Tri-Care cuts are coming, bank on it—despite Democratic claims to the contrary.
I retired from the military in 2001, after more than 20 years on active duty. When I enlisted, I was promised access to military health care for the rest of my life, and the same promise extended to my spouse. Access meant on-base clinics, hospitals and physicians, at virtually no cost to me, the future retiree.
Flash forward three decades. Retirees were pushed off into something called TriCare for Life. True, you paid nothing for your annual premium (on TriCare standard), but retirees were funneled into the civilian health care system, with a minimum 20% co-pay for most doctor’s visits, in-patient hospitalization, diagnostic tests, etc.
Retirees also had the option of enrolling in an upgraded plan (TriCare Prime), but good luck finding a doctor who will take it. Outside regions with a large military population, few physicians participate in the plan because of excessive bureaucracy, constant turnover among contractors, slow payment, etc.
And the future is even more bleak. Retiree health costs represent a rising portion of the DoD budget. Why noy eliminate that expense by pushing military retirees into Obama Care. I’m sure the Pentagon will pay that 8% fee (outlined in the Senate bill) to get rid of retiree health costs, forcing us into those insurance exchanges which (in a few years) will give us only one choice—the guaranteed-to-appear, single-payer, public option.
Quite a departure from those “promises” made to me at Lackland AFB all those years ago.
WARNING: Jerry Rivers taking over on FOX.
This Andrews is especially evil
Thank you for your service to our country, Sir.
You would have been proud of Steve Buyer R-IN last night when he addressed the Tricare problem and testified to the rules committee regarding his amendment intended to rectify this issue.
Alas, it was to no avail. The Dems voted him down rather rudely 9-4 on a strict party line vote.