European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday september 7, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 5 Dod changes medical care Billing per diem rate will be charged to insurance firms by Norman Blackcap military writer Washington the defense department de parting from current policy will begin Billing private insurance companies on oct. 1 for medical care that military hospitals give retirees and dependents the Pentagon announced Friday. The change in Billing practices authorized by con Gress Early this year will not result in any additional charges to retirees or dependents admitted to military hospitals the Pentagon said. But the new procedure will Force companies that have insured military Reti Rees or dependents to pay a per diem rate for any care dispensed to their beneficiaries by a military hos Pital. Currently the defense department picks up the full Cost of such medical care inside its own facilities. It. Col. Pete Wyro a Pentagon spokesman said the per diem rate will be calculated each fiscal year by the Pentagon s comptroller with this year s rate about $420. The Pentagon has estimated the change in Billing procedures will produce an estimated $10 million in additional revenues for the government during its first year. Defense officials estimate that up to 40 percent of the retirees and military dependents eligible for Mil itary health care May have private insurance As Well. The change in Billing procedures is part of a wide ranging Effort by the defense department to rein i skyrocketing health costs. Under current policy All Active military personnel arc entitled to automatic admittance and free care at military hospitals. Military retirees and the dependents of both Active and retired personnel also arc entitled to admission to a military Hospital but Only on a space available basis. Retirees and dependents get free medical care in the military hospitals paying Only for their food. If a Reti ree or dependent goes to a civilian Hospital because a military facility is full he or she is covered by the civilian health and medical program of the uni formed services. The champs plan however requires co pay ments meaning individuals must pay up to 25 per cent of their Hospital Bills. As a result Many eligible beneficiaries also have purchased private health insurance. Insurers of retirees and dependents will now be forced to pay for care dispensed at military As Well As civilian hospitals. According to Wyro the change has been structured to ensure that retirees or dependents pay no More than they do now. For example if a Retiree spends five Days in a Mili tary Hospital and incurs a Bill of $2,100, his private insurer will be billed for the entire amount of $2,100. If the insurer in turn pays out Only $1,100 because the Retiree has a personal $1,000 deductible the military Hospital will accept that As full payment of the Bill and not attempt to Bill the remainder to the patient Wyro said. Dependents and retirees will not pay any More than they currently pay for patient Hospital care which is a Small charge for subsistence Foo Wyro said. The Pentagon says 9 million people arc eligible for military health care benefits. Approximately 1 million patients arc admitted to military hospitals every year of whom about 70 percent or almost 700,000 Are dependents or retirees. A statement from the Pentagon said Congress in tends to review the program after one year and May extend the coordination of benefits to out patient serv  new discovery May outshine Halley s Comet Pasadena Calif. A a new Comet that might outshine Halley s has been discovered by a 24-year-old student but it won t be visible to the naked Eye from the Northern hemisphere astronomers report. Comet Wilson has been named after Christine Wilson an astronomy graduate student at the California Institute of technology. She discovered the Comet aug. 5 using the 48-Inch Schmidt Telescope at the mount Palomar Observatory Northeast of san Diego. I Felt pretty excited about it Wilson said Friday. She lives in Altadena grew up in Toron to and has dual  citizenship. It was kind of a Fluke for me to find it. It s so Bright it s funny nobody else saw it before  six other comets were discovered earlier this year but none of those were particularly Bright or visible to the naked Eye Bria Marsden director of the Central Bureau for astronomical telegrams said in Cambridge mass. Cal tech spokesman Dennis Meredith said comets Are discovered fairly often but it s fairly Seldom they re this Large or will approach this close to  Comet Wilson could be a Nice Bright Comet when it zips within 110 million Miles of the Sun next april 20 or 21, and within 50 million to 60 million Miles of Earth probably around april 30, said Marsden. Tests find aids antibody in 1 in 1,500 . Recruits by Richard c. Gross up military writer Washington testing of nearly half a million military recruits Over nine months ended in june showed one in 1,500 had the antibody linked to aids with the highest prevalence in the . Territories the Pentagon reported Friday. It marked the first time since the quarterly reports on aids testing have been issued beginning Early this year that the . Territories which include puerto Rico and the Virgin islands have been mentioned. Overall the rate of incidence of one in 1,500 remained the same since the report issued in May. That covered the six month period that ended March 30. Statistics compiled under a screening program begun oct. 15 indicate the majority of positive tests for the deadly virus arc found among individuals 26 or older and that they occur most often on the East coast South of new England the West coast and in the . Territories. The territories include Guam puerto Rico the Vir Gin islands the Pacific Trust territories and american Samoa. The prevalence of the antibody among recruits from the text orcs was 6.9 per 1,000. The next highest figure was 2.8 per 1,000 from the Middle Atlantic states. For those 26 and Over from the text orcs the rate was 16.2 per 1,000 about a third More than the 11 per 1,000 for the Middle Atlantic Region. No breakdown was provided of the number of re Cruit applicants from the territories. Nor was there an indication in which territory the antibody showed up most often among the applicants. Puerto Rico is the most populous of the territories and is near Haiti where there has been a vicious out break of aids. The lowest incidence rates were in new England the Rocky Mountain states and the upper Midwest. Aids or acquired immune deficiency syndrome is fatal because the virus for which there is no vaccine Breaks Down the body s ability to manufacture immunities to infection. The disease has afflicted homosexuals intravenous drug users and Haemophiliacs. It is spread by anal sex and contaminated blood and hypodermic Needles. Testing by the Pentagon is intended to Weed out military recruits who Are found to have been infected with the Htlv-1ii virus that is linked to aids to keep the armed forces free of the disease. Infection does not mean contraction of aids but it is believed an infected individual can spread the illness. Of the 466,629 recruit applicants examined Between oct. 15 and june 30, the report said 689 tested positively for the antibody a rate of 1.5 per 1,000, Orone in 1,500 individuals. Of the total 649 were men and 40 were women. The rate of incidence for men was 1.6 per 1,000 and that for women was 0.6 per 1,000, the report said. The prevalence of the antibody among 26-year-Oldsand older was 4.2 per 1,000 a slight drop from the 4.4 that reported in May but far above the .5 per 1,000 in the 17-20-year-old group. Those in the 21-to-25-year-old age bracket showed prevalence of 2.4 per 1,000, the report said. Boeng subsidiary fires 20 for suspected drug use los Angeles a Boeing co. Has fired 21 employees All but one for using drugs at a subsidiary that makes parts for civilian and military aircraft. Seventeen Union employees and fou management personnel including two line supervisors were fired from Hydraulic units inc., a wholly owned Boeing subsidiary in suburban Duarte said Boeing spokesman Lee Lathrop in Seattle. One employee was fired for misuse of company time Lathrop said. The United Auto workers Union will review Boeing s investigation to deter mine if the workers were fired for jus cause said Alex sweeten president of local 509, which represents the 17 fire hourly workers. Cases in which Boeing cannot show its action was justified will go before a fed eral arbitrator be said. Last week Boeing announced the sus pension without pay of 19 of the fired employees pending completion of the investigation. Two other workers resigned during the probe according to a pre pared company statement. Lathrop refused to say what jobs the fired workers performed and refused to confirm or deny reports that the drug involved were marijuana and cocaine which allegedly were used during work time and on lunch Breaks. There was no search for drugs in the work place Lathrop said. The investigation began two weeks ago after other employees began telling management about drug use by co workers he said. In the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Sept. 7, 1946 the worst maritime tie up in the nation s history thrust before president Truman the possibility of calling on the armed forces to Man troop Supply and foreign Relief ships stranded by the strike of two Seaman s unions. 30 years ago foe a. Sept. 7. 1956 a mob of about 500 staged a near riot in Sturgis ky., As armed National guard troops escorted nine Black students into the e previously All White Sturgis High school. 20 years ago today. Sept. 7, 1966 Southern senators blocked the first Effort to bring up the administration s civil rights Bill. Meanwhile a civil rights Leader threatened to Lead new demonstrations in two Chicago neighbourhoods that already have been the scenes of racial turmoil. 10 years ago today. Sept. 7, 1976 a soviet air Force officer who landed one of his country s top secret Mig-25 fighter planes in Japan said he wanted Freedom in the United states Tokyo police reported