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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP Candidate Says Military Retirees Must Pay More for Health Care
And it's the rah-rah pro-war guy!
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/07/09/gop-candidate-military-retirees-must-pay-more-for-health-care.html
In a speech Wednesday at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the fee structure under the military health care program known as Tricare hasn't changed with any significance in two decades.
"The retired Tricare community is going to have to increase over time the amount they pay to make it sustainable," he said. "About 5 percent of the money to pay Tricare bills comes from the patient population. In the private sector, it's about 20 [percent]. So over time, we're going to have to ask Tricare retirees to contribute more to make Tricare more sustainable."...
Troop advocates argue overall defense spending soared with the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that personnel costs as a percentage of the defense budget remained flat at about a third of the spending plan.
Wilms
(26,795 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)expressed as "Life begins at conception and ends at birth."
Response to KamaAina (Reply #3)
Romeo.lima333 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Uncle Joe
(58,506 posts)even then it's more rhetoric than reality.
Flying the flag or wearing a patriotic lapel pin being the most obvious means of support, waging unfunded wars based on lies is another.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)TexasProgresive
(12,164 posts)It really pains them when military people return home injured, wanting jobs or what was promised them. The Pukes prefer the brave and valorous to come home in a bag. I hope this doesn't offend anyone but it is the pattern I have seen over my life. I am in the middle of 5 generations who have served the U.S. in the military - all branches except the Coast Guard.
1939
(1,683 posts)Shot at and missed, shit at and hit.
Lots of guys got put out on the street with little or nothing after 8-10-12-14-16 years of service..
TexasProgresive
(12,164 posts)as an employment counselor for the state of Louisiana. There was so much anger in these men that he was sure one or more would snap. I guess their sense of duty out weighed their anger.
MADem
(135,425 posts)We worked those 18 hour days in part for the very "deferred compensation" that TRICARE provides.
As it is, we were promised FREE health care for life--it ain't free by a long shot. And they should come up with a dental plan that doesn't suck, too...but hey, whatever.
Typical Republican bullshit from a typical Republican bullshitter...
TheCowsCameHome
(40,169 posts)Your numbers couldn't get much lower, anyway.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)And they're already in the Marianas Trench.
0rganism
(23,984 posts)c'mon, you know this would be perfect... basket case + closet case = pure comedy gold
oh please! let me have this.
msongs
(67,478 posts)issues
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)But what if someone I don't like gets treatment for a totally preventable condition, like excess ear wax? Waste! Fraud! Abuse!
angryvet
(181 posts)to the VFW, American Legion or VVA. Guess he thinks he has some cover since he is a vet. It doesn't give him cover.
haele
(12,688 posts)Disability plus maybe a minimum wage equivalent of volunteer or temp work, because they have too much pain or there's no full-time work around that they are capable of doing and they need to be near reliable veteran's services to continue to be functional. Making just enough to scrape by - because they were 1) lower ranked enlisted, and 2)they've had only 8 or 12 years in service before they had to leave, and Disability is a percentage of your T&R when you got out. For every officer living off retirement or disability, there are at least 40 enlisted. There's a lot of vets out there like that, just trying to make it month to month with family and friends usually shouldering a good deal of the cost of living on disability.
Not to mention a lot of retirees had gone through their service without a significant "skill", so when they did retire, they were pretty much capable of just pulling down retail lower level management or similar type job that has low wages, little advancement and few benefits.
While Grandpa might be able to make a good living as a shoe salesman and his pension...but now?
How is s/he going to pay that additional 15% increase in costs that are being proposed? Is Graham also suggesting that they going to means test Tricare like they do Medicaid and the VA?
Or are the Republicans going to propose a Single Payer system, so it doesn't matter if a patient has Tricare, Medicaid, VA, BIA medical, or any other medical program in this country? I wager that I would be hunt down and eaten by Jesus riding a velociraptor before that happens.
Haele
While in a line company you might have a 30-40 to 1 ratio of officers to enlisted, the officer strength of the active army is more like 10%. Given the likelihood that officers may be more likely to stay after their original term of service, i would think the retiree ranks are more like 25% officers to enlisted.
Once a retiree turns 65, they go under "Tricare For Life" which picks up all of the deductibles and co-pays of Medicare. There is still a reasonable co-pay for prescription drugs. Like Medicare, Tricare has no dental coverage (though you are eligible to buy a very worthless dental policy).