Hate to tell you folks but retired colonels aren't the bulk of the military retirees. What do you think the impact is to a retired master sergeant with a family of four? His base pay (which is what retirement pay is based on) is one heck of a lot less than a retired colonel.
BTW - not all retirees are paid at 2010 base rates. If you retired in the 1970’s your base pay is well below the base pay of the 2010 retirees regardless of their rank. Add to this the fact that retirees cost of living increases are always less than the active duty's and you can begin to get an idea of what the real impact of these health care increases really are!
You got it exactly right - I joined the AF in 1974 and "retired" in 1998. When I joined, I was promised free health care for life 9for me and a spouse if I had one), and that went doen the tubes before I retired. Half of base pay = about 25% of what I was actually getting while in and the adjustments hadn't happened yet, so it's about $1K/month. Now, to add insult to injury, Obama wants to start gouging the military and retireees to ensure complete subjugation to "health care".
You are right. The average retiree is an 40 year old E-6 with 2-3 school age children trying to re-enter the job market in a lousy economy. Many of them were in Combat Arms MOS’s in the Army and the Marines. They made up the backbone of those services but have a hard time transferring their skills to the civilian workforce. They need every break they can get.