TRICARE to raise rates

[centermass]

I hope the word "raise" has the attention of everyone who is currently serving, has served and especially those under 65 who have retired.

This topic has been one of great debate and a continual nightmare for those who have had to deal with the system known as TRICARE.

Below is a letter I just fired off to my congressional representatives in both the House and Senate.

Using the link provided at the end, I would hope that each one of you would do the same. I have made it easy. Just cut and paste the text I have already completed, and feel free to plagiarize the hell out of it.

Add to it, modify it, come up with your own, anything. Just get the damn thing off to your representatives as well.

Dear Honorable Members of both the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate,

Almost 30 years ago, I enlisted in the United States Army in service to our country. I will not list all the sacrifices made by not only myself, and my family as well.

Instead, I well tell you the same exact promise made to me in return for 20 years of service and making my military service a career choice.

And that is that in return for such, my family members and myself would be taken care FOR LIFE regarding health care benefits in exchange for this kind of dedication to my country. It was not subject to any "financial contribution" clauses or such.

And yet, since the mid 1990's, beginning under the Clinton Administration, it has turned out to be one big lie.

The making of the Military Health Care system and turning it into an HMO structured plan has shown itself to be a promise broken and an obligation forgotten.

It was a major benefit of giving up the normal life of a civilian in exchange for the arduous and always uncertain one of a soldier.

It was part of the overall incentive to stay in and continue each day, one day at a time, not matter how difficult, in anticipation (God willing) of eventually reaching that milestone and date.

I am also one of the 100,000 plus members of the military who between 1 January 1977 and 30 June 1985 who never received a dime, not so much as one cent towards secondary educational benefits, either under the Vietnam era G.I. Bill or the Montgomery era G.I Bill.

During this era, in order to qualify, I would have had to have opened a contribution account under the VEAP plan (which I knew nothing about) before April 1, 1987 and voluntarily contributed from $25 to $2700.

Had I known, I would have certainly done so.

Instead, I, along with quite a few members, waited for word of this new GI Bill. It came and went, excluding myself and quite a large number of military members who fell into this gap. And instead, a new recruit, who signed up for only 3 years, received this GOLDEN BENEFIT and educational package of a lifetime, all the while soldiers like myself, who had already been in and continued to served, were past over and not included. What has this got to do with the original scope of this correspondence? Plenty.


The promise of continued healthcare (without soldier contributed monetary compensation) after I retired was at least one benefit I could still look forward to.

And as it stands right now, at times, when you're asked by a healthcare professional during your initial screening as to what kind of coverage you have along with the provider, on more than one occasion, I have gotten the embarrassing snickers and looks when I have replied with "TRICARE."

It has literally become a mountain of red tape, paperwork and absorbent costs sometimes, associated with the co-pays involved or the refusal of treatment at the behest of the hospital staff or healthcare facility because they do not want to deal with the TRICARE system.

This is not a trumped up fabrication on my part or an exaggeration, it's simply what I have and my family has had to deal with since my retirement.

And now, after the DoD has severed its obligation and promise made to me years ago and explained that "this is the cost of doing business," on top of all this wrong that I have stomached and tolerated, now the plan is to raise rates for those retirees, like me, under 65.

And as an added bonus, guess what this does to the 4.7% cost of living increase we received this year?

I am at my limit and had my fill of this continual monetary sacrifice I have had to contribute to when the fact of the matter is no one should have had to in the first place that had this promise made to them years ago.

It's almost like "gee, thanks......now here's the way it's going to be, regardless of what was told to you or promised, be glad you still have what you have."

And all this while a member of congress can secure a lifetime pension, at taxpayer expense, for completing a significantly lesser term of service, with a lot less risk, sacrifice and hardship, as compared to what I have been through and others like me have endured.

I sincerely hope you keep that last point in mind as I make a genuine plea not to let this continue or escalate even further.

There has got to be a better way and not at the continued expense of soldiers who so unselfishly and willingly served when it was not the most honorable thing to do back when, and who went into harms way on many occasions to uphold the policies of the nation of ours which kept and continue to keep this country strong.

I hope the point I have tried to convey and get across has accomplished itself at face value without having to involve a lot of "fact finding" or "soul searching" to stall or delay the bottom line any further.

Please, no more increases. It's a shame it has even gotten to this point alone.

I am proud to haved served my country both honorably and professionally. In the hopes that this terrible wrong can be at least partly rectified, or maybe even one day, reversed completely, I hope you serve the same way as a representative of one of your many constituients along with the many military veterans throughout this country and this great nation of ours.

The format provided in the link will allow you to do away with the header line and will address it properly to your representatives and senators based on your zip code.

http://www.military.com/MilitaryReport/ ... miltrep.nl

RLTW,

CM

[centermass]

Geez,

I haven't been in here in almost a year, and just when I'm ready to bump this and some damn spammer shows up 2 hours ahead of me and bumps it.

Here we go again:

[quote]Plan to Raise Retiree TRICARE Fees Ready for Relaunch

Senior Defense officials have renewed their call to raise TRICARE enrollment fees and co-payments for under-65 military retirees and their dependents.

Officials are warning anew that unless the cost of military health care is “re-balanced,â€

[av8trgirl]

1. The civilian sector has always run the military - the way it sees fit no matter what the cost.

2. This is just one more in a string of broken promises made by the US Government. When I enlisted in 1990 - all I hoped is to do my time - get a few benefits and get out still INTACT - I was under no delusions that my government would keep its promises - It seldom does and only if it is in its own interests to do so.

3. As a student of history - there is plenty of evidence as to the way the American Govt does it business - They use you up and throw you away when they're done - hence the name GI - you are an asset and when you become a liability - now you are a product of "cost cutting".

4. This is just the facts - it is shameful and unfair that so many who gave so much to get screwed on the back end - this is the result of big business mixed in with big goverment - when it comes to compassion - our goverment downsized it years ago.

I did get what I wanted from my military experience because I was an "informed enlistee" - I came in the door knowing the risks and the nature of just what I was signing up for. I decided that it was not worth giving up all my young adult years to the US govt - so now after 10 yrs of service - I can finally reap the benefits while I"m still young and healthy enough to enjoy them.

It is a sorrow that men who have fought and died for their country only to have to fight their country to hold it accountable for its promises.

Have faith in the Lord - He won't back out of the deal.

Av8tr

[MrsDocMac]

The worst part of all this is that they keep talking about "keeping up with the civilian sector" but only when it's beneficial for the government. If they were to truly keep up with the civilian sector all the hooahs out there making $30,000 a year would be in 6 figures and we probably wouldn't worry about the cost of the fuckin healthcare.