to go (obviously where there are CE jobs) see what centers are closest. How far of a drive is it to get there, what kind of traffic might you have? Are those all things you can live with and then number your choices from 1-5 or however many choices you have for his "wish list". It's been so long since my husband did a "wish list". He did one when we got our first assignment to Seymour Johnson, NC and then he had to number from 1-10 with two wild card bases when he finished PA school. Don't let anyone tell you, you never get your first choice. We got our first choice right out of PA school. You never know if you don't try.

Alot of people have talked about military CF centers. We have never been to a military CF center. In fact we never knew they existed until we were looking to head back to the states. We always just went to our PCM, we liked to pop in every few months or so just to check in and so they could put a face on all the prescriptions and referrals. We never had a problem getting a referral for the CF center. But it seems to me that you already know about that part since you probably already have to do that. It's no different. But also know, you can request a copy of your military records for personal use and you can request to hand carry your records to your gaining base. Depending on who's on duty, sometimes they will comply and sometimes they insist on sending it. That's where having a personal copy comes in handy. They can get lost. Mine did once, but they were found. I have my original records from when I was a dependent child. Not from birth though, I don't know what happened to those. Lost I assume.

Liza · Apr 7, 2008

Hi Joy, We were stationed NATO when we went to Germany. We were at a small base called Geilenkirchen NAB, in north western Germany on the German/Dutch border. When my husband put in for this assignment (he was an officer) we had researched where the closest CF center was. Germany and the Netherlands have their own versions of CFF. We thought we'd go to the center in Aachen which is in Germany only to find out when we arrived that it was closer to go to the Dutch CF center in Maastricht, NL. It probably helped that two of the people working in the TriCare office were Dutch. In Europe your civilian care was paid at %100, nothing was out of pocket, even the usual $11/day hospital stay was not charged. Our only difficulty, if you want to call it that, was getting the same enzymes as we got stateside. My girls are on Pancrease MT16 and they did not have that option in GE or NL. At first we just went ahead and switched to a different enzyme but for Anna it wasn't working out. So we tried the new mail order pharmacy. Biggest mistake in the world! They sent generic when we called for a refill, that was after they said we couldn't refill it because it was too soon AND they had readjusted the dose from w/meals to once/day! After that, we just got it filled at a stateside pharmacy and had my mom pick it up and mail it. A hassle at first but then we got the swing of it.
 
 Someone mentioned being told you wouldn't be able to go overseas. We were told the same thing and had just come to accept that we were never going to get to go until this assignment popped up. First let me say, we avoided CHAP (that's what the AF called it back then, children have a potential) We did not want to hinder my husbands career in any way by allowing ourselves to be put in this program. We had decided we would handle how ever far we'd have to travel for CF care. You have to understand though, we both come from military backgrounds, we were both AF Brats. When this assignment came up we decided that he'd apply for it. We'd always been told we wouldn't get approved to accompany him and that he couldn't go but we'd never know for sure until we tried. So he did, and he got it and then the leg work started on getting us approved to accompany him. YES, it could have backfired and they could have denied us and he would still have had to go. But we did our homework before he ever applied so we were ready as soon as he got the word.
 
 Joy, with your husband being in CE, you're right, you could go almost anywhere. My one bit of advice is to look at where you'd LIKE to go (obviously where there are CE jobs) see what centers are closest. How far of a drive is it to get there, what kind of traffic might you have? Are those all things you can live with and then number your choices from 1-5 or however many choices you have for his "wish list". It's been so long since my husband did a "wish list". He did one when we got our first assignment to Seymour Johnson, NC and then he had to number from 1-10 with two wild card bases when he finished PA school. Don't let anyone tell you, you never get your first choice. We got our first choice right out of PA school. You never know if you don't try.
 
 Alot of people have talked about military CF centers. We have never been to a military CF center. In fact we never knew they existed until we were looking to head back to the states. We always just went to our PCM, we liked to pop in every few months or so just to check in and so they could put a face on all the prescriptions and referrals. We never had a problem getting a referral for the CF center. But it seems to me that you already know about that part since you probably already have to do that. It's no different. But also know, you can request a copy of your military records for personal use and you can request to hand carry your records to your gaining base. Depending on who's on duty, sometimes they will comply and sometimes they insist on sending it. That's where having a personal copy comes in handy. They can get lost. Mine did once, but they were found. I have my original records from when I was a dependent child. Not from birth though, I don't know what happened to those. Lost I assume.

GrimmsWifey · Apr 11, 2008