Report Shows Pentagon Fudged TRICARE Numbers
VFW is fighting any increases to health care premiums
August 10, 2012
The Washington Post reportedthis week that the Department of Defense
has requested nearly $3 billion over the last three years be moved from funds
dedicated to TRICARE into weapons programs and other accounts unrelated to
healthcare, despite assurances from Pentagon officials that healthcare costs
were "eating the U.S. military alive."
According to a report on the FY2013 Defense Appropriations Act provided
by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, the Pentagon reprogrammed
$1.36 billion dollars from TRICARE in fiscal year 2011, $772 million in fiscal
year 2010, and requested an additional $708 million to reprogram from this
year's budget.
This reprogramming has been happening at a time that the VFW has worked
tirelessly to prevent the Pentagon from arbitrarily raising TRICARE copayments,
adding and expanding fees, and tying increases to medical inflation; while
retiree health costs are rising at an average rate of 2.6 percent.
"The VFW is adamant that the Pentagon must not be allowed to pull this
bait-and-switch on Congress and TRICARE beneficiaries," said VFW Executive
Director Bob Wallace. "Instead, the Pentagon must improve its budget and
management controls so Congress can have an accurate view of the fiscal
situation within TRICARE and the entire Military Health System before shifting
responsibility to those who choose to wear the uniform to pay for their own
health care."
Your VFW has been one of the few veterans' organizations in Washington fighting
to prevent any increases in military health care premiums, encouraging
Washington bureaucrats to do the hard work of generating a more cost-effective
military, without jeopardizing the welfare of military families and breaking
faith with military retirees.
VFW advocacy efforts earlier this yearsuccessfully fought offTRICARE fee increases, and
in light of this recent report, the VFW intends only to ratchet up the
pressure.
To make your voice heard on TRICARE fees,click
here, and check back regularly with this blog for updates.
To read the full Senate report, click here. Details on health care reprogramming can
be found on p. 228.
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