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Responses Below: Attack on Military Retiree Medical Care Unrelenting Yes or No to DoD TRICARE Fee Increase now in the hands of Congress 11 February 2006
In Tom Philpotts piece of February 11, 2006 he continues the
discussion on TRICARE fee increases and states "The
Bush administration, in its fiscal 2007 defense budget, unveiled its
plan to raise TRICARE fees and deductibles for military
retirees under age 65 and their dependents. Co-payments in the TRICARE
retail pharmacy network also would climb, but for all
beneficiaries except those on active duty."
If we get right down to the ethical, moral, and
factual basis of military retiree medical program, there
should be no fees placed on military retiree medical care as the
care is earned compensation... not a give-away, "extremely
rich" benefit as some suggest, but an earned moral
obligation of the United States government resulting from military
service, military policy, and congressional promises.
There is clear evidence in official
recruiting policy and other data, of government/congress
intention to provide government funded life-long healthcare for
military retirees, and this policy extended well into the decade of
the 1990s'. If there is any doubt that military retiree
healthcare was policy and funded by Congress for decades...it
was proven by a lawsuit prosecuted by attorney Col Bud Day, Medal of
Honor recipient, POW in Hanoi, on behalf of older military retirees
which ended in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit in Washington, D.C. A portion of the courts ruling reads:
"IV. Conclusion- We
cannot readily imagine more sympathetic plaintiffs
.... They served their country for at least 20 years with the
understanding that when they retired they and their dependents would
receive full free health care for life. The promise of such health care
was made in good faith and relied upon."
"Congress has the power and authority under the Constitution to establish a system for the payment of retired pay [for military service members] and to change the system from time to time. . . . We understand and appreciate the dissatisfaction of the plaintiffs with the change in the retirement pay system, as they have rendered long and faithful service to our country in time of peace and war. However, if they are to get any relief, it must come from Congress, as this is not within [a court's] jurisdiction."
The fact remains Congress has not acted to roll
back the TRICARE and other fees, so the fight is on to
keep the fees from increasing.
For more years that I care to remember Congress
consistently explained low active duty military pay (well below
cost of living, inflation, minimum wage, etc) as accounting for the
"retirement benefits of commissary privileges, post exchange
access and no cost life-time medical care" to justify the
low compensation. Year after year warriors heard the
congressional explanation, didn't like it, but sacrificed
quality of living, long periods of separation from loved ones, and
life threatening conditions in service to our
nation...fully expecting the US Government to keep it's word.
Congress was clearly stating that military members were purchasing
no cost heath care and other retirement benefits from the
inadequate pay being held back at the time of service.
Not only are military retirees forced to pay
medical care fees, they are required to do so based on the
pittance received in military and social security retired
compensation, which is directly correlated to low wages while on
active duty.
Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., the assistant
secretary of defense for health affairs explains his rationale for
the reported fee increase this way. "There would be
no change for active duty military or their families, or military
retirees age 65 or older and their families. When the Tricare health
care program for active duty and retired military members and their
families was established in 1995, retirees then were contributing
about 27 percent of the cost of their benefit....
However, military health care costs doubled from $19 billion in 2001
to just over $37 billion in the 2006 defense budget... And today's
average military retiree contribution for health care coverage has
dropped to about 10 to 12 percent, he said. "Their
contribution did not change, while the value of the benefit
continued to rise," Winkenwerder said. (This is
"spin" and disingenuous)
Military Officer Association of America (MOAA)
adds an element of the "military retiree" budget problem
that DoD, Winkenwerder, and others conveniently ignore. "A
great deal of the Pentagon's concern over rising health care costs
involves the nearly $9 billion annual deposit to the TRICARE For
Life trust fund that the Administration wrongly counts
against the defense budget. Two years ago, when Defense
leaders said the Administration was making them take this deposit
"out of hide" at the expense of other Defense programs,
the Armed Services Committees acted to change the law to shift that
deposit from the Defense budget to the U.S. Treasury budget. The
clear intent was that TFL expenses weren't to come at the expense of
other readiness needs. Congress passed that provision as part of the
FY2005 Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 108-375)."
In reality, DoD and the Administration is distorting facts, if
not breaking the law, to pad their argument. (http://capwiz.com/moaa/home/
Winkenwerder, and to be fair, most other elements
of the Administration and Congress only look at "contributions"
in dollars and cents...they ignore the costs in "lost lives,
bodily devastation, family sacrifices, life-long pain in body and
spirit...these contributions seem of small consequence in the
eyes of bean counters.
More often than not, leadership forgets the
forces that propelled him/her to the position they occupy...there are
always subordinates that are struggling, sacrificing, winning the
battles that push leaders up the line...military leaders are not
successful because of what "they" do, but because they
ride on the shoulders of privates and sergeants.
Has this lesson been lost in the White House, DOD and Joint Chiefs of
Staff? Has the Joint Chiefs forgotten they ride the shoulders of
the troops? Does Secretary Rumsfeld, Under Secretary
Winkenwerder or Chu really understand warrior, family and widow
sacrifices? I don't think so.
If the President and Secretary of Defense
understood leadership they would ensure a budget that takes care of
the troops in harm's way and keep commitments to all military retirees
and those who previously experienced the smell of war. How can the
Joint Chiefs remain true to the principle of "taking care of the
troops", spouses, and widows and support military retiree
medical care betrayal?
The short but profound reality is that warriors
contributions have indeed, not changed...they
are still contributing their blood, body parts, and yes, life
itself, as a willing sacrifice to sustain our nation...and of
equal contribution is the sacrifice of families, and especially
widows. For members of DoD/Administration and
some members of Congress to continually harp on monetary costs
of warrior, spouse, and widow medical care while
down-playing and ignoring the horrific personal,
sacrificial costs to these patriots is nothing short of disgraceful,
dishonorable, and a immoral stain on the fabric of America.
Harry Riley, COL, USA, Ret
111 Overview Drive
Crestview, FL 32539
850-689-1818
Responses To: Attack on Military Retiree Medical Care Unrelenting
You people are like Cheney, shot the wrong bird.
Why don't you do something about those who are
really the culprits; Congress.
Why don't you invest your energy into
influencing your Governors to propose an
amendment to the Constitution so as to limit the
terms of the Congress? These people are trying
to make a career out of congress, which I think
was not the intent of our forefathers. There is
only two ways to amend the Constitution: (1)an
initiative by the Congress...which I think you
will all agree is not going to happen (2) for
2/3 of the Governors of the "several states
shall call a convention for proposing
amendments....". Carroll D. Childers The solution to the Sec Def's proposal on medical benefits and his mismanagement of the Iraq war is quite simple. The President needs to sack him....yesterday. GGibbs In view of the state of this nation as it stands today; the total mess in Iraq, the missteps that seem intentionally made by this administration, the lack of integrity apparant in the manner of non kept promises to our armed services active and retired, the total disregard for the tenents of the Constitution of the United States by this Administration can only leave one conclusion: This beloved Country is truly ensnared by unpatriotic Americans, and, the worst and most dangerous call Washington DC in the Congress, the Senate and the White House, HOME. God Bless America, and please God remove all traitors from among us. W. Orchard USN, ret Unfortunately the "liberal" news media does not cover all the maimed and injured warriors that have served and are currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. The cost in lives and disabilities will go even higher the longer we play politics with the terrorists. Iran is a prime example of this game that our congressional delegates are playing. We need to make diplomacy work but only with a strong military backing to be able to enforce diplomacy. The longer we wait the more difficult it is going to get and the stronger the terrorists will become because others will know we have become "weak" and will not respond deliberately. And the more "warriors" we will have with missing limbs, blindness, and other injuries that they will suffer for the rest of their lives. And the health care costs will rise and rise and rise. Probably to the point, where the "warriors" will be left to defend for themselves, go to charitable organizations, or become street people. That is when, if we're not on the track already, we will become just another civilization trying to survive.
Personally, I supported George
Bush twice. I even thought Rumsfeld was okay.
But, that was two years ago. I will be going
independent from here on out. And the
Republican Party has seen the last of my
contributions.
Jerry Jackson (Retired USN
Vietnam Vet)
Honolulu, HI
MESSING WITH SBP AND MANY OTHER SUBJECTS LIKE LEASING
OUR HOME PORTS TO PEOPLE WHO CAN GET AN ATOMIC BOMB
INTO ONE CONTAINER (I KNOW Your web page just keeps getting better and better.
I'm beginning to think that something is afoot with
our administration and I've been a strong Republican
supporter for many years. The TRICARE issue is
merely one item that needs immediate attention
from our elected officials. However, I'm
hearing now about the UAE taking over our major port
operations on the East Coast. Are the
communists, which I thought were out of sight, coming
back into power surreptitiously? I mean
"holy cow" what has happened to Bush since
he was reelected. Believe it or not, the
democrats have found a gold mine with this latest
irresponsible act on the part of the administration,
our current boss of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff,
and even Snow, Secretary of the Treasury. Is
money all that counts anymore in our great Nation.
The democrats are going to have ball this year and
they should based upon the current activity of the
republicans. If things continue, you can bet on
a democratic controlled house and senate in the not to
far future. Perhaps it's needed.
Jerry Jackson
YNCS (Retired 1974)
I work at Camp Lejune North Carolina and it just makes me sad to see our young Sailors and Marines believing in our country
so strongly that they think they will have a secure
future by serving their country. There's allot of
young troops with Purple Heart license plates whom
belive till the day they die their government will
provide for them. We of the Viet-Nam era were told
all of our medical and dental would be taken-care-of
until our final days too.
We've been through Champus and
now Tri-Care. Sure, quotas are to be met and all
the Generals are happy while our troops defend us
against terrorist that we've enticed. Let us be
clear-- the quotas are not being met and maybe there's a
simple reason why. Those Veterans that had
children are not so trusting of the benefits promised
them and in good conscience are stirring them away from
the military. I can't count how many
Veterans/Retirees have flat out forbidden their young sons
and daughters from joining the military because of
promises not kept. I see these young wounded
Warriors every day throughout the Base and can't help to
wonder how will this service person will be doing
after he/she is discharged and sent home because he/she are
no longer a 100% Warrior? Are the politicians
going to "Repeat History" because of a budget
crunch and fall short for our New Veterans the way
they have for the Old Veterans?
Since our Congressmen and
Senators have such well laid benefits of which they have
made for themselves,I can't belive they are permitting a
increase to monies paid to Tri-Care. Dose this
mean we will be able to see real Doctors instead of
Physician
Assistants? Will the V. A. stop telling Veterans
with less than 30% don't bother us unless your really,
truly and honestly sick to stay away? Been in a
Military Emergency Room lately? I have and the
Doctor was a contracted civilian. At least during
the Veit-Nam
Era we could recruit people that wanted to be Doctors
and serve their country. What's going on present
date?
We used to have pride in our
Leaders and Politicians. I think allot of military
folks are starting to think of Politicians in the same
manner as Lawyers and thats nothing to be proud in the
year 2006. When people can jump a fence and get
benefits nearly as good as a Veteran what's wrong with
this country? I apologize for not being well
spoken or proper in my mannerism but when I joined the
Marine Corps in 1969 that was not a requirement for the
next twenty years of faithful service.
Danny P. Moore
GySgt. USMC
Retired
COL Riley,
It is a shame that our
President and the Republican controlled Congress will
flout their praises and support for our Military to the
press while stabbing WWII and Korean War retirees in the
back. I am convinced that the Republican Congress
DOES NOT support veterans issues. They always throw
"it costs too much" comments in our faces while
at the same time funding projects that have little value
(other than buy votes for the next election) to our
country.
Chuck Wingate USA Ret
Korean War (1950-51) Veteran
MR.PRESIDENT you take a step forward and shoot your self in both feet you want corporate AMERICAN to keep its promise to workers but you and the REPUBLICAN congress deney WW2/KOREA ERA military retirees there promised and earned medical care TRUE hypocrite. DAVID L PRUDEN DCC USN RET Fairfield CA. 94533 Colonel Riley,
On Wednesday, 2/8/06, I called every Senator on the
Armed Services Committee and told them General Peter Pace,
USMC, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, lied
before their committee! He lied
by omission! He told them what parts of
TRICARE they were keeping. He didn't tell them they
are doubling the fees for retired enlisted under 65 years
old, and tripling the fees for retired Officers. I
told them he was a disgrace to the Marine Corps and to all
of the military, past and present! They are treating
retired military like they were former employees of a
corporation or Civil Service, not warriors who sacrificed a
normal life for more 20 years or more. Talk
about hurting the morale of our warriors in Iraq. How
are they going to feel when they find out how the retired
military is being double-crossed yet again?
I was so mad it was all I could do to keep from crying!
I told them to drag General Pace back before the committee
and demand he tell them the truth!
Kathleen Mosley
THANK YOU HARRY FOR THIS ACCURATE AND WONDERFUL REPORT. I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE OUR CONGRESS AND SENATE CAN REBUKE YOUR STATEMENTS. QUESTION: HAS THIS BEEN PRESENTED TO THEM IN THE MANNER YOU HAVE STATED HERE.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS OUR PRESENT AND PAST TROOPS.
GAINES A. OWENS, MSGT USAF RETIRED
COMMENT: It's up to us to tell them Gaines.. Col. Riley,
Why should it surprise anyone that they are raising TRICARE fees
when we have a military now that will charge a wounded soldier for
the body armor the medics' cut off when they were treating him. As
I understand it they did reimburse him but, only after being
shamed by the media.
Floyd Baird
Sir,
I am %100 disabled, and we have been
fighting this sort of invasive crap for years. with the VA
health care system.Thank you for you mails, I have, and will
continue to protest the abrogation, of the rights, of the
military people in this country.
R/S
Wallace Pollock [USMC]
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