What is the deal with Tricare? ANy details?
Tri-Care hasn’t had an increase in co-pays since 1994. Naturally, the Dims are anxious to jack up fees as the first step towards eliminating the program, and pushing all military retirees into Obamacare.
And DoD (predictably) is playing along; the Pentagon has released dire warnings about the escalating cost of health care. In fact, just yesterday, the Defense Department predicted that its health care bill will pass $90 billion a year by the end of this decade—despite a planned reduction of more than 100,000 troops from the active duty force.
When I joined the military in the early 80s, we were promised free, on-base healthcare for the rest of our lives, if we stayed in for at least 20 years. By the time I retired a decade ago, that promise was long-gone.
And here’s another dirty little secret: the reason we have Tri-Care is because Bill Clinton cut military healthcare to the bone in the 1990s, promising illusory “savings” by pushing retirees (and many dependents) off-base under Tri-Care. If we had properly funded military healthcare, the cost would be much lower. As a former Air Force surgeon general observed a few years back, the expenditure for an appendectomy at a military hospital was $300—roughly the cost of the surgical pack. The rest of the expenses (doctor’s salaries, facilities) was paid through other accounts and in many cases, the outlay was minimal, compared to civilian facilities. According to the USAF surgeon general, Tri-Case costs for an appendectomy, at an off-base hosptial, is about $7,000.
I’ve been told on several occasions that military retirees shouldn’t complain about the hike in Tri-Care fees, given the 16-year gap since the last increase. My response? The average military retiree leaves service as an E-6 (Technical Sergeant in the Air Force; Petty Officer First Class in the Navy, Staff Sergeant in the Army). Their average “take home” pension (after taxes and other deductions is $1,600 a month. That isn’t much compared to the average state or federal civil service retiree, and if you retire in a high-cost-of-living area, your miitary pension might pay your mortgage and that’s about it. So, many retirees can’t afford dramatic increases in Tri-Care fees. It’s just one more insult to those who spent their careers defending this country.
One final note: under current plans, retirees who left the service in the senior grades would actually pay more. Another example of Barack Obama punishing success and achievement.
Tricare (AKA Scare Care, No Care, Who Cares) is a health care plan I got when I retired over 16 years ago. I have Tricare Prime which I pay about $250 per year. They want to increase it to over $2000 per year. The problem is I don’t know what they Pay. I have Blue Cross and Blue Shield as the primary, then Tricare Prime and Tricare. I never get a statement from Tricare Prime or Tricare as to how much they pay. My wife on the other hand gets statements from Tricare where they pay $.79 or $1.98 on a $125 medical bill. A lot of medical facilities do not accept Tricare because a) they pay pennies on the dollar, or b) they take months to pay. Maybe some other vets out there have had better dealings with Tricare than I had.