Today, we answer the question of what to do when facing a serious diagnosis. Where do you turn and when? What are the next steps? FSBP members in the United States can access an expert second opinion program from 2ndMD. Nurse Kim Rebec joins us to talk about the ins and outs of this service, which is available at no charge to FSBP members in the U.S.  

For more information, visit https://www.2nd.md/ or download the 2ndMD app from the App Store or Google Play. 

For more information on upcoming events from AFSPA, please visit www.afspa.org/events.

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Mary Rood Cunningham, a Senior Client Success Manager at Maven Clinic, and Dr. Viraj Radia, a pediatrician with Maven Clinic, join us to discuss breastfeeding's benefits, best practices, and obstacles. 

To learn more about Maven Clinic and to join at no cost for FSBP Members around the globe, check out www.mavenclinic.com/join/fsbp. 

Check out our Events page for free webinars and other events to stay connected with us. 

Join us for AFSPA Live to discuss Resetting for the Season: Mental Health and Family Building on Thursday, August 28, at 11 AM ET. You can watch here.
If you'd like to submit a question, just ask it here. 

For this week's episode of AFSPA Talks, we revisit an episode from July 2023 about Skin Cancer. Now that it is summertime, we know that many of our listeners will be spending time in the sun. Skin cancer is the most common cancer. To help us understand more about skin cancer, we had Leah B. Jacobson, Sr. Medical Director at Aetna join us.

You can stay in touch with AFSPA and all we have coming up by visiting www.afspa.org/events or by following up on our social media channels on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching @afspacares. 

Mark your calendars and join us for AFSPA Live on Thursday, 7/31 @ 11 AM ET! AFSPA's COO, Twanisha Johnson, and Greg Klingler, CFP®, CPFA™, ChFEBC℠ from GEBA, will be ready to answer your questions about Financial Wellness During Times of Transition.

Here are three ways to ask a question at the AFSPA Live Q&A Session:
1. Send any questions you want to be answered during the show by filling out this form: https://forms.office.com/r/QPzbfGB3aD
2. Leave your question(s) in the comment section of our live broadcast video.
3. Call a toll-free number 1-888-435-0757 to leave a voicemail message with your question(s). In your message, tell us your name, where you’re calling from, and state your question(s).

Happy Pride! For this week's episode, we wanted to share some information that would be helpful to members who have contacted us with questions about care and support for their children who are exploring their identities. We went back into our archive, and we're sharing an episode with Alyssa Clayden, PhD, LICSW, from the Truman Group that we originally published in June 2024.

You can stay in touch with AFSPA and all we have coming up by visiting www.afspa.org/events or by following up on our social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @afspacares. 

Join us for AFSPA Live at 11 am ET on Thursday, June 26, on Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The recent changes to the federal workforce and the uncertainty that continues for many have resulted in mental health concerns for many with ties to federal employment - employees and family members alike. Stress, anxiety, fear, anger, and worry are all understandable reactions, but you do not have to face these challenges alone. We at AFSPA encourage you to make use of resources that may be available to you through community groups, employee assistance programs, and your health benefits. 

In today's episode, we highlight the long-term partnership between the Foreign Service Benefit Plan and the Truman Group. During our interview, Diane Nickeson-Mendheim, MSW, LCSW, describes how ex-pats can access care from the Truman Group for a variety of mental and behavioral health needs. 

To learn more about the Truman Group, visit https://trumangroup.com/. 

For more on mental wellness programs offered through the Foreign Service Benefit Plan, please visit https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness-programs/manage-specific-conditions/#mental_wellness. 

In this episode of AFSPA Talks, we continue our conversation from Annual Meeting about weight loss, cardiovascular health, and diabetes management. Today's focus is on Chronic Care Management Programs. To tell us more about those programs, we have Grace Silverio from Teladoc Health. 

For more information about the Chronic Care Management Programs available to Foreign Service Benefit Plan members at NO COST, click here.

If you have questions about these programs, join AFSPA Live, our live Q&A session, on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 11 AM ET. If you would like to submit a question in advance, fill out this form. 

This month, AFSPA Talks takes a look at some of the support programs available to members of the Foreign Service Benefit Plan. To begin, we'll discuss the Lifestyle and Condition Coaching (LCC) program with Dr. Vivian Ogueli and Leah Perry, RN. They offer details on how to complete a health risk assessment (HRA) and earn $75 in wellness incentives, utilize the LCC offerings to mitigate any health risks, meet your goals, and generally improve your health. 
 
For more information about LCC and other support programs, please visit www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness.

In this podcast episode, AFSPA CEO, Kyle Longton provides a comprehensive overview of how Medicare and the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program work together. Learn about each part of Medicare - A, B, C, and D - and what factors you should consider when deciding whether to enroll in Part B.
 
Please note: this presentation addresses only how Medicare and FEHB work together. It is not intended for audiences beyond those with FEHB coverage. The information is accurate as of March 4, 2025.
 
For information on Part B premiums and Part D premiums/IRMAA amounts, please visit: https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/115....

To learn more about signing up for Medicare, visit: https://www.ssa.gov/medicare/sign-up.

To learn more about the Foreign Service Benefit Plan and Medicare, visit: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp-and-medicare/

Two years ago, access to on-base care for Department of Defense civilians changed, which had a particular impact on those living and working in Japan. Since then, DoD leaders have been working on a program to support the needs of civilian employees in Japan. That program launched at the beginning of this year, and we wanted to know more about how it came about, how it works, and who it helps. 

Joining us to walk us through the Japan Health Insurance Enhancement Pilot are:

Susan Orsega, Deputy Assitant Secretary of Defense for Health Services Policy and Oversight, Department of Defense 

Danielle McCammon, Chief, TRICARE Overseas Program 

DoD Civilian employees in Japan can reach the International SOS Government Services call center in the following ways: 

• Call toll-free in Japan: 0120-303280
• Call from outside Japan: +81 33560 8185 (not toll-free) 

International callers can request a "callback" by sending an email to an email to avoid additional charges. For routine, non-urgent requests, it is best to email [email protected]. 

• Please include your full name, insurance details, and phone number in the email. 

Join us on January 30 at 11 am ET for AFSPA Live! You can submit your questions in advance here or join us live on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

See our other upcoming events here: www.afspa.org/events

Register for the AFSPA Member Annual Meeting here.

Links referenced in today's episode:

January 2023 episode - AFSPA Talks Care in Japan 

October 7, 2024, Press Release from DoD on Pilot: https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3927934/dod-announces-health-care-supplement-program-pilot-for-dod-civilian-employees-i/

January 16, 2025 Article from U.S. Forces Japan on Pilot Program: https://www.usfj.mil/Media/Press-Releases/Article-View/Article/4031045/dod-launches-247-health-care-support-for-dod-civilian-employees-in-japan/

AFSPA Overseas Care Details: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/overseas/

Searchable List of AFSPA Overseas Direct Billing Providers: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/overseas/overseas-partners/

With Open Season over and a new year underway, hosts Kyle Longton and Maddie Norton use the first episode of 2025 to provide tips for the 10,000 new FSBP members and the more than 100,000 continuing members. Here are links to the resources they mentioned during this episode: 

AFSPA Website: www.afspa.org

Online Portals for FSBP Members (including demo videos): https://www.afspa.org/online-member-portals/

FSBP Provider Search Tool: www.afspa.org/fsbp/provider 

Teladoc Health (telehealth in the U.S.): https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness-programs/#telehealth-us 

vHealth (Worldwide) (telehealth outside the U.S.): https://www.afspa.org/fsbp/wellness-programs/#telehealth-overseas

AFSPA Annual Meeting: https://events.zoom.us/ev/Ap2pSvh2nz0z7F5_7HFrAs6bwKbNUGLVGNVLf2PvrJvlxnY-fkp_~Agq7R07nRuUtjQNzMHfAgYQfhknsFMKrig226MqCMLSGs9totE2UdR3hQA 

Socials:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/afspacares
Instagram - @afspacares
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/afspa/

AFSPA's other programs: www.afspa.org/aip

Other AFSPA Events: www.afspa.org/events 

Please join us on January 30 at 11am ET on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn for AFSPA Live! Send your questions here: https://lnkd.in/eK2VsF9u