thedrifter
05-07-06, 07:13 AM
Military retirees’ insurance could rise
Some annual premiums could triple in cost
By CHUCK CRUMBO
ccrumbo@thestate.com
Military retirees in South Carolina are rallying to fight a Bush administration proposal that would double or triple their health insurance premiums.
The rate hikes are necessary because the government — just like private businesses — faces rising health care costs, said Stephen Jones, a Defense Department deputy assistant secretary.
“We believe we have to ask for additional fees,” said Jones, who once served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and former Gov. Jim Edwards. “We think it’s the right thing to do.”
Veterans counter they’re entitled to low-cost health care as a benefit for serving in the U.S. military.
“What we do is special for the country, and the country owes us this,” said Leroy Bussells, a member of the Association of the United States Army, at a recent retirees program at Fort Jackson.
“This benefit is part of the payback.”
The proposal would affect retirees under age 65 who are covered by TRICARE Prime health insurance, but not those over 65.
In South Carolina, the proposal would hit the pocketbooks of 22,300 retired officers and enlisted members. Overall, the state has 413,000 veterans.
By 2008, the proposal would raise annual premiums to:
• $700 from $230 for single, retired officers
• $1,400 from $460 for married, retired officers
• $475 from $230 for single enlisted retirees E-7 and above
• $460 to $950 for married enlisted retirees E-7 and above.
E-7 is a pay grade rating for enlisted members of the military. An E-7 is sergeant first class in the Army; gunnery sergeant in the Marines; chief petty officer in the Navy; and either master sergeant or first sergeant in the Air Force.
Premiums have not been increased since 1994, when the program was launched. Since then, Jones said, costs have been “just taking off.”
The program now costs $36 billion or almost 8 percent of the Defense Department’s $500 billion budget, Jones said. By 2015, TRICARE costs are projected to hit $64 billion and consume 12 percent of the department’s budget, Jones said.
“If you talk to those within the (Defense) Department who are still there, they would tell you we should have indexed just like private plans rather than keep (the premiums) steady,” Jones said.
But comparing service in the military to working for private employers is wrong, said Tom Robillard, Columbia chapter president of the Military Officers of America Association.
“It’s just not the same. We ask our people to go into harm’s way,” said Robillard, a retired Air Force colonel.
Service members routinely work well beyond 40 hours a week, move several times during their career, and endure some harsh and hostile living conditions, Bussells said. Retirees, in return for the attractive benefits they received, are expected by the Pentagon to help recruit new troops.
Jones conceded the public would agree with the veterans.
“Most Americans would say that’s money well-spent. (Service members) were there when we needed them and were willing to go into harm’s way.
“But our goal... is to try to sustain this benefit.”
So far, Congress hasn’t shown much of a stomach to tangle with the retirees.
This past week a House subcommittee voted to block any increases in TRICARE fees for at least two years.
The vote got the support of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a retired Army National Guard colonel.
Wilson “believes that Congress must always deliver on its promise to provide quality health care to the men and women who have bravely served our country,” said spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a colonel in the Air Force Reserve who chairs the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, has said he’d like the TRICARE operation studied to see how program costs can be reduced before asking retirees to pay higher premiums.
Jones said the proposal probably won’t make it through Congress this year and maybe the Pentagon needs to educate people about the budget problem.
“This is a war, not a battle,” he said.
Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503.
Ellie
Some annual premiums could triple in cost
By CHUCK CRUMBO
ccrumbo@thestate.com
Military retirees in South Carolina are rallying to fight a Bush administration proposal that would double or triple their health insurance premiums.
The rate hikes are necessary because the government — just like private businesses — faces rising health care costs, said Stephen Jones, a Defense Department deputy assistant secretary.
“We believe we have to ask for additional fees,” said Jones, who once served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and former Gov. Jim Edwards. “We think it’s the right thing to do.”
Veterans counter they’re entitled to low-cost health care as a benefit for serving in the U.S. military.
“What we do is special for the country, and the country owes us this,” said Leroy Bussells, a member of the Association of the United States Army, at a recent retirees program at Fort Jackson.
“This benefit is part of the payback.”
The proposal would affect retirees under age 65 who are covered by TRICARE Prime health insurance, but not those over 65.
In South Carolina, the proposal would hit the pocketbooks of 22,300 retired officers and enlisted members. Overall, the state has 413,000 veterans.
By 2008, the proposal would raise annual premiums to:
• $700 from $230 for single, retired officers
• $1,400 from $460 for married, retired officers
• $475 from $230 for single enlisted retirees E-7 and above
• $460 to $950 for married enlisted retirees E-7 and above.
E-7 is a pay grade rating for enlisted members of the military. An E-7 is sergeant first class in the Army; gunnery sergeant in the Marines; chief petty officer in the Navy; and either master sergeant or first sergeant in the Air Force.
Premiums have not been increased since 1994, when the program was launched. Since then, Jones said, costs have been “just taking off.”
The program now costs $36 billion or almost 8 percent of the Defense Department’s $500 billion budget, Jones said. By 2015, TRICARE costs are projected to hit $64 billion and consume 12 percent of the department’s budget, Jones said.
“If you talk to those within the (Defense) Department who are still there, they would tell you we should have indexed just like private plans rather than keep (the premiums) steady,” Jones said.
But comparing service in the military to working for private employers is wrong, said Tom Robillard, Columbia chapter president of the Military Officers of America Association.
“It’s just not the same. We ask our people to go into harm’s way,” said Robillard, a retired Air Force colonel.
Service members routinely work well beyond 40 hours a week, move several times during their career, and endure some harsh and hostile living conditions, Bussells said. Retirees, in return for the attractive benefits they received, are expected by the Pentagon to help recruit new troops.
Jones conceded the public would agree with the veterans.
“Most Americans would say that’s money well-spent. (Service members) were there when we needed them and were willing to go into harm’s way.
“But our goal... is to try to sustain this benefit.”
So far, Congress hasn’t shown much of a stomach to tangle with the retirees.
This past week a House subcommittee voted to block any increases in TRICARE fees for at least two years.
The vote got the support of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a retired Army National Guard colonel.
Wilson “believes that Congress must always deliver on its promise to provide quality health care to the men and women who have bravely served our country,” said spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a colonel in the Air Force Reserve who chairs the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, has said he’d like the TRICARE operation studied to see how program costs can be reduced before asking retirees to pay higher premiums.
Jones said the proposal probably won’t make it through Congress this year and maybe the Pentagon needs to educate people about the budget problem.
“This is a war, not a battle,” he said.
Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503.
Ellie