PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           11 December 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR001063151

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ronald E. Blakely		Member	
	Mr. Thomas E. O'Shaughnessy		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that he be reimbursed the Tricare Dental Plan premiums he paid for his son after his son entered the U.S. Military Academy (USMA).

3. The applicant states that his Tricare Dental Plan premiums should have been reduced when his son entered the USMA.

4.  In support of his request he submits an itemized account of how much he overpaid, an amount totaling $147.72.  These overpayments are for the months July 1998, March through June 2000, and August through December 2000.  He submits an e-mail from Tricare Dental informing him that they refunded the difference in premiums from 2 January 2001, but Tricare Dental could not make refunds that are for payments over a year old; that it would require the authority of this Board to make those reimbursements.  He also submits DD Forms 1172, Application for Uniformed Services Identification Card, Deers Enrollment, completed by his son and himself.  Those forms show that the applicant’s son became a cadet on 29 June 1998.

5.  The applicant's military records show that at the time the applicant submitted his request to the Board, he was a colonel serving on active duty.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s Tricare Dental Plan premiums were properly reduced a month after his son became a cadet, and were properly reduced on and off from the date the applicant’s son became a USMA cadet.  This is clearly indicative that proper procedures had been taken to change the applicant’s Tricare Dental Plan status, but administrative error resulted in his being billed improper amounts.  This assessment is further reinforced by the Tricare Dental Plan’s reimbursement of the overpayments that were within its ability to repay

2.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by reimbursing to the individual concerned all overpayments he made to the 

Tricare Dental Plan based on the coverage of his son after his son’s enlistment into the USMA on 29 June 1998.

BOARD VOTE:  

__reb____  ____kak_  ____teo_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________Karol A. Kennedy____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001063151	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20011211	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	128.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.