Bill Would Block Tricare Fee Hikes

Last year Congress blocked until Sept. 30 of this year the Defense Department’s plan to impose huge annual layers of Tricare fees on military retirees under age 65. To counter plans by DoD to institute two tiers of increases at once in October, Representatives Chet Edwards, D-Texas, and Walter Jones, R-N.C., have introduced H.R. 579. Their Military Retirees’ Healthcare Protection Act would place control of the fees in congressional hands for four key categories: enrollment fees for retired members and survivors in Tricare Prime; enrollment fees for the Tricare Reserve Select program; pharmacy co-payments and co-payments for inpatient care.