…And so it begins
The Stars and Stripes reports that Tricare has hiked their inpatient fee nearly 21% for retirees under 65 using civilian hospitals;
TRICARE Standard is the military’s fee-for-service insurance option. The inpatient cost share for retirees under age 65 and their family members was increased to $645 a day from $535. The actual formula for beneficiaries is $645 a day, or 25 percent of total hospital charges, whichever is less.
Families of active duty members who use Standard for civilian hospital stays will see a more modest increase in their daily charge, from $15.65 a day to $16.30, or $25 per admission, whichever is greater.
The increase for retirees stunned and angered at least one service association.
“This shocking announcement is extremely disappointing, given your public assurances earlier this year that the Defense Department would not be proposing any TRICARE fee increases for [fiscal] 2010,” retired Navy Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., president of the Military Officers Association of America told Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Ryan’s protest letter was sent hours after TRICARE officials unveiled their new inpatient fees for Standard.
That’s how it begins every time. It’s always veteran health care that suffers first. Now where are the trolls that always tell me that I’m just scaring veterans?
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Veteran Health Care
Yeah, how dare retirees under 65 claim good health care without it being insanely expensive? It’s not like they sacrificed for it or anything. After all, if medicare won’t pay early, how can Tricare? It’s so unfair!
God, people piss me off sometimes.
I am very frightened. I have agreed with Army Sergeant’s posts twice today. Is that a sign of the Apocalypse?
I have it on good authority this will be corrected by Monday.
Hope you are correct TSO since many of us trust your advice on many things…if the fees increase and/or care for veterans slips away there will be trouble…mess with our retirement checks every 1st of the month and there may be blood (and I’m biting my tongue saying that one)
I don’t want to give up my source on this, but I assure you it doesn’t get much more solid.
Man, this Administration is something else.
Not only do I hope you are right TSO, I hope the individual who thought this was a good idea gets a pink slip.
I assume it was the DoD Dep Sec for Personnel and Readiness.
http://www.defenselink.mil/prhome/plansmcginn.html
Dr. Chu in the last Admin tried this a few times too, and got stomped. The Dems didn’t preemptively try to stop it this time because they figured that the DoD wouldn’t be so damn dumb.
This part of the article is what I am hearing, and it might be from the same person:
The unexpected increase also caught White House political operatives by surprise. It comes amid an emotional debate over national health care reform. The fee increase, and service association criticism, almost certainly will be used by Republicans to deepen doubts about the president’s intentions regarding his health care initiatives.
Susan: I’m sorry, I make a very inconvenient target of hatred through such things as having a variety of views from all different political parties.
TSO: I hope so.
Army Sergeant – no problem. It has been a week of surprising agreement – a left wing friend in Hollywood stated that Roman Polanski was a rapist and should be brought back to fact justice. Is it a full moon?