washingtonscene Families who elect to stay with TRI-
CARE Standard — which costs DoD less than Prime — would incur a new $900 annual enrollment fee, plus a $600 de- ductible for using out-of-network care, in addition to their existing 25-percent cost- share for all services. If a military family has a choice, a high- er deductible for using out-of-network care might make sense. But DoD acknowl- edges the network system will cover only 85 percent of the population. “MOAA believes the 15 percent of beneficiaries who have no choice other than using out-of-network providers shouldn’t be charged an extra $1,200 in enrollment fees and extra deductibles for having no other option,” Strobridge told panelists. There should be no enrollment fee for TRICARE Standard or TRICARE For Life (TFL) because neither plan guarantees access to a network of providers, as TRI- CARE Prime does. “MOAA particularly disagrees with
the proposal to means-test the TFL en- rollment fee by making it a percentage of retired pay,” Strobridge said. “No other federal or civilian employer means-tests its retirees’ service-earned health cover- age, since it would penalize longer and more successful service.
DIC Should Be Added to SBP, Not Substituted for It
E-6, 10 years DIC $15,050 SBP $15,522 Survivors Should Get SBP $472 But Only Receive They Lose $15,050 DIC SBP $15,050
“We urge against any enrollment fee for TFL for three additional reasons: First, these older retirees already pay more for their health care than any other military beneficiaries. Second, DoD only pays 20 percent of their health costs, because Medicare is first payer. Finally, DoD costs for TFL have dropped almost 40 percent over the last several years.” All the witnesses expressed concern that DoD’s budget proposal does nothing to address the serious continuity of care and consistency of coverage issues faced by the National Guard and Reserve communities. Lawmakers were receptive to MOAA’s and other witnesses’ input and agreed the focus of military health care reform must be on improving timely access to quality care rather than simply raising beneficiary fees.
End the Military
“Widows Tax” Action is needed in 2016 to prevent new loss.
S
urvivors of deceased service- members are required to forfeit all or part of their military Sur-
vivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity when military service results in the death of their sponsor. This often is referred to as the “widows tax.” Retiring servicemembers may pur- chase SBP insurance coverage to provide their surviving spouse up to 55 percent of their retired pay in the event of their death for any reason. SBP coverage auto- matically is provided for most deaths that occur on active duty. If the VA determines the death is ser-
vice-connected, the VA pays the survivor an additional payment called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). Currently, DIC recipients receive $1,254 monthly, or
30 MILITARY OFFICER MAY 2016
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