Military Officer - June 2006 - (Page 27)

washingtonscene The House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee proposes no TRICARE fee increases before 2008 and seeks a larger pay raise and higher force levels. L E G I S L AT I V E N E W S T H AT A F F E C T S Y O U Hike Pay, Not Fees O ing a special commission to review health n April 26, the House care cost growth and alternative options to Armed Services Military hold down costs and avoid such large costPersonnel Subcommittee, share increases for beneﬁciaries. chaired by Rep. John The subcommittee didn’t make any recMcHugh (R-N.Y.), offered ommendation concerning Congress’ ﬁrst formal reDoD-proposed changes in sponse to DoD’s plan to sigpharmacy copayments. The niﬁcantly raise TRICARE The subDoD plan would reduce fees for retirees and survivors committee beneﬁciary copayments under age 65, starting this fall. That response was a rewas unani- for generic drugs from $3 sounding “no.” mous in be- to zero in the mail-order would raise coThe subcommittee aplieving the system butfor drugs bought payments proved legislative provisions DoD-prothrough retail stores from that would bar any increases posed fee $3 to $5 for generics and in fees for TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Standard, or TRIhikes were from $9 to $15 for brandname drugs. CARE Reserve Select (the too much, McHugh said the full new coverage for drilling too fast. committee would address Guard and Reserve memthe pharmacy copayment bers and families), at least issue in early May. through the end of 2007. The committee also recommended the DoD’s budget proposal for FY 2007 enfollowing actions: visions raising retired ofﬁcers’ TRICARE ■ Manpower increases: Sustain the same Prime enrollment fees by 200 percent and total fees for TRICARE Standard by nearly 30,000 troop-level increase the Army was allowed for FY 2006 and add an extra 300 percent over the next two years, with somewhat smaller increases for retired 1,000 for the Marine Corps above the 2006 enlisted members. Earlier this year, the level. Restore the full strength of 350,000 Pentagon raised TRICARE Reserve Select for the Army National Guard, versus the premiums by 8.5 percent and planned sim- 333,000 proposed in the Defense budget. ilar annual increases in the future. Reduce Navy manpower authorizations by McHugh said the subcommittee was 12,000 and Air Force strength by 23,000. unanimous in thinking that the DoD-pro■ Pay raise: Authorize a 2.7-percent posed fee hikes were too much, too fast. across-the-board military pay raise Jan. Subcommittee members proposed conven- 1, 2007, versus the 2.2-percent raise proJUNE 2006 MOAA Meets With Subcommittees ■ MOAA made its case in three sessions with the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee earlier in the spring. See related stories on pages 28 and 34. MILITARY OFFICER 27

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - June 2006

Military Officer - June 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities MOAA Member Services Living Well 5 Foods for Life The Kindest Cut Winning the Battle Cover Story: Choppers Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - June 2006

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.