TREA Legislative Update for March 17, 2006

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TREA Legislative Update for March 17, 2006


HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

TREA fights in Washington against proposed TRICARE Increases

TREA’s fight to stop the Administration’s proposal to begin or increase TRICARE enrollment fees and increase co-pays and deductibles on under-65 military retirees – as well as increase pharmacy co-pays on all military retirees took a giant step forward on Wednesday of this week when Congressmen Chet Edwards (D-Tex) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) introduced the Military Retirees’ Health Care Protection Act.

Edwards and Jones held a press conference on Capitol Hill to publicly announce the introduction of their bill and included among the speakers at the event was TREA’s Deputy Legislative Director Larry Madison.

During the press conference the Congressmen stated that they already had 46 co-sponsors of their bill.

“This is a great first victory in what will be a long and tough battle to stop these outrageous increases that are being proposed by DoD,” stated Madison. “The fact that there are already 46 co-sponsors and that this is clearly a bi-partisan bill gives us great hope that we can win this year. However, we’re not taking anything for granted. We’ve learned that DoD has already instructed the TRICARE providers to begin the process of implementing the increases starting October 1 of this year, so we are going all out to pass this bill as quickly as possible.”

The Edwards-Jones bill would stop any increases from being implemented and would remove from DoD the authority to implement the increases administratively. Instead, Congress would have to vote for any increases in the enrollment fees, co-pays, or deductibles in the TRICARE programs.

According to Madison, “TREA realizes that many of its members who are over 65 would only be affected by the increased pharmacy co-pays. But it is critical that all military retirees immediately fight to stop this proposal because we firmly believe that if DoD wins this battle without much of a fight they will be coming after TRICARE For Life next.”

First Step to Stop Proposed VA Increases

We have made our first step towards stopping the proposed yearly enrollment fee and co-pays for VA healthcare enrollees in Categories 7 and 8. The Senate unanimously passed an Amendment (the Burns Amendment) to prohibit the creation of a $250 enrollment fee and an increased pharmacy co-pay of $15 for those Veterans in Categories 7 and 8. To see the passage of the amendment you can go to http://craig.senate.gov/wr031606e.ram Senate Larry Craig (R-Idaho) is the Chairman of the Senate’s Veterans Affairs Committee. He puts out a weekly Washington video report for his constituents which often included veterans’ matters. Two weeks ago TREA’s Legislative Director Deirdre Parke Holleman testified before his Committee against the proposed increases.

NOTICE of House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Field Hearing

Next Wednesday, March 22, the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee will hold a field hearing at the National Guard Armory in Rogers Arkansas. It will deal with educational benefits for the total force and transition assistance for members of the National Guard. If any TREA member attends please let us know. The Washington Office’s toll free number is 800-554-8732

TRICARE Standard Newsletter finally appears!

We have been lobbying DoD long and hard to create a regular newsletter for TRICARE Standard beneficiaries and it has finally appeared. For the first time in the history of the program TRICARE Standard beneficiaries will regularly get news and updates about their benefit. The Newsletter is slick and clear and will be sent to beneficiaries who have used TRICARE Standard recently.