Beneficiaries of health care under TRICARE Prime would pay slightly higher premiums in 2012 — $30 for individuals and $60 for families – under a key provision of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act as passed by the House Armed Services Committee. Future increases in the premiums would be no higher than the yearly cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) military retirees, Social Security recipients, and other federal beneficiaries receive. The Senate will take up its version of the Defense Bill in June. The House measure also calls for a 1.6-percent pay raise for active and reserve service members. Other health-related provisions of the House bill include:
* Elimination of co-payments for home delivery of generic prescriptions, and an increase of retail pharmacy co-payments for generic drugs to $5, from $3;
* An increase of co-payments for brand-name prescriptions at retail pharmacies to $12 from $9, with a $9 co-payment for home delivery;
* A $25 co-payment for nonformulary prescriptions, up from $22.