fromthepresident
Health Care Reform
There is a barrage of information (and misinformation) about how national health care reform legislation might affect servicemembers. Here’s what MOAA knows so far.
N
ow that national health care reform legislation
has been signed into law, the biggest question on our members’ minds has been:
“How will national health care reform affect me?” For those under age 65, the answer seems to be, “Not much, if at all.” Washington Scene, page 33, answers the main questions MOAA has received. There are some changes to Medicare, but
only time will reveal their effects. The most significant likely will be some reduction of availability of Medicare Advantage HMOs. Unfortunately, messages such as “I
heard this will end TRICARE” are circu- lating the Internet, and they’re simply not true. Please help educate the senders with MOAA’s answers. Everyone we’ve talked to in the ad-
ministration or Congress, of either party, supports protecting military and VA ben- eficiaries from adverse effects associated with health care reform. Just to be sure, MOAA and its loyal mem-
bers generated more than 100,000 messages to Congress urging protection of the unique military and VA health benefits and protec- tion against any taxation of those benefits. And your voices were heard. In response, the House unanimously
passed separate legislation explicitly citing TRICARE as “qualifying health coverage” for purposes of the new law. As this column was being written, the Senate was work- ing to pass the same legislation. TRICARE For Life already is explicitly designated in
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law. That means beneficiaries of those programs won’t be subject to financial penalties aimed at people who don’t get qualifying insurance. That said, can anyone
guarantee there will never be any unfavorable changes to military and VA programs? No. Do we know for sure how all the details will play out? No. There’s always potential for unintended consequences or new initiatives. But if you were worried the
new law somehow is aimed at whacking military health care coverage, that’s just not so. We think the much more significant issue is what changes will be recom- mended by the new National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that’s supposed to report by Dec. 1 on options to reduce the national debt. You have my personal pledge that MOAA
will continue to be vigilant as implementa- tion of national health care reform proceeds — and as the new debt commission propos- als become known — and your association will continue to do everything in its power to protect your interests and your service- earned health benefits.
— Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret.
PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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