Claims of Crippling TRICARE Cost Questioned

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As many of our readers know, the DoD has been pushing a proposal to increase TRICARE fees by claiming TRICARE costs are spiraling out of control. The proposal has drawn fire from military retirees and military advocacy organizations. One such organization, the Military Officer Association of America, recently reported that a recent DoD request to divert $500 million from Defense Department Health Care to other programs proves that the DoD’s “claims were bogus.”

After telling the media and Congress that the escalating cost of TRICARE and other DoD health programs are “eating us alive,” the DoD is now telling Congress that military health care will cost $708 million less than what was budgeted for FY2012 and that the excess to can be used for “higher priority items with no impact to the program.”

MOAA also reports that the the DoD health budget had a surplus of $500 million at the end of FY2011.

According to reports, many of the House Armed Services Committees members were upset by the request after taking a lot of flak for not supporting the DoD’s request to increase TRICARE Fees earlier this year.

A letter sent to Secretary Leon Panetta by the HASC states, “We have heard that ‘TRICARE is crippling’ the DoD. This does not appear to be the case if DoD has a $708 million surplus in FY2012…We do not understand how DoD can justify a request to raise fees on a class of people whose costs to the department are actually decreasing.”

Let Your Opinion Be Known - Contact your elected officials to tell them how you feel about this issue.

More on the subject can be found following these links:


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