HR 4949 and S 2617

Since 04-19-06

On 4/17/2006 BGEN Bob Clements, USAF, ret writes:

Subj: HR 4949 and S 2617
Date: 4/17/2006 8:39:35 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: p38bob@deepwell.com Sent from the Internet (Details)

Senators Lautenberg and Hagel are working with the military associations in a sincere effort to limit what they agree is an abuse of the current DoD authority. That abuse demeans the service that has demanded that military men and women, with their families, give up their own freedom for twenty to thirty years to insure the total freedom of the people of the United States. That service, with its demands, has been voluntary. Without these people, and the families that serve with them, there would be no United States of America...

To sit idly by and dismiss the hardships these patriots have under gone by comparing the costs of their medical care to that of civilians is in my mind unconscionable. We must do our part and bombard our members of Congress to sign on to the respective bills. To not do so in my opinion, which takes only a few minutes out of our lives, is to leave our fellow warriors, families, and survivors helpless on the battle field....

Senators Lautenberg and Hagel want to change the law in a way that would:

A. bar these big catch-up raises

B. bar any establishment of a TRICARE Standard enrollment fee or any further increases in TRICARE Standard inpatient copays for retirees, which are already pretty high....

C. Severely restrict the Secretary of Defense's current broad statutory authority to increase TRICARE Prime enrollment fees and pharmacy copays (e.g., if their proposal had been in place this year with a 4.1% retired pay COLA, there would have been no increase in pharmacy copays and the maximum the TRICARE Prime fee could have been increased would have been from $460 to $479....vs. the $1400 (plus 8-10% annual increases in future years) proposed by the Secretary of Defense).

Is that the same as zero increases that I am a strong advocate for? No, but when compared to what the Secretary of Defense is proposing, it would be pretty darn close.

The bottom line is that it's essential to have bills in both the House and the Senate that significantly limit the Secretary of Defense's authority so that we can (hopefully) narrow the range of possible outcomes. We can't let the good be the enemy of the perfect. That is, we don't want to bash Lautenberg for being willing to do 95% of what Edwards is willing to do. They're both on our side, and the Lautenberg bill would be VASTLY preferable to current law.

If you asked your dad for a dollar when you were a kid and he gave you
95 cents, would you have thrown it back in his face? I think not.

Won't you please lobby your Senators of Members of Congress for our family by going to the following URLs and sending a message to your representatives in Congress

Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act, S 2617 asking your Senators to sign on http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/?bill=8677616 


Military Retiree's Health Care Protection Act, H.R. 4949 asking your Representatives to sign on http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/bills/?bill=8587066 

Make it a point to keep these two URLs and send a message every day. You can even create a shortcut on your desktop for each of the sites for easy access Remember Tricare for Life and the impression all those messages made on the Congress. It was the turning point and likewise this battle can be won also by cranking the mission....