Continuing health care priority for DOD

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman J.G. Buzanowski
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  During testimony in front of both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees recently, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John D.W. Corley said that sustaining health care for servicemembers, their families and retirees is a priority for the Department of Defense.

General Corley, along with the other service vice chiefs and representatives from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, went before the committees to discuss a DOD plan that will ensure medical coverage does not cut into the budget more than it already does. 

In the last five years, the budget for health care has doubled from $19 billion to $38 billion. At that rate, over the next eight years, health care could account for more than 12 percent of the total DOD budget, affecting training, equipment and other budgets essential for the military, said Dr. David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

There are several solutions, however, to the effect on the total DOD budget. One plan calls for fee increases for retirees younger than 65. The new rates would be commensurate with the rank at which the servicemember retired.

For example, the retirees who would be affected currently pay $460 per year if they have a family. Under the new plan, the same group would pay:

-- Officers: $1,400 per year 
.
-- Enlisted ranked E-7 and higher: $950 per year. 

-- Enlisted ranked E-6 or lower: $650 per year.

The raise in fees would be spread over a two-year period, Dr. Chu said.

Concerned elected officials questioned if this was really necessary and what would be the likely outcome if they didn’t raise the fees.

The panel was unanimous in the opinion that without more operating funds, quality of other military programs would decrease. If the money needed to sustain health care didn’t come from other places, then the quality of the health care would likely diminish.

“In 1995, beneficiaries paid 27 percent of total health costs; today they pay 12 percent,” Dr. Chu said. “We believe it is absolutely essential to achieve a financial balance between the government and individual’s care contributions closer to when Tricare was inaugurated 11 years ago.”