The Military Retirement and Compensation Modernization Commission testified before an Armed Services subcommittee and they told the congressmen that Tricare is broken because healthcare costs for retirees are sky rocketing, according to Stars & Stripes;
“Tricare is a broken system … do not get sucked into the status quo,” Buyer said.
He said the essential problem with the military’s system is that it has driven down costs by reducing its reimbursements to health care providers below that paid to Medicare, the government subsidized insurance system that functions as a measuring stick for the industry.
Blah, blah, f’n blah. I only have one thing to say about all of this “death knell for retiree healthcare” bullshit. If it’s such an unsustainable system, and if it’s so costly, why did the Pentagon, with Congress’ approval, raid our Tricare $770 million surplus? (Drops microphone…walks off stage).
Comments
17 responses to “Panel: Tricare is in a death spiral”
Actually I have very few providers in my area who will accept Tricare and now with Obamacare they will no longer pay for prescriptions because I have other insurance so the whole thing is a bust for me.
Jonn with the mic drop. Well, I never…
http://media.giphy.com/media/IOCXHPvn3WErm/giphy.gif
THIS!!! THIS is why we need a like button!!!
And coding to play gifs on the site.
I want to know how much the govvies health care is costing the taxpayer?
I will call my rep but I need to know exact info on the Pentagon raiding Tricare.
If there are no specialists that accept Tricare in the area (100 miles?), or if you have to wait beyond a certain timeframe to see one that does (60 days?), Tricare has to pay for you to see an out of network provider.
I don’t really understand what they mean by “death spiral” for a system is paid for by taxpayers anyway. I think that phrase makes sense for programs that are supposed to be self-financing, like social security. If outlays outstrips the money taken in with no hope of going back into the black, then you’re in a death spiral. Tricare isn’t like that. Premiums are not meant to cover all of its expenses, not even close. So I don’t think the term death spiral makes any sense. Using that phrase is different from just saying “it’s too expensive,” and they know it. I think this rhetoric is a scare tactic meant to ratchet up the pressure to cut expenditures because it implies that the system is unsustainable. But it is sustainable, as long as the political support exists to keep our promise to veterans and their families. There are plenty of other places to cut the budget that won’t affect people who’ve actually done something in return for their benefits.
Its not a national security/DOD problem, it’s part of a the larger health care cost problem.
If the Government doesn’t work on the cost side of the equation on a systemic (national in this case), then no health care system is sustainable for very long.
The science is advancing far faster than our ability to pay for it. And as the science advances, we as a people become more and more intolerant of living with disability and illness.
If there’s a spiral, it’s right there. Go tell someone they have to suffer with a failing heart, or an advancing cancer…see what kind of response you get.
Or try telling Manning that he has to live as a man…heaven forbid!
Nice. As a gray-area retiree (retired out of the NG rather than AD) I won’t qualify for Tricare until 2021 when I turn 60.
But I pretty much figured that once Obamacare came along, it would be the end of Tricare, sooner or later. Either that or they’ll just raise the premium costs of Tricare so high that it will be just another off-the-shelf health plan.
Classic. This administration has been beating the drum of increased retiree health care costs for years but when TMC smacked them with the reality they go get the guy who created TRICARE for Life to ‘splain away the actual decrease in costs. And all due respect to Bob Kerrey’s Medal of Honor and SEAL background, but he and the other retired officers on this commission are seriously disconnected from the retirees that this is going to hurt.
I’ve long said that the best way to get universal healthcare is to set up a pool of Federal money that state and local governments could draw from to maintain their hospitals, clinics, and similar facilities. All they’d need then is a big pile of cash and an oversight committee to ensure there is no misappropriation.
Yeah, I know; that makes too much sense, huh? Not enough room for the federal mammoth, right?
Tricare reimburses doctors at the same rate as Medicare. Barely enough for the docs time.
But they have money to fund opposition political parties in Israel.
Just funding opposition political parties in Israel?
Let’s talk about foreign aid in general… billions to useless countries like Egypt, Pakistan, etc.
as folks have pointed out before – it’ funny how welfare, funds for illegal’s education or drivers’ licenses, food stamps – any of the programs designed to keep the dependent class dependent – never seem to be in danger of running out of funding.
Now that I’m through with my active duty service and in the reserves, I have some serious beef with TriCare. While it’s not quite as big a deal for me since I’m relatively young (33) and healthy, I could see how it really hurts the older folks. My issue isn’t with getting sick, it’s with getting injured since my job is kinda rough on my body. After labral tears in both my shoulders, I couldn’t even get MRIs done on them, much less surgery.
My fix for TriCare is actually on the other end. If the military at large would stop incentivizing marriage, there’d be far fewer dependents on the TriCare lists. I cringe every time I see some 19-22 year old E-3 alongside his dependabeast with a kid or two in tow and/or one on the way.