Trashing Tricare -- Washington Free BeaconObama to cut healthcare benefits for active duty and retired US military.
The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges.
The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.
The proposed increases in health care payments by service members, which must be approved by Congress, are part of the Pentagon’s $487 billion cut in spending. It seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget, and $12.9 billion by 2017.
Read more ....
My Comment: Fighting wars for ten years will bring about health care issues and costs down the road. As a result, the bean counters know that the health care aspects of the defense budget will start to escalate soon, and any attempts to rein in the defense budget will be difficult if the cuts do not happen now.
As to what is my take .... a promise was made to take care of our service men and women .... a promise that is now about to be broken. And what makes this even more "teeth gritting" is that while cuts are being made to uniformed soldiers and their families, unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits will be untouched.