Letter to my Senators & Congressman on TriCare

Since 01-26-06

From: Waspscpo@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 3:57 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Fw: Letter to my Senators, Congressman 


Subj: Letter to my Senators, Congressman
Date: 1/25/2006 6:09:09 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: dick@porter.net
To: Waspscpo@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

The following letter was sent to Senators Cantwell and Murray, and Representative Rick Larsen, from the State of Washington.

Dear Senator Cantwell,

I am writing to you to urge you to vote against the proposed TRICARE military retiree health care premiums that the Administration, Department of Defense, and certain members of Congress are proposing. I consider such proposals to be entirely loathsome, and the politicians who support them equally so. Years ago, when I first joined the Navy, the government promised that if I put in a full career of twenty years or more, I and the immediate members of my family would be provided free medical care for the rest of our lives. That original promise by the military, led by the Commander-in-Chief and endorsed by the Congress, to induce individuals to stay the course as military persons despite low pay, long family separations, and steaming in harm’s way, has steadily been eroded by the Congress and the Administration.

Today, military retirees under the age of 65 must purchase additional health insurance, and those over 65 are relegated to Medicare. TRICARE, the supplemental military health insurance benefit, was designed to offset the increased costs to the military retiree of health care. Now, today, the proposal is to double for enlisted, and triple for officers, the TRICARE premiums.

To the members of Congress and the Administration, whom I hold equally culpable, military health care costs are all about money, never about people. We have come to a sad state of affairs when our government, who sends us into battle to face disease, disabilities and death, promises to take care of our health problems until we die, and then systematically reneges on that promise, leaving the veterans to fend for themselves. I find that unconscionable, and I will not support any representative, senator or president who endorses that approach. We, the military members of your nation, who suffered and died to protect your freedoms, deserve at least what you promised us.

There always seems to be enough money in the budget to give to Egypt, Ukraine, Israel, and other nations who did nothing to engender or protect our American institutions and freedoms, yet never enough to keep our promises to our own American military men and women who devote their lives to those same goals. Where are our priorities?

Where are YOUR priorities, Senator?

Please actively work to defeat the proposed increases in TRICARE health care premiums. I would like to see your position on this issue outlined in your next weekly email summary.

Thank you.

CAPT Richard T. Porter, USN (Ret)
4828 Saratoga Road
Langley, WA 98260
360-221-4034