February 07, 2006
Dear Senator,
I watched a portion of
the Senate Armed Services Committee
testimony today, featuring Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld, Joint Chiefs Chairman
General Pace, and Army Chief of Staff,
General Peter Schoomaker. The committee
chairman is Senator John Warner of Virginia.
General Pace had kind
words for our military families and the
positive impact they are making and the
sacrifices they endure. Then he did an
"about face", hit military medical care
head-on, making a case for the "unanimous
approval by the Joint Chiefs" of DoD and
Administration TRICARE Fee increase
proposal.
General Pace never stated or discussed
the real impact of the TRICARE changes or as
he called it, "renorming" TRICARE. A new
buzz word, "renorming" TRICARE....another
name for smoke and mirrors.
He described the
general increase in healthcare nationwide,
announcing that corporations, government,
small business, et. al. were encouraging
military retirees to use TRICARE, relieving
private business from paying employee
insurance. He used figures in the Billions
to describe TRICARE healthcare increased
costs, as has Winkenwerder and Chu in DoD,
to justify adding the "budget saving"
responsibility on the troops, as if the
troops caused the increase cost of
healthcare in the nation. Battlefield
performance is not enough, military retirees
are expected to subsidize the "pork trough"
to keep greedy politicians happy.
It's not so much what
General Pace said, it's what he didn't say
that leaves a sour taste and reflects
disingenuous testimony. General Pace
conveniently omitted the guts of the
TRICARE fee increase, discussing
only what wouldn't
change...He stated the "renorming" action
would not impact active duty troops, would
not impact military retirees over 65
years of age, and would have no impact on
the catastrophic cap ceiling of $3000...all
the warm fuzzies but ignoring the downside.
What General Pace
omitted was the fact that all military
retirees under 65 years of age would
see "new" TRICARE Standard enrollment fees;
omitted the significant increases in TRICARE
Prime and annual deductibles, nor saying
anything of the increases in the pharmacy
program. In short, the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chose
the politically correct road, told the
committee what they wanted to hear.
It's obvious DoD and the Administration
is firmly committed to the TRICARE fee
increases. The only hope is to raise our
whimper to a roar in the ears of Congress.
On behalf of the troops, spouses, and
especially, widows…I request Congressional
action to put language in the FY 2007 NDAA
that would prohibit the Secretary of Defense
from increasing any premiums, enrollment,
fees or co-payments for TRICARE Prime,
Standard, Extra, TFL, Dental and
prescriptions.
Harry Riley, COL, USA,
Ret , 111 Overview Drive, Crestview,
FL 32539 850-689-1818,
hmriley@cox.net
Take a look
at
www.presidentbushblog.com