The Official Voice of Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. ®
An organization chartered by the U.S. Congress
March/April 2006
FEATUREAdministration Proposes Hike in
Tricare Fees
VVA strongly objects to increased healthcare fees for some 3.1 million retirees and their families proposed in the administration’s FY 2007 defense budget. These increases are needed, the administration argues, to offset the military’s ballooning bill for medical care. DoD analysts estimate that without higher fees, Tricare’s expenses will reach $64 billion, 12 percent of the projected defense budget, by 2015.
Under the proposed hikes, the fees would rise to $325 for a junior enlisted retiree or $650 per family; $475 for a senior enlisted retiree or $950 per family; and $700 for a retired officer or $1,400 per family. This would double the current rate for enlisted people, and triple the current rates for officers.
William Winkenwerder, Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, explains his rationale for the fee increase this way: “The alternatives … would be a reduction in benefits, having to eliminate programs, or having insufficient funds to build and maintain world-class hospitals and clinic facilities. Money is needed for all of those things going into the future.”
Are the analysts correct? Is Winkenwerder playing the alarmist spin? VVA looks forward to congressional hearings on this aspect of the very fat defense budget.
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