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neric drugs via the TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery program and appreciates that survivors and medically retired person- nel would be exempt from the proposed TRICARE Prime increases. However, MOAA objects to the pro- posed annual adjustment methodology that would inappropriately tie fee increases for nondisabled military beneficiaries ages 38 to 64 to some (as yet unspecified) measure of health care cost growth for a broader population. MOAA thinks, in recognition of military beneficiaries’ lengthy service and sacrifice, any such adjustments should be capped closely to the percentage increase in their military compensation.


Where’s DoD’s I


Money (Part 1)? Gates cites funding crisis.


n late January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Congress that failure to move on this year’s defense spending package threatens the military’s readiness to fight. “I have a crisis on my doorstep,” he said bluntly. The temporary spending bill — the fourth short-term funding bill since FY 2011 began Oct. 1, 2010 — was to expire in early March. Meanwhile, defense appropriators were


working behind closed doors to firm up a separate FY 2011 Defense Appropriations Bill to fund defense programs for the re- mainder of the fiscal year. According to sources, the proposed bill is a near copy of last year’s bipartisan om- nibus legislation the lame-duck Congress couldn’t agree to pass in December 2010. The new bill would prorate the remain-


ing seven to eight months of the fiscal year and might reflect some of the Pentagon’s proposed changes in the 2012 budget.


32 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2011 The bill also will be without earmarks


(also known as “pork”), reflecting Senate Appropriations Chair Daniel Inouye’s (D- Hawaii) announcement that the Senate Appropriations Committee will implement a two-year moratorium on earmarks for the FY 2011 and FY 2012 spending bills.


More Budget T


Highlights The administration proposes $553 billion for DoD.


he FY 2012 defense budget released Feb. 14 proposes a base budget of $553 billion for DoD —


an increase of $22 billion above the 2010 appropriation level — and an additional $117.8 billion to fund overseas operations. The defense proposal includes:


• a 1.6-percent military pay raise (match- ing private-sector pay growth); • $8.3 billion in support of military fam- ily quality-of-life programs to include greater child care availability and depen- dent education improvements; • $52.5 billion for the Military Health System; • $677 million for care for traumatic brain injury and psychological health; • $415 million for support of medical research for wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers; • proposed increases in TRICARE Prime enrollment fees and adjustments in phar- macy copayments to incentivize use of the lower-cost mail-order system (see “Fee Backtrack,” page 31); • a plan to eliminate 780 positions among TRICARE support contractors; and • a plan to transition future enrollees in the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan to Medicare and TRICARE For Life when they turn age 65.


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