TRICARE USER FEE UPDATE
Posted by Service Officer on April 30th, 2008
At a 16 APR subcommittee hearing in which major military associations presented their annual wish lists of improvements in pay, allowances and other benefits, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said they might be willing to support modest Tricare fee increases, but will not back a Pentagon proposal seeking Tricare fee increases of as much as 400% for some retirees. Nelson and Graham are the chairman and ranking Republican, respectively, on the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee. Representatives testifying on behalf of the military associations expressed a willingness to accept fee increases that are no more than the size of the annual military pay raise or the annual cost-of-living adjustment in military retired pay, which gives Nelson and Graham some maneuvering room. Both indicated they will work on providing better health coverage to service members who are discharged from active duty without medical retirement pay. Steve Strobridge of the Military Officers Association of America said capped fee increases were acceptable - as long as they are part of a broader policy that makes clear that co-payments, deductibles and enrollment fees for Tricare users should not be determined simply by health care budget shortfalls. "We realize it is unrealistic to have no increases, ever," said Strobridge, who co-chairs the Military Coalition, a group of more than 30 military-related associations. The Pentagon estimates Tricare fee hikes would save about $1.9 billion in the 2009 defense budget. If the committee adopts lower fee increases or rejects any increases, it would have to make up the funding gap somehow.
