Don't mess with my TRICARE! Ok, we won't.

Ok, I haven blogged in over a year so I could focus on having a happy healthy baby. Now that baby is four months old and I feel I can once again put in the effort to do the research needed to write this blog. Welcome back readers!  I was particularly inspired to dive back into my work at F.U.M.E. by a family members concern about The Affordable Care Act and it's affects on TRICARE and VA benefits. One particular concern was that something was passed at the last minute that would adversely affect benefits for widows of veterans. I have found that this concern seems to have stemmed from a last minute press release from Republicans on the House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committee and the group Veterans of Foreign Wars, claiming that unless a Republican amendment was added, TRICARE and survivor health benefits would fail to meet the bill minimum essential coverage standard. The VFW's statement claimed that "the President and Democratic leadership are betraying veterans" by failing to adapt the Republican amendment that would explicitly list TRICARE and VA survivor health benefits as meeting the health reform bills minimum essential coverage. In the hours before the House vote on the reform bill, Republicans Howard "Buck" McKeon(Calif.) and Steve Buyer(Ind.) argued that these beneficiaries and even some veterans' children with spina bifida could be forced to pay a penalty or buy extra health insurance. Democrats at the time countered that the chances of such a thing occurring were actually nil to infinitesimal. However, a day before the critical vote on the reform bill, in an effort to ease the fears and concerns of veterans and their families, the House unanimously passed a bill put forth by Ike Skelton(D-MO), Chairmen of the Armed Forces Committee. The Skelton Bill amended the tax code so that all TRICARE plans and health plans for Defense non-appropriated fund employees would meet the minimum essential coverage. That wasn't enough for Buyer, who said in interviews that this amendment failed to protect all veterans' widows and orphans. However, the Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Bob Filner(D-Calif) countered that Buyer had relied on a "false interpretation" of health reform legislation. Filner said progress on health reform had been watched carefully and legislators had been in contact with groups regarding veterans affairs. John Rowan of the Vietnam Veterans of America said in a press release at the time "it is unfortunate that some continue to raise what now is even more clearly a false alarm that is apparently meant to frighten veterans and their families in order to prompt them to oppose the pending legislation." In the end the VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell weighed in saying their concerns had been relieved and confirmed that the VFW wasn't opposed to the national healthcare reform.   Recently Tom Philpott of military.com said, "The threat [to TRICARE] was never more than a notion." Today that's the general consensus among most military associations and veteran groups, as reinforced by statements from Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, as well as the White House and Chairmen of key congressional committees. The fact is that TRICARE and VA survivor health benefits will remain under the sole authority of the Defense Department. According to the Assistant Secretary of Defense "eligibility, covered benefits, copaymets and all other features of our TRICARE program will remain in place. TRICARE was deemed a "qualifying coverage", meaning that if you have TRICARE you will not be subject to the law's financial penalty." TRICARE for Life is also considered qualifying coverage. Nothing in the legislation will change any TRICARE fees.   Though there has been recent movement to allow TRICARE to be included in one of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA requires civilian health plans that provide medical coverage to children to extend that till the child turns 26 years of age. The act did not give the Department of Defense the authority to offer the benefit thru TRICARE. There's currently provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2011 that now extends that coverage up to age 26 via a premium-based program. The Department of Defense has promised to implement the provisions as soon as possible.  While time will tell how the Affordable Care Act will affect civilian Americans as it goes into affect, it is patently clear that the reform has no authority over TRICARE and therefore TRICARE will not be directly affected by it. Thank you to those that took the time to read this and I welcome y'all to continue your own research at the following sites: www.military.com www.tricare.mil www.healthcare.gov Also I welcome any questions and ideas for future topics for Facts for the Un-informed, Mis-informed, and Everyone else!