Politicians and Bureaucrats are Poised to Again Betray Our Warriors
For years, military retirees of the Greatest Generation fought Congress and the Courts, all the way to the Supreme Court, for Health Care Promises we were made for sacrificing our youth for the Defense of our Country.
In 2001, we won one of our battles and was awarded Tricare For Life (TFL), to supplement Medicare, but we still must pay Medicare Part B and for many services, not covered by either Medicare or Tricare For Life, such as Dental, Eyes, Long Term Health Care and more.
Now we learn that the Department of Defense wants us to pay an enrollment fee for the Tricare For Life we fought so hard for, supposedly to offset erroneous claim of health care expenses to their Department. How in good conscience can current active duty members of our Armed Forces lie in order to penalize those who sacrificed before them?
A great deal of the Pentagon’s concern over rising health care costs involves the nearly $9 billion annual deposit to the TRICARE For Life trust fund that the Administration wrongly counts against the defense budget.
Two years ago, when Defense leaders said the Administration was making them take this deposit “out of their hide” at the expense of other Defense programs, the Armed Services Committees acted to change the law to shift that deposit from the Defense budget to the U.S. Treasury budget. The clear intent was that TFL expenses weren’t to come at the expense of other readiness needs. Congress passed that provision as part of the FY2005 Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 108-375).
But the Office of Management and Budget has since conspired with the budget committees to flout the clear letter of the law and continue to charge the deposit against the defense budget. That’s why the Administration has wrongly forced the Joint Chiefs of Staff to choose between retiree health funding and weapons programs. It’s a false and inappropriate choice. If the Administration obeyed the law, the debate wouldn’t be necessary.
I am sending this information to my two Florida U.S. Senators and my District U.S Representative, asking that they look into this matter and to stop this new discrimination against our oldest Military Retirees, their Spouses and the Widow’s and Widowers of the Greatest Generation. I suggest every Citizen of this great Free Nation, demand justice for military retirees, who helped keep this a Free Nation, by asking their Senators and Representatives to intercede on behalf of our military retirees.
Robert C. Thompson 850 871-0988
7115 Maxwell Ct.
Panama City, FL 32404