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"...they have no reason to bitch, do they"
Posted on 12/30/2003 5:12:33 PM PST by anthony634
Budgeteers Seek Lump of Coal for Retirees
On December 16, the Pentagon Comptroller issued a draft budget decision paper proposing large pharmacy copay increases for military retirees.
The paper recommended raising retiree copays from $3 (generic) and $9 (brand name) to $10 and $20, respectively. It also urged imposing the same copays on retirees using pharmacies at military hospitals and clinics (currently, military pharmacies have no copays for any eligible patron). Copays for non-network pharmacies would rise from $20 or 20% of the prescription cost to $30 or 20%, respectively.
Given only two days to respond, all Services reportedly objected to the plan. Our sources indicate this initiative didn't start in the Pentagon, but was directed by the Office of Management and Budget - the budget arm of the White House. Defense leaders have been urging the White House to defer any FY 2005 copay increase in favor of a study of the issue, with any recommended adjustments to be implemented in FY 2006.
As of Tuesday, no final budget decision had been made.
To put it bluntly, this is a grossly insensitive and wrong-headed proposal. It was only 30 months ago that Congress authorized the TRICARE Senior Pharmacy Program and DoD established the $3 and $9 copays.
The Pentagon has already changed the rules once, announcing plans to raise the copay (for all beneficiaries, not just retirees) to $22 for non-formulary drugs at some point in 2004. We already expect a battle over that later this year, when the Pentagon likely will seek to designate many drugs as "non-formulary" to save money.
The new OMB-directed proposal asserts that raising copays to $10/$20 would align DoD cost shares with those of the VA system. That bogus assertion indicates the extent of bean-counters' detachment from reality - unless the Administration also plans to triple VA copays. Currently, the VA doesn't charge any copay for medications covering service-connected conditions. The cost share for all others is $7.
Two years ago, our members greeted the new pharmacy program with great praise. But let's not forget that this was Congress' initiative, not the Executive Branch's. Since then, top Administration leaders have done nothing but complain about the cost. They've refused to acknowledge that Congress will appropriate the money needed to meet retiree health care commitments if the Administration will only budget for it.
Executive Branch leaders never seem to understand or agree that they have a special employer responsibility to those who have completed careers covering decades of arduous service and sacrifice in uniform. Multiple administrations have tried to impose copays in military medical facilities, and Congress has rejected that every time. Congress has had to override Administration objections in enacting TRICARE For Life, concurrent receipt, Reserve health coverage, permanent military pay comparability provisions, and a variety of other "people program" initiatives.
Somebody just isn't paying attention. The war on terrorism is reminding the nation of servicemembers' sacrifices every night on the evening news, and Congress has been doing its best to ease decades of ill treatment toward active, Guard, Reserve, and retired military members on a variety of issues. And yet the Administration seems to continue going out of its way to penalize the military community.
MOAA vigorously opposes increasing retiree cost shares that were only recently established. If the Administration doesn't back off, we'll be turning to Congress to keep it from happening. And we believe Congress will do that.
We urge MOAA members and others to let the President know how you feel about this new effort to cut military retirees' health benefits. You can use MOAA's Web site (http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/ ) to send a MOAA-suggested message.
(Excerpt) Read more at moaa.org ...
"...they have no reason to bitch, do they"
Did somebody put a gun to your head and force you to join the military?
The problem is that they found out twenty or thirty years after the fact.
Yes, during WWII and the Korean conflict the whole country had a gun to their head.
Actually someone DID put a gun to some of these veteran's heads and force them to join the military. The draft only ended in 1975 and plenty of pre-1975 DRAFTEES depend on military pharmacy benefits.
Most military retirees I know have second careers, so they get to choose which medical plan is most favorable.
Bellyaching about co-pays is part of the American landscape.
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