washingtonscene
Reform Qs and As
Now that national health care reform is law, how is it likely to affect you? MOAA’s guess is not nearly as much as the debt commission initiatives that are due in December.
T
here’s been no bigger
news in the first few months of 2010 than the debate leading up to enactment of national health care reform
legislation in March. Now that it’s part of the law, the next question is, “What does it mean to you and yours?” MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan
Jr., USN-Ret., provides his perspective on page 12. MOAA has had lots of inquiries on this topic. While some will have to wait until things play out over time, here are MOAA’s best answers to members’ most fre- quent questions. We’ll maintain an updated list at
www.moaa.org/healthcarereform.
General effects on TRICARE and VA care
Is it true the new law will roll TRICARE
into a massive government health care pro-
gram? Definitely not.
I’ve seen messages saying the legislation
is a “sneak attack on TRICARE.” Is that true?
The Senate bill language has been public since last year. There was no intent to disad- vantage TRICARE beneficiaries, though it didn’t explicitly state TRICARE is “qualify- ing coverage.” Just to make that clear, the House unanimously passed legislation in March deeming TRICARE as qualifying coverage under the new law. At press time, the Senate was expected to pass it shortly. Everyone in the administration and
in the House and Senate, of both parties, agrees TRICARE and VA coverage must
be held harmless. But there’s been inevita- ble debate among legislators about who’s done what to protect troops and veterans. MOAA doesn’t care who gets the credit,
and we take political hyperbole on both sides with an appropriate grain of salt.
What does deeming TRICARE and VA
care as qualifying coverage mean? Under
the new law, people who don’t have quali- fying coverage will have to pay a financial penalty. TRICARE and the VA provide qualifying coverage, so those beneficiaries aren’t affected.
Is it true the new law will end TRICARE as of 2014, and TRICARE beneficiaries will then have to buy other coverage? There’s
nothing like that in the new law.
Can I expect my TRICARE enrollment
fee, premiums, deductibles, or copay- ments to go up because of this legislation?
Nothing in the new law would change TRICARE fees. Still, it’s unrealistic to think TRICARE fees will never rise, even if retired pay doubles or triples over a lifetime. But it will be deficit and DoD budget problems, not national health care reform, that drives any future change.
What’s MOAA doing to ensure benefi-
ciaries aren’t hurt by health care reform?
MOAA generated more than 100,000 mes- sages to Congress on that topic — more than any other association. That strong membership support got results, because the combination of legislation that already has passed and is about to be completed by the Senate appears to accomplish that.
MAY 2 0 1 0 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R 3 3
Defense Bill Timeline
■ The FY 2011 Defense Authorization Bill will be the primary vehicle for military pay and benefits changes. The House and Senate Armed Services committees will draft separate versions in May. Subsequent House and Senate negotiations likely won’t be completed until October.
L E G I S LAT IVE NEWS THAT AF F ECTS YOU
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