washingtonscene Task force findings are due to the sec-
retary of defense and Congress within one year. MOAA will have an opportunity to
provide the task force with its views on improving transition and support for wounded warriors and their families.
MOAA Challenges
O
far greater premiums for their health care than any civilian ever has or ever will, through two or three decades of ar- duous service and sacrifice. “That allegedly great military health
Editorial MOAA president takes on The Washington Post.
n Jan. 20, The Washington Post ran an editorial endorsing Defense Secretary Robert Gates’
initiative to hike TRICARE fees for mili- tary retirees, citing Gates’ comparison of the $460 annual TRICARE Prime enroll- ment fee to much higher premiums paid by federal civilians. This wasn’t the first editorial to sup- port hiking TRICARE fees, and it won’t be the last. But its gross oversimplification of the
issue prompted MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., to write to the editor in an effort to highlight the other side of the story to The Washington Post editorial staff and the public. The Post printed Ryan’s letter Jan. 25, under the headline, “Apples to Oranges: Military vs. Civilian Health Premiums.” Ryan wrote: “Your Jan. 20 editorial, ‘The Pentagon
Cuts,’ endorsed Defense Secretary Gates’ plan to increase health care fees for re- tired military people based on a compari- son of military vs. civilian premiums. “Unfortunately, this simple cash com- parison ignores the obvious — that career military people are required to prepay
care deal is open to virtually anyone. All they have to do is sign up to go to boot camp and spend every other year in Iraq or Afghanistan or whatever other con- flict their government cares to commit them to for the next 20 to 30 years. “Generations of military people have been induced to serve extended careers under those conditions because their government promised that their service would earn them a unique benefits pack- age above what they could expect in civilian life. “Yet once they’ve fulfilled their part of
the bargain, their leaders (and editorials like The Post’s) tend to compare only ‘ap- ple-to-orange’ military vs. civilian cash payments. This disingenuously denies past promises and retroactively devalues their decades of sacrifice and service.” Enough said.
TRICARE-26 Coming
DoD plans a late spring implementation.
T
he good news is DoD officials hope to be able to implement the TRICARE Young Adult
(TYA) program, formerly termed “TRI- CARE-26,” sometime in late spring. The TYA program will extend TRICARE cov- erage to children of TRICARE-eligible families until age 26. MOAA doesn’t know yet what the
premium cost will be for this new cover- age. Unofficial reported estimates have ranged from $1,400 to $2,400 a year per
*fact: More than 100 people posted comments on The Washington Post website supporting Admiral Ryan’s letter. 40 MILITARY OFFICER MARCH 2011
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