Cutting Military Health Care Out/Changing Military Retirement

I received this message from the Military Officers of America Association, MOAA and sent it to many friends and military retirees:


In recent updates, MOAA has taken issue with Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) recommendation to the Super Committee to bar military retirees under age 65 from participating in TRICARE Prime.

Further research shows the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) initiative McCain recommended to the Super Committee includes multiple, egregious changes that would dramatically cut military health benefits for all retirees under 65 by:

Barring retiree participation in Prime, as already addressed Imposing a steep new annual enrollment fee for TRICARE Standard equal to 28% percent of DoD's cost for providing care (MOAA estimates that would translate to an annual fee of in the vicinity of $1,500 for a single retiree and $3,500 for a retired family) Barring any secondary payment by TRICARE for beneficiaries who have civilian employer coverage Raising the annual catastrophic cap on out-of-pocket expenses to $7,500 per family (vs. the current $3,000)

CBO estimates these changes would save the government more than $100 billion over 10 years, largely by driving large numbers of retirees out of their earned TRICARE coverage.

In the past, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees adamantly opposed similar efforts to dramatically hike fees and disenfranchise career servicemembers.

That's why MOAA is doubly shocked Sen. McCain has embraced such a proposal.

MOAA fully understands the nation faces a budget crisis and that the military community will share some part in the solution. But this is grossly out of line.

It would impose an unfair triple penalty on a community that already has borne 100% of the burden of national wartime sacrifice, and already has been made to forfeit thousands a year in retired pay because they retired at pay rates depressed by decades of annual pay raise caps.

This is serious business, as the Super Committee is due to make its recommendations before Thanksgiving, and Congress will have to vote on them before Christmas.

Please use MOAA's suggested message found HERE  to urge your legislators to reject this grossly inappropriate proposal, and urge all of your friends and relatives to do the same.

Now, many in civilian life who have never served in uniform may think those costs are really minimal, compared to what they pay for medical coverage on their own or through an employer.  And they would be right, it's not a lot in comparison.  As Paul Harvey would say, now for the rest of the story.

The promise of lifetime medical care for us and our families (spouses, unless there was a special needs child) has been there and made since WWII to entice folks to put in 20 years of service.  I know, because I made it while in Air Force Recruiting Service and as a squadron commander to men and women considering reenlistment.  It was made and accepted in good faith.  Along about the time Hillary Clinton was put in charge of medical reform in the early 90s, a new concept came into being and, the story went, due to rising costs in medical care, we were asked to enroll in Tricare, a medical insurance program for both active duty and retired personnel and families.  Active duty are not charged, but retirees are, for Tricare on different levels: Tricare Basic, Tricare Prime and Tricare for Life.  Hillarycare became Tricare with the military as its guinea pigs when Hillarycare went down in flames in Congress.

Tricare for Life is "free" in the sense that after 65, retirees no longer have to pay for Tricare coverage, but MUST join Medicare Part B.  Tricare then becomes the secondary payer to Medicare.  Hello, monthly fees of $105+ for the retiree and another $105+ per month for spouses when they reach 65, instead of the current $460 per year for both.  Some free medical care for life.  And, as everyone knows, Medicare fees are going up constantly, too, until they will be around $500 a month, apiece in the next decade.  Will my retirement pay increase that much?  You decide.

For years, I used the VA for my service-related disability care and refused to take Tricare under the principle that we should not let Congress renege on their deal.  But finally I was convinced that we as a family could have the same coverage under Tricare Prime that we had under my wife's civilian employer's medical plan, which was costing about $360 a month.  So we switched and were able to keep the same primary care doctor who used both plans.  Okay, fair enough.  But now they want to change the rules.  Again.  Because they can.  And they probably will.  And if I weren't turning 65 soon, and eligible for Medicare, they would force me out of Tricare because my wife can get coverage from her employer.  They may still refuse Tricare for Life payments as secondary to Medicare if this OBM BS goes into effect in 0bamacare.

Read that article above for the reasons that MOAA so aptly outlines as to why and  how military careers differ from civilian career paths.  Where do I go now to re-do my life and NOT serve 22 years, partly for the security of a retirement check and medical care?

Speaking of Retirement

Now they want to treat retirement from the military as if it is the same as working for the railroad for 20 years plus, and use vesting for "the good of those who get out early."  That is pure, unadulterated bullshit and this MOAA article by Col Steve Strobridge tells us why here.

You want a first class military capable of defending the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, but you don't want to pay for it?  Huh?  Get serious.