The Joint Chiefs of Staff will endorse a Defense Department plan to raise TRICARE fees sharply over the next three years for under-65 retirees and their families, senior military officers said.
| That really cheeses me off. One of the big reasons many of us hung around for 20 was so we wouldn't have to worry about healthcare costs. |
The chiefs are doing so because they're alarmed that soaring health care costs are crimping dollars for higher-priority programs, the officers said. One officer described a likely scenario, early in 2006, of the nation's top military leaders sitting shoulder to shoulder before Congress' armed services committees, testifying that medical costs were now a critical readiness issue.
| Most of the doctors we see are contract civilian doctors, not military doctors. |
Higher TRICARE fees for younger retirees also will be endorsed in the Quadrennial Defense Review report. The chiefs are completing the report to propose a realignment of programs to meet future needs. The review's recommendations are expected to be unveiled in early February, when the Bush administration sends its 2007 defense budget request to Congress. The "24-star" endorsement is a reference to the six four-star officers who make up the Joint Chiefs: the chairman, the vice chairman and the top officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The endorsement is seen as necessary to persuade Congress to accept the first TRICARE fee increases in a decade - then help insulate supportive lawmakers from the wrath of angry retirees.
| They'll feel my wrath, by golly... |
As first reported here, defense officials want annual enrollment fees for TRICARE Prime, the military's managed-care plan, to more than triple by October 2008 for working-age retired officers. They would go from $230 for an individual - and $460 for family coverage - to $750 and $1,500, respectively. The fees would double - to $450 and $900, respectively - for under-65 enlisted retirees. Retirees who use TRICARE Standard, the military's traditional fee-for-service health insurance, would also see their annual deductibles raised. They also would pay - for the first time - an annual enrollment fee. Beyond 2008, all TRICARE fees and co-payments would be indexed to medical inflation.
| I know the fees are reasonable from a civilian point of view, but when compared to the expectation of military healthcare for life at no out of pocket cost they're pretty high. |
TRICARE retail pharmacy co-payments also would be raised, which would be the only change to also affect Medicare-eligible retirees. The goal would be to discourage purchase of maintenance medicines through the more expensive retail network by increasing the $3 co-payment for generic drugs to $5 - while offering free generic drugs for mail orders. The current $9 co-pay for brand name drugs would jump to $15 by retail and $10 by mail order. Officials assume a 14 percent shift of TRICARE retail users to base pharmacies or into the mail-order program. |