For the 20 percent of Guard and Reserve members who don’t have health coverage, just gaining access is a start.

For the 80 percent who have health insurance through their employer or a spouse’s employer, continuity of the family’s coverage is a priority. Switching from employer coverage to TRICARE when mobilized and back again after every deployment significantly disrupts that continuity.

This past year, Congress authorized one year of TRICARE coverage for every 90 days mobilized. But that puts Guard and Reserve members in a bind: Should they sign up their families and pay premiums for TRICARE coverage they know will expire in a few years?

There’s broad, bipartisan support in the Senate to make the TRICARE Reserve Select program permanent and extend eligibility to all members of the Selected Reserve.

MOAA agrees that’s essential, and will work to convince the House. With Guard and Reserve recruiting and retention at grave risk, action is needed now.

Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF-Ret., director of MOAA government relations