Mail

I hope you all are enjoying your
summer vacation and enjoying
time with your family and friends!
For those of you still seeking
relief in cooler places, I can’t fault
you for being away!
Just a reminder that our next
Chapter luncheon is September
8th.
We continue to lose more
veterans that are enrolled into the VA than we are signing up
new veterans. The VA is funded based on the number of
enrolled veterans. You served your country, and this is one
of your earned benefits. The VA continues to seek out
veterans who are not enrolled and asks that we encourage
them to consider doing so. www.VA.gov offers a wealth of
information for not only the veteran, but families and
surviving spouses
Looks like scammers haven’t taken the summer off and are
up to their old tricks to deceive our members. Please be
wary of opening emails or responding to “free veteran” post
cards in the mail. We will Never ask you to purchase gift
cards-we have a Treasurer that controls our chapter funds,
and rest assured no one from our chapter will ask you to
make a purchase.
Please give thought to joining our Chapter Board of
Directors. We are long overdue to having new faces
represent our chapter. We especially need a Secretary to
record the minutes when we have a Board Meeting. I
produce a detailed agenda and the meeting is recorded.
And it goes without saying that for many years now I’ve
asked to have new blood at the helm as our Chapter
President. I’m not going anywhere, as I’m deeply
entrenched in our Veteran Councils and will remain so as the
MOAA representative. Being the Chapter President is a very rewarding position and if you are looking to add another
layer of purpose and meaning to your life, I can’t think of a
better opportunity!
Cheers, Lorraine
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,
do more and become more, you are a leader.
-John Quincy Adams

Protect your Health and Wealth: Long Term Care Considerations for Spouses and Surviving Spouses

Suppose you might suffer a debilitating accident or a devastating stroke (these affect both young and old) and you are unable to care for yourself, temporarily or permanently. You may think “How would I handle that”? First, with God’s grace and family involvement; second with pre-planning. Consider the information that follows.

• Long Term Care can be expensive and location dependent. The USA average in year 2024 was:
  • In-home care $30-$40 per hour,
  • Assisted living $4,000 to $6,000 per month, and
  • Nursing home care close to $100,000 per year.

Most likely these will be higher for 2025. This is not petty cash. Outlays, such as these, require careful planning.
Fortunately, there are some ways to handle these expenses. Start early if you can.
Ways to Pay
Insurance products

A Long Term Care insurance policy may cover home care, adult day care, assisted living, and nursing facilities. Your age, health metrics, and amount of coverage desired establish the premium base. Both the premium and the coverage can have inflation increments built in. These premiums are much more affordable in the mid-40’s or 50’s ages.

Hybrid Life Insurance with a long term care rider may be purchased. The policy accelerates the death benefit as you use it. The any remaining policy value passes to beneficiaries as a death benefit.

Self -funding

An annuity you own may offer a long term care payout, or a guaranteed income stream that can be applied to health costs.
Use your personal savings, investment accounts, or retirement accounts to pay for care.

Convert your homestead and/or vacation home to a rental to create an income stream. These are emotional decisions. BUT, your home or vacation home may no longer be suitable for the new reality of your living needs. Use a professional to establish the lease, price, and conditions. It may be possible to preserve that family reunion tradition by carving out that time frame from the leases. Review any income tax complications this action may pose.

Reverse Mortgages are a possibility for those over 62. These convert your home equity into tax free income which you can use to pay for care. These products are extremely complicated depending on your long term housing needs and financial situation. Ask a lot of questions.

Your assets are your tools to finance your new life situation. Most state and federal programs require you to spend them down before you use their aid. Please seek the advice of your family, a financial planner, or trusted advisor before you act.

Safety nets

Medicaid is a federal government program administered by the states. It covers long term care for those with limited income and assets. States have their unique guidelines but most require a spenddown of assets before applying for aid. Speak to an Elder law attorney or advisor. They may be able to help preserve some of your estate before qualifying for eligibility. The states have different requirements on assets, income caps, and state residency. Also, not all Nursing facilities accept Medicaid.

Aid and Attendance is a means tested benefit available to Qualifying veterans and their spouses. This assistance should be explored with a Veteran Service Officer.

Thoughtful analysis of preparations and solutions for life’s possibilities can help you ask intelligent questions, make informed decisions, and attend to needs. Your actions will benefit you and your family.

Surviving Spouse Corner
Patricia Green, Surviving Spouse Liaison

COL Steve Bond, USA (Ret)

I can’t believe October is here. Fall is my favorite time of year in Florida. I love it when the weather cools…at least slightly—and it doesn’t seem like a sauna when you go outside! The past few months have been busy ones across the Council as we supported MOAA’s Summer Advocacy in Action (AiA) efforts and continued to prepare for our combined January 2026 Leadership Training Seminar and 49th Annual Convention (LTS-C). More on both of those below.

Out and About: I had some great visits over the summer—See the pictures on page 2. Ancient City Chapter invited all of the Northeast Area Chapters to an Officers Call at the National Guard Officers Club in St. Augustine—Nice event(!); Nassau Co. Chapter hosted a visit by MOAA President and CEO, Lt. Gen. Kelly (USAF, Ret)—They also invited the Northeast Area Chapters and a nearby Georgia Chapter; and, the Council was represented at the Florida National Guard Leadership Conference in Palm Beach Springs—The National Guard Conference gave us an opportunity to share the many wonderful things we do across the state and in our communities with the Florida Guard Officers, and invite them to join MOAA and our chapters. Gatherings of MOAA Members are always special and I want to thank Sarah McLevy, President of the Ancient City Chapter, and Tony LaVecchia, our Council VP and President of the Nassau Co. Chapter for sharing their chapter events with neighboring chapters—This is what “Camaraderie with a Purpose” is all about!

MOAA’s Summer Advocacy in Action (AiA) Campaign had our Legislative Advocacy mission front-and-center. The month of August is traditionally the time when our Senators and Representatives return to their home districts to meet with constituents. Many chapters set up meetings with their representatives, and we encouraged chapter members to contact their legislators through MOAA’s Legislative Action Center to remind them that we take care of the serving military, other veterans, and their families, and we vote! Council Legislative Chair, Pierre Louis, has more about the summer efforts and pending legislation in his article on page 6, and you’ll see some of the chapter supporting activities highlighted in the “Chapter News” section of this newsletter. We encourage all of you, your families, friends, and neighbors to sign up in the Legislative Action Center (at https://moaa.quorum.us/) and send the prepared emails to our legislators. Anyone can sign up to “be an advocate!”

You should know by now that registration is open for our 49th Annual Convention and Leadership Training Seminar (LTS-C) occurring from 29-31 January 2026 at the Rosen Centre in Orlando. It is shaping up to be an affordable, fun, and memorable event for all MOAA members, not just leaders. We expect MOAA Chairman of the Board, Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser (USMC, Ret) to be attending and our guest speaker, along with Amanda Centers, MOAA Vice President for MOAA Charities, and CAPT Frank Michael (USN, Ret), MOAA’s Senior Director for Councils and Chapters. In addition to informative workshops, there are opportunities for golfing, visiting the parks, playing for charity at our Casino Night fundraiser for The MOAA Foundation, a memorial service for those members we lost in 2025, and a Military-themed “Dining Out” sponsored by MOAA. Our January event is now one of the largest gatherings of MOAA members in the country, so plan to be there! As in the past, we need both chapter and member support for this event to be successful. Council VP Tony LaVecchia and Pat Kluever, our Immediate Past President and Event Chairman have more in their articles on page 3 and 5. Go to our website at www.FLMOAA.org to register.

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather, make sure to TAKE ACTION with our legislators, and register for the Leadership Training Seminar and Convention–I look forward to seeing many of you there!