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VICE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Vice President's Message

Recruitment $300. If you want to become a Life member AND premier
The following is a repeat of my NERA Benefactor in one fell swoop, the total fee is $550.
previous message because it All premier NERA Benefactors are listed and featured in
is an important one. NERA's the Mariner Magazine and our website www.nera.org.
strength is and always has been
in our membership. I encour- The NERA Benefactor program, honoring past President
age everyone to recruit at least Manny Ratner, was started in 2008 as a means to gener-
one member for 2021. As with ate additional operating funds for NERA during the eco-
nomic downturn. The NERA Benefactor program contin-
Michael P. Hughes, almost all military and veteran ues to be popular. We honor these premier Benefactors by
OSC, USNR (ret) associations, NERA is seeing prominently featuring them in our magazine. The NERA
NERA Vice President a slow, but steady, decline in Benefactor list is much smaller and more easily published
membership. This is due partly
to an aging population and partly due to the fact that than the list of all NERA life members. Currently about
the next generation is not as familiar with the benefits of 2/3 of NERA's members are Life Members and publish-
associations. You can correct this trend. ing a listing would be long. However, we are considering
additional ways to honor our beloved Life Members. We
apologize for any confusion from the term Life Member
Our advocacy effectiveness for our Navy, Marine Corps
and Coast Guard Enlisted Reservists depends on main- and NERA Benefactor, and thanks to all who have shown
taining and growing our members. Numbers are a key such dedication to NERA.
component to getting the attention of Congress, DoD
and the individual service commands. We have main- TRICARE Select Group A Retirees
tained a strong position of advocacy and by partnering Reinstatement
with The Military Coalition, and we have served you TRICARE select Group A retirees were required to have
effectively. However, to maintain our strength, we need set up monthly payments of new enrollment fees, typi-
to retain and increase membership. Please try to recruit cally from their retirement annuity, by January 1, 2021.
new members, either current or former enlisted or those Those who did not were dis-enrolled and need to have
interested/supporting auxiliary members. $30 a year is all their enrollment reinstated if they want to retain cover-
it takes to create a new NERA member. All our welcomed age. The fees are $12.50 per month for an individual and
to join- tell your family and friends. $25.00 for family coverage. For TRICARE Select cover-
age for this year, members must request reinstatement by
NERA Benefactors and NERA Life June 30, 2021 with their TRICARE contractor, Health
Members Net or Humana. They will be responsible for back pay-
I have received several inquiries recently with questions ments beginning on January 1, 2021. Otherwise, they
about the list of NERA Benefactors published in our will have to wait until the open season in the fall of 2021
magazine the Mariner. The list is not of Life Members. and reapply for coverage beginning in January 2022. This
It is a list of Life Members who donated additional funds does not apply to those enrolled in TRICARE for Life.
to become a premier NERA Benefactor. The NERA
Benefactor is someone who is a NERA Life member My sincerest wishes for everyone to remain safe and healthy,
($300) AND contributed additional funds ($250) to especially during the national Covid-19 pandemic.
reach premier Benefactor status.
If you have concerns or issues you would like

If you are already a NERA Life member and wish to NERA to address please let me know. My email is
become a premier NERA Benefactor, currently you have [email protected] and my cell is 1-443-812-9591. Or,
to contribute a minimum of $250. If you wish to upgrade you can send mail to my attention at NERA
from a regular NERA member to a Life Member, the fee is national headquarters. I welcome all suggestions.

6 The Mariner • 2020 WINTER Edition • Volume 63 • Issue 3