washingtonscene
LEGISLATIVE NEWS THAT AFFECTS YOU Rx Copay Battle
The Senate Armed Services Committee and the House both rejected most administration-proposed fee hikes in their FY 2013 Defense Authorization Bill drafts — but differed on pharmacy copayments.
T
hanks largely to the grass- roots action of MOAA members and others, most Pentagon-pro-
posed increases in TRICARE fees for FY 2013 won’t happen. Why? Because most would require a law change to implement them, and both the House and Senate Armed Services com- mittees declined to include the necessary changes in their respective versions of the FY 2013 Defense Authorization Bill. This is the single most important bill
of the year for the military community, as it includes dozens of provisions on military personnel, pay, and benefits, as well as funding operations and weap- on programs. Here’s what the House and Senate ac- tions mean for various categories of TRI- CARE-eligibles: TRICARE Prime beneficiaries (under
age 65): No change to current law means the annual Prime enrollment fee for re- tirees and survivors and their families will be increased by 3.6 percent Oct. 1, 2012 — the same percentage as the 2012 military retired pay COLA. Fees will not be tiered based on retired pay, as the Pentagon had proposed. TRICARE Standard beneficiaries (under
age 65): No change to current law means no increase in the annual deductible and no new enrollment fee. TRICARE For Life (TFL) beneficiaries
(age 65-plus): No change to current law means no new TFL-specific enrollment
fee other than the already-required enroll- ment fee for Medicare Part B. Catastrophic cap on out-of-pocket ex-
penses: No change to current law means the cap will remain at $1,000 a year for active duty families and $3,000 a year for retiree and survivor families. Pharmacy: While both committees
agreed on blocking the above-mentioned fee-hikes, the proposed pharmacy copay- ment increases posed a thornier challenge. That’s because current law gives the
secretary of defense discretion to set TRICARE pharmacy copayments. In as- suming increased revenue from benefi- ciary copayments, the secretary reduced the amount that would have to be spent from the TFL trust fund on medications for Medicare-eligibles. Under congressional budget rules, any
trust-fund-governed expenditure increase must be offset by a reduction in some other “mandatory” spending program under the applicable committee’s jurisdiction. So stopping the copayment hikes (and
thus increasing spending from the TFL fund) would require the armed services committees to make some offsetting cut in retired pay, survivor benefits, or TFL spending — a very tough challenge. Rather than do that, the Senate Armed Services Committee put no provision at all in the defense bill on TRICARE phar- macy copayments — in effect, giving tacit approval for the Pentagon-proposed phar- macy copayment increases.
*online: To keep up-to-date and act on legislative issues affecting you, go to
www.moaa.org/takeaction. JULY 2012 MILITARY OFFICER 31
MOAA Members Bombard Senate MOAA members sent more than 30,000 messages to the Senate during the third week in May, urging their sena- tors to reject the ad- ministration’s TRICARE fee-hike proposals. For the most part, your messages were heard.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84