Taking up the cudgel where they left off last year, TRICARE champions Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) and Walter Jones (R-NC) today reintroduced their "Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act" (H.R. 579).
The new bill is virtually identical to the one (H.R. 4949) they introduced last year, which gathered 164 cosponsors and helped prevent imposition of Pentagon-proposed TRICARE fee increases of up to $1,000 a year for retired members, family members and survivors under age 65.
The Edwards-Jones bill would remove the Pentagon's authority to increase TRICARE fees, specifying that that authority should reside only with Congress. It would also establish certain principles in law, including:
- acknowledgement that military members pay very large premiums for their future care "up front" through decades of arduous service and sacrifice;
- acknowledgement that the primary offset for enduring the extraordinary sacrifices inherent in a military career is a package of retirement and health benefits that must be considerably better than that afforded civilian workers; and
- the principle that the percentage increase in health fees in any year should not exceed the percentage increase in beneficiaries' military compensation.
MOAA strongly endorses this legislation and is grateful to Rep. Edwards and Rep. Jones for their strong, continuing leadership on this very important issue.
