Tricare for Life not on Chopping Block

by James Siscel

A viral e-mail campaign is unsettling military retirees over 65. Sourcing a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, these e-mails claim that TRICARE for Life is at risk. These distress warnings are overstated.

The report, on Budget Options, Volume 1: Health Care lists 115 options for reducing federal spending on health care, altering federal healthcare programs, and making substantive changes to the nation’s health insurance system. But these are not formal recommendations.  The suggestion for TRICARE for Life is only Option 96 on the list. None are formal recommendations.

A total of six proposals of the 115 might affect military health care. Other options include increasing health care cost sharing for family members of military personnel on active duty (Option 95); increasing health care cost sharing for military retirees under age 65 (Option 97); and copayments and changes to enrollment for medical care provided by the Veterans Affairs Hospitals for enrollees without a service-connected disability (Options 28, 29 and 98)

The CBO report is a periodic report made every two years. The last such report was published in February of 2007 when CBO provided 250 budget cutting options to Congress on altering federal spending and revenues, of which health care and Medicare changes were a part. What was unusual with this year’s health care report was that it was published in a separate volume.

ROA would like to thank those members who brought this report to our attention. The Reserve Officers Association is concerned with legislation that might affect the military health readiness, and deny earned health benefits and will continue to track this issue. ROA leadership has been in discussions with other military and veteran associations and the consensus is that currently there is no serious risk. At this point there are no fires needing to be put out. 

sent in by the Reserve Officers Association.