Fighting as One
Members of the military family must take on each other’s challenges together if we are to prevail. Contact your legislators now to combat TRICARE fee increases.
By Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN-Ret.

The military family includes those who currently are serving, those who have served, and their spouses, survivors, and children. And military family members, like those of any successful family, know that a challenge faced by any member is best faced by all.

In March, MOAA council and chapter presidents, board members, and staff members Stormed the Hill to address TRICARE fee increases, the SBP/DIC offset, military end strength, and the “disability tax.” This annual visit to Capitol Hill remains a prime opportunity for MOAA members to express, face-to-face, their legislative concerns with senators, representatives, and key staff advisors.

This leads me to a question I hear from time to time that gives me pause. It goes something like, “Why is MOAA working this (or that) retiree (or active duty) issue?”

It’s true that a majority of MOAA members are retirees or the surviving spouses of retirees, and we work many issues that can legitimately be labeled “retiree” issues. But active duty officers have been MOAA members for nearly 50 years, and we’ve been working “their” issues all that time. In fact, in today’s world, issue labels get pretty fuzzy.

For example, TRICARE For Life (TFL), concurrent receipt, and the SBP offset often are considered retiree issues. Today, however, active duty, Guard, and Reserve members well understand that they, too, may be retired someday, and these issues therefore will have an impact on their lives as well as on the lives of current retirees.

Another example: When MOAA was working on TFL, it was considered both a retiree and an active duty issue, because the military needed a strong health care system to attract and retain active-force personnel. Similarly, periodic attempts by DoD to alter the military retirement system always cause consternation within the active force. The last time DoD tried this (with the REDUX system), the Joint Chiefs of Staff had to ask Congress to scrap the new system — another example of an issue that defied labeling.

Members of the MOAA family stand up for each other’s interests. The active force and younger retirees were involved in the battle for TFL, concurrent receipt, and elimination of the SBP offset. Today, retirees and survivors over age 65 must help under-65s defeat DoD’s ill-considered attempt to raise health care fees.

Tell your federal legislators you oppose TRICARE fee increases for those under age 65. As a family, we’re all in this together.