Price tag of healthcare costly for Pentagon

A military that keeps fighting wars is now looking like an entitlement program. Costs of the program that provides health coverage to some 10 million active duty personnel, retirees, reservists and their families have jumped from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion in the Pentagon’s latest budget request. Well, they keep putting this country in wars, they have to pay for the outcome sometime.

With Washington needing to cut spending, President Barack Obama has proposed increasing the fees for working-age retirees in the decades-old health program, known as TRICARE. After all these years of resisting proposed increases for the military men and women who sacrificed for a nation, budget-conscious lawmakers suddenly are poised to make them pay a bit more for their health care, though not on the president’s terms.

TRICARE

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The current fees have been unchanged for 11 years, and are $230 per year, for an individual and $460 for a family. and that is far less than what civilian federal workers pay for health care, about $5,000 a year, and what most other people in the U.S. pay. What Obama wants is a monthly increase of $2.50 per individual, and for families, $5.oo. Any increases in future would depend on rising costs as measured by the national health care expenditure index produced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which projects 6.2% growth.

“Health care is eating the department alive,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said bluntly – two years ago.

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What the Pentagon now pays out in healthcare, just about equal what the Pentagon shells out to buy fighter aircraft, submarines and high-tech weapons, and is about half of the $118 billion that the Obama administration wants in the next budget to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, backs Gates’ proposal to raise fees for working-age retirees in the next budget.

But McKeon, R-Calif., rejects the plan to link increases in 2013 and beyond to the health care expenditure index. He wants to tie any future increases to military retirees’ cost-of-living adjustment, which this year was zero. On Monday, McKeon plans to release his plan. Decades of sacrifices is a significant prepaid premium for health care that is over and above what the member pays in money.

“I strongly believe military retirees have made significant down payments through their dedicated service to the nation,” said the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. “In view of that service, it is not right for the nation to ask them to pay more for the health care for which they are entitled as all citizens are being personally challenged financially by rising gas prices.”

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But until now, Congress has repeatedly resisted Pentagon efforts to increase copayments or fees, arguing that members of the military and their families sacrifice far more than the average American, with a career that includes long and dangerous deployments overseas that overshadow civilian work. Although Washington is battling over a ballooning deficit estimated at $1.6 trillion and the demands of entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, lawmakers are reluctant to raise health care costs for members of the military and retirees.

Gates though this year, has singled out working-age retirees, such as those in their 40s who retired after some 20 plus years in the military, as individuals who could afford a small increase.

“Many of these beneficiaries are employed full time while receiving full pensions, often forgoing their employer’s health plan to remain with TRICARE,” Gates told Congress. “This should come as no surprise, given that the current TRICARE enrollment fee was set in 1995 … and has not been raised since.”

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But those groups resisting are the network of veterans groups and retired generals. Retired generals, complaining over an extra $2.50 a month? The Military Officers Association of America backs the one-year fee increase, but strongly opposes any increase in 2013 and beyond linked to the health care expenditure index.

Members of the House committee have more than 600 amendments to the overall bill that is expected to come close to the administration’s request of $553 billion. The measure will include provisions on keeping open the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and reviving the extra engine for the next-generation F-35 jet fighter.