For more information on the new World Trade Center, click here.

TRICARE Young Adult is a premium-based health care plan available for purchase by qualified dependents. When you purchase TRICARE Young Adult, you will have access to medical and pharmacy benefits, but dental coverage is excluded. 

Plan Overview  

TRICARE Young Adult allows adult children to purchase TRICARE coverage after eligibility for "regular" TRICARE coverage ends at age 21 (or 23 if enrolled in a full course of study at an approved institution of higher learning). Currently, TRICARE Standard coverage is available worldwide, but TRICARE Prime coverage will be available at a later date.

You may visit any TRICARE-authorized provider, network or non-network. Care at military treatment facilities is on a space-available basis only. You do not need a referral for any type of care but some services may require prior authorization. The type of provider you see determines how much you'll pay out-of-pocket. If you're visiting a network provider, you'll pay less out of pocket and the provider will file claims for you.

For more information, click here.

After a spring break, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent the holidays. One child wrote the following:

"We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live here in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona. Now they live in a place with a lot of other retarded people.

They live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on big tricycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed, because it is all right now. They play games and do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with their hats on. I guess they don't know how to swim.

At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out. Then they go cruising in their golf carts.

My Grandma used to bake cookies and stuff, but I guess she forgot how.

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night, "Early Birds". Some of the people can't get past the man in the doll house to go out. So the ones who do get out bring food back to the wrecked center and call it pot luck.

My Grandma says Grandpa's worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded some day too. When I earn my retardment I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren."

Our health is one of our most precious resources and investments.

When I was younger, I had an uncle who suffered through illnesses most of his adult life. Often he'd look me in the eyes, and with sincere conviction, remind me of the old adage that's proven to be very true.

"Marc, if you have your health, you have just about everything." It was his way of reminding me of the priceless value of good health.

Now, years later, I have to exert great effort to hold on to my health and stay in shape. One decision I made last year was to enroll at a fitness center. Some people refer to it as "the gym" and others call it a "health club." But whatever you call it, joining one can do you a lot of good.

Determined to get started - and anticipating a hefty monthly fee - I made an appointment with the assistant manager of a local fitness center to explore my membership options.

To my surprise, I learned that my health insurance plan had an incentive benefit. And it was an offer I couldn't refuse.

My health insurance company is contracted with a long list of fitness centers and gyms to pay for my monthly membership fees. And one of these was the fitness center nearest to my home!

To my great delight I was permitted to join and use all of their facilities at no cost to me. There wasn't even a one-time initiation charge.

Most fitness centers offer yoga, pilates, "jazzercise," "zumba" and other group workout classes absolutely free. Now I exercise regularly, swim and take two yoga classes each week compliments of my healthcare insurance provider.

A growing number of Medigap and Medicare- Advantage insurance plans offer this to their customers as an incentive to stay physically fit. Some plans even include the services of a fitness coach who helps you design a training program that's right for you.

You can start by calling the customer service department of your health insurance provider and ask if they offer this benefit under the plan you're subscribed to. If not, ask them if there's an insurance plan you can switch to that does. It doesn't hurt to ask. And no matter what, feeling good is worth the price.

As far as I'm concerned, regular exercise isn't an option. It's a critical and enjoyable necessity. It helps us stay in shape, boosts our immune system and makes us feel better.

The feel-good payoff from exercise also brings positive mood support and an increased sense of well-being.

The icing on the cake is having access to the facilities, equipment and programs at a top-notch gym for little or no cost.

Even if your insurance plan doesn't provide this free benefit, many gyms and fitness centers have free trial memberships. With these, you can test drive all of their facilities and programs at no cost. Many also offer reduced membership fees if you're 65 years of age or older.

It's not going to be your parents' retirement - rewarded at 65 with a gold watch, a guaranteed pension, and health insurance for life. For many Americans, retiring in this new century is a mystery. Earlier generations of workers could rely on employer-provided pensions, but now many workers will need to rely on their own work-related and personal savings plus Social Security benefits. These savings have to last longer because Americans are living longer, often into their eighties and nineties.

If you are one of those people who want to plan - and are about 10 to 15 years from the day you retire - this booklet is for you. Today's (and tomorrow's) retirees may well have a new kind of retirement. With a longer and healthier life span, bikes, boats, planes, and RVs may be part of your life, because you are more likely than previous generations to be an active older American.

Opportunities to take courses, start a new career, and become a volunteer can make your future an adventure. A longer life, however, will also mean more medical care, some of which will not be covered by the federal Medicare program.

The whole retirement scene has changed and many American workers find it a mystery. In fact, a 2009 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) suggests that only 44 percent of Americans have tried to calculate how much they need to save for retirement. In this booklet, each chapter will give you clues on how to take control of your finances so that when you retire, you have the time and money to do what you've always wanted. For some, it's simply being with friends and family. For others, it's starting a new hobby or craft. And for some it's starting a new life.

Whether you are 10 years from retirement or have a different timeframe - or even if you are retired - this booklet will help you to unravel the financial mysteries of life after work and to discover changes you can make for a financially secure future.

Read the full online version here.