Military Officer - November 2007 - (Page 34)

washingtonscene evaluation process every two or three years to encourage wellness. ■ Adopt a uniform and consistent VA and DoD policy for rating disabilities. The commission also expressed support for the six major recommendations of the Dole-Shalala commission but emphasized equal treatment and compensation should apply for all service-connected disabilities, whether combat-related or not. The commission also expressed disagreement with the Dole-Shalala proposal that would integrate a portion of VA compensation with Social Security. (See article on page 36.) urging them to use TRICARE rather than the employer’s plan. And tens of thousands of TRICARE-eligibles across the country have taken up those offers in recent years. This was part of the reason DoD proposed raising fees for TRICARE enrollees by up to $1,000 a year — to help stem the tide of people opting out of employer-based plans. So far, Congress has agreed with MOAA that imposing steep TRICARE fee hikes isn’t the appropriate reaction. But legislators took a dim view of employers who seek to cut their costs at TRICARE’s expense and changed the law to try to discourage that behavior. Initially, the law was interpreted as barring any reimbursement that could be used to cover TRICARE expenses. That would have kept TRICARE-eligibles from participating in company-sponsored cafeteria plans (under which employees receive cash that can be used to purchase coverage) or plans that pay a ﬂat monthly amount to any employee who elects to use alternative coverage, whether it’s TRICARE or a spouse’s employer plan. At MOAA’s urging, the committees included language indicating these kinds of initiatives should not be barred, because they are not speciﬁcally aimed at TRICARE. But it’s hard to argue that a TRICARE supplement isn’t TRICARE-speciﬁc. So what can TRICARE-eligibles do if they get a letter notifying them that their employer is terminating a company-offered TRICARE supplement? The ﬁrst option is to ask the employer to offer a ﬂat-rate payment in lieu of the supplement. If the company was willing to pay the cost of a supplement, one would think they’d be willing to pay up to the cash equivalent. But to be allowed under the new law, the payment needs to be non-TRICARE-speciﬁc. That is, it should be the same amount for an employee who chooses TRICARE as it is for an employee who chooses coverage New Law Hits TRICARE Plans Employers have options for Jan. 1 change. S ome military retirees who work for defense contractors, airlines, and certain state governments are being told by their employers that their health coverage options will change Jan. 1. One change is employers will no longer offer a TRICARE supplement as a health plan option. That’s because a provision in the FY 2007 Defense Authorization Act bars civilian employers from offering their employees incentives to use TRICARE rather than the company’s normal health plan, including offering a TRICARE supplement. Congress has no problem with retirees choosing TRICARE on their own initiative, because they earned the right to the TRICARE beneﬁt through their service. But DoD and Congress found extensive evidence that many employers — including several state governments — have been consciously working to shift their health care costs to TRICARE, sending letters to TRICARE-eligible employees 34 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - November 2007

Military Officer - November 2007 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Cover Story: Commanding the Corps With Love, From Home Financial Guidebook Financial Tuneups Banking on Your Time Pages of History MOAA Scholarship Recipients Faces of MOAA MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - November 2007

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