Senators Team to Stop Tricare Hikes

Senators Frank L. Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., have introduced the Military Retirees’ Health Care Protection Act, designed to bar the administration from severely raising Tricare fees for military retirees. “Especially in a time of war, it is unthinkable that the administration would even consider dramatically increasing health care costs for those who have sacrificed for our country,” said Senator Lautenberg. “Our bill assures today’s military retirees and their families that, just as they protected us, we will take care of them when their service ends.” Under the act, increases in health care fees could not exceed the growth rate of uniformed services beneficiaries’ military compensation. The administration plan would double fees for senior enlisted retirees and triple them for officer retirees, imposing increases of up to $1,000 annually for some. The House’s companion bill to the Lautenberg/Hagel legislation is H.R. 4949, with 139 cosponsors.