BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
                              LOU CORREA, CHAIRMAN
                                             


          Bill No:        SJR 8 
          Author:         Senate Veterans Affairs
          Version:        As Introduced
          Hearing Date:   June 14, 2011
          Fiscal:         No
          Consultant:     Donald E. Wilson




                                 SUBJECT OF BILL  
          
          Cost of living increases for those on Tricare  
           
                                   PROPOSED LAW  
           
           Urges Congress to make itself the sole authority on 
          determining future TRICARE cost increases and to base those 
          increases on US Department of Labor statistics.
                                         
                          EXISTING LAW AND BACKGROUND  
          
          1.  The military provides health care to veterans while on 
          leave.  Older veterans will remember the old CHAMPUS 
          (Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed 
          Services) program.  TRICARE replaced CHAMPUS.

          2.  As rounds of the Base Closure and Realignment 
          Commission (BRAC) closed military facilities around the 
          country, health care that retired veterans had earned as 
          part of their retirement package was made inaccessible.

          3.  In 2001, Tricare was then expanded to cover retirees by 
          the establishment of the "TRICARE for Life" program, which 
          is wrap-around coverage for those entitled to Medicare Part 
          A coverage.

          4.  TRICARE has now expanded to include over a half dozen 
          programs.
                                         
                                    COMMENT  









          
          1.  BRAC has resulted in broken promises to retired 
          veterans.

          2.  Retirees were to have access to medical facilities on 
          bases.  However, if there is no base, the retiree on most 
          occasions cannot access medical facilities, which mostly 
          left with the closed base.

          3.  CHAMPUS was a military program run for military 
          personnel.  TRICARE is a private insurance company basing 
          its decisions on the advice of bean counters rather than 
          the obligations committed to under the original programs 
          offered to would be retirees when those individuals made 
          those decisions.

          4.  The commitment made to retirees was clear and 
          comprehensive.  For a lifetime of putting one's life on the 
          line, a retiree would receive full lifetime coverage.

          5.  In short, an insurance company has come in many years 
          after the fact to cover the cost of a population that is at 
          the point in life of using many services without having 
          collected premiums in the earlier, healthy years.  This 
          scenario has led many to question the practices of the 
          TRICARE organization.  As a result, veterans want the 
          decision making power to lie solely with the Congress.


                                     SUPPORT  
          
          None received

                                      OPPOSE  
          
          None received








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