[zek157]

How much of an increase are we talking?

[capydick]

Faster appointments, more evening clinic hours, more physicians spending more time seeing patients and more base hospitals operating at full capacity.....

This sounds like a response penned up by the marketing department and meant to be digested by those who don't know the system.

[jagusafr]

And did they mention how many millions of dollars it will take to get those “base hospitals” out of mothballs and brought up to date? Ridiculous.

Colonel, USAFR (Ret)

[Ace's Dad]

plan to raise TRICARE fees and co-pays, particularly for working-age retirees and their families

Going after the group that has the money! I think they want to transfer TRICARE for LIFE money to VA expenses.

My TRICARE services are all rendered by private (competitive) health providers, why should my fees be raised? Well, I know why! VA is socialized, not competitive, like my doctor and other providers.

[GailA]

SandRat, is this Prime or Life and is it co-pays?

We are Tricare Life, Medicare, as hubby is 75 and I’m 67. I noticed we had higher co-pays in 2015, and were DOD Mandated to get our daily meds from Base Dispensary or crap Express Scripts. NO COLA fort 2016.

[GailA]

VA Care has a $38K cap. We don’t qualify for it, you apply for any service related health care issues under service disability. What percentage of disability determined is sent in a separate check and is NOT taxable.

[CPOSharky]

For years they used the "free medical" for life as a selling point if you did at least 20 years and retired from the military. Since I have retired, 1981, they have kept changing the how it works and adding fees until now it doesn't look a whole lot different than what private insurance (remember that?) was before the government started "tweaking" everything involved.

Now you could get free care and probably a social security check if you spoke another language and claimed refugee status.

[Fundamentally Fair]

More poor service.