May 25, 2012
Panel Rejects Most TRICARE Fee Hikes. Thursday afternoon, the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved its draft of the FY2013 Defense Authorization Act, including a variety of initiatives affecting military pay, retirement, health care, and more.
Administration Opposes TRICARE Relief. The administration released a statement opposing many of the provisions included in the House passed defense authorization bill, including the provisions that provide substantial relief from proposed TRICARE fee increases.
More House Defense Bill Details. We have more details on amendments included in the House-passed version of the FY2013 Defense Authorization Bill.
VA/Health Care Funding Bill Moves Forward. On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved VA and DoD health care funding for FY2013, including an integrated electronic health record system linking VA and DoD health records.
Panel Rejects Most TRICARE Fee Hikes
On May 24, the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved its version of the FY2013 Defense Authorization Bill. For the most part, it contains good news for the military community, but does leave some troubling issues.
Among other provisions, the Senate Committee bill would:
•Bar the Pentagon from implementing proposed dramatic increases in retiree fees for TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Prime, and TRICARE For Life
•By remaining silent on the issue, it would allow the Pentagon to implement significant increases in pharmacy copays (e.g., raising the copay for retail, brand-name medications from the current $12 to $26 as of Oct 1, 2012, and eventually to $34 by Oct 1, 2017).
•Approve force levels proposed by the Pentagon, except for a modest increase for the Air Force.
•Authorize a 1.7% military pay raise on January 1, 2013.
•Require appointment of a Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission to make recommended changes in the military pay and benefits package, primarily for future service entrants, with special rules to expedite congressional consideration that limit debate time and bar any amendments. (MOAA strongly objects to limiting essential congressional oversight in this way on an issue so essential to long-term retention and readiness.)
•Cut $660 million from the budget request for military construction and family housing.
•Require appointment of a commission to study the appropriate mix of active duty, Reserve and Guard components for the Air Force.
•Require a Pentagon report on the impacts of the sequester that will cut another $500 billion from the 10-year defense budget, starting January 2013.
•Require civilian workforce cuts to generate savings equal to that of a 5% cut in military force levels.
•Require annual reports from each service on dwell time between deployments.
•Allow a PCS move for Selected Reserve members who are separated due to force reductions, but who fill critical vacancies in another Selected Reserve unit more than 150 miles from their home.
•Allow SBP-participating military retirees who waive their retired pay in favor of a survivor annuity under the Federal Employees Retirement System to stop paying SBP premiums.
•Codify space-available travel eligibility for active and reserve component members and their dependents, effective January 1, 2014. The provision includes “grey area” Guard/Reserve retirees but does not explicitly include survivors, as MOAA had supported. The Secretary of Defense would retain authority to designate additional eligibles and designate relative travel priority for the various groups.
•Authorize 180 days of TRICARE Standard coverage for members of the Selected Reserve who are involuntarily separated without cause.
•Authorize the Defense Department to put selected over-the-counter medications on the TRICARE pharmacy formulary and establish a copay for them.
•Require an annual report on access, cost and quality of health care for military dependents with disabilities and special needs.
All that are using Tricare pharmacy for their Meds here will be the new fees for the Rx's as a result of the passage of the 2013 Defense Budget:
The House Armed Services Committee rejected the administration’s call to include new and increased Tricare fees in the defense authorization bill the panel passed this week, but the bill does bump up some pharmacy co-pays.
The fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which cleared the committee on May 10, would establish Tricare pharmacy benefits program co-pay rates of $5 for generic medications, $17 for formulary medications and $44 for non-formulary medications obtained through retail pharmacies; and $0 for generic medications, $13 for formulary medications and $43 for non-formulary medications obtained through the TRICARE mail-order program.
The bill also would impose a cap on pharmacy co-pays beginning in 2014. That measure would allow co-pays to increase by no more than the percentage increase of the annual retiree cost-of-living adjustment.
The measure would offset that cap with a five-year pilot program that requires Tricare for Life recipients to obtain refills of maintenance drugs through the Tricare mail-order program.
Source: Federal Daily (http://s.tt/1bt3J)
Chuck