Hmmm .... "earned" or an "entitlement" ... help me out, which category does TriCare fit ?
As you ponder that consider that the House of Representatives issued a "sense of Congress" that retirees pre-paid for their generous healthcare benefits through years of service and sacrifice. Further, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) added that it is important to "protect the sacred covenant between our government and our all-volunteer military, keeping the promises we made to provide for the health and well being of our troops and their families." The House committee ignored most of the Obama administration's plan to raise out-of-pocket medical costs for military retirees including an annual enrollment fee for TFL and for TRICARE Standard and Extra beneficiaries, higher enrollment fees for TRICARE Prime, the managed care option, and higher deductibles for Standard and Extra. The size of the administration's Prime fee increases would vary based on level of retired pay.
A committee fact sheet said the administration's package of TRICARE increases "went too far." Instead the HASC approved that starting Oct. 1, 2013, co-pays would be adjusted annually by the percentage increase in retired pay, rather than be linked, as the administration proposes, to a medical inflation index which climbs faster.
New Tricare enrollment fees for uniformed service retirees and their families began Oct. 1.
Tricare announced in June that the enrollment fees for Tricare Prime would change for most retirees, to $269.28 per year for individual coverage, and $538.56 per year for family coverage.
Of course, the HASC Budget also authorized more spending for the overall Defense Department than what the Pentagon requested, but that is not germane to the question ...
IF Republicans want to change the rules on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, isn't it appropriate to also evaluate TriCare as well as the healthcare benefits available to Members of Congress ?
Hmmm .... "earned" or an "entitlement" ... help me out, which category does TriCare fit ?
ReplyDeleteAs you ponder that consider that the House of Representatives issued a "sense of Congress" that retirees pre-paid for their generous healthcare benefits through years of service and sacrifice.
Further, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) added that it is important to "protect the sacred covenant between our government and our all-volunteer military, keeping the promises we made to provide for the health and well being of our troops and their families."
The House committee ignored most of the Obama administration's plan to raise out-of-pocket medical costs for military retirees including an annual enrollment fee for TFL and for TRICARE Standard and Extra beneficiaries, higher enrollment fees for TRICARE Prime, the managed care option, and higher deductibles for Standard and Extra. The size of the administration's Prime fee increases would vary based on level of retired pay.
A committee fact sheet said the administration's package of TRICARE increases "went too far."
Instead the HASC approved that starting Oct. 1, 2013, co-pays would be adjusted annually by the percentage increase in retired pay, rather than be linked, as the administration proposes, to a medical inflation index which climbs faster.
New Tricare enrollment fees for uniformed service retirees and their families began Oct. 1.
Tricare announced in June that the enrollment fees for Tricare Prime would change for most retirees, to $269.28 per year for individual coverage, and $538.56 per year for family coverage.
Of course, the HASC Budget also authorized more spending for the overall Defense Department than what the Pentagon requested, but that is not germane to the question ...
IF Republicans want to change the rules on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, isn't it appropriate to also evaluate TriCare as well as the healthcare benefits available to Members of Congress ?