I guarantee there will be a front page story in the various military times newspapers about some retired NCO with a special needs kid, wife with cancer, etc. who slipped through the cracks and is now facing bankruptcy due to medical bills. Not saying some people aren’t willfully obtuse, but it will happen. My beef, is simply that a mediocre healthcare package is being watered down even further. I’m fortunate to work at a place with fantastic health insurance options that I’ve already been using as my primary bill payer. The decision I need to make is whether Tricare Select is worth keeping. On basic principle, I want to make the government cover at least some of my expenses because they said they would. However, practically it may be a waste of my time and money. What really angers me are the folks who also earned it and don’t have the financial means to laugh off the increased costs. Not everyone waltzes straight off active duty and into a job that pays substantially better like many pilots do.

I totally agree. If they want to change the benefits we have earned, they need to do it for those starting from now on. Those starting service now can decide if they want to continue under the "new" benefits. Changing the contract after the fact is criminal in my mind.

Changing a contract after 20 years services rendered is what you’re missing. 2 can play at this game, I’ll just go back for another 20-30% disability that I’ve been too lazy to file for.

copays for Tricare prime (retired) have been rising every couple years, as have the annual fees. They’re way less than a “civilian” pays (which is just absurd), but still.

Is this for retired or reserve select?

In all ironies, I tried to open the link but I am on a Navy computer, and they block at the Military Times sites.

Are Tricare Prime and Tricare for Life the same thing?

No. Prime is one option for pre Medicare aged people whether active duty or retired. Tricare for Life is for Medicare aged retirees.

For those of us who don’t choose to live anywhere near a base, which is the majority of the country, Tricare Select was our only choice. Until next year, Tricare Select had been “free” with only the $3000 out of pocket cap. Not great, but not terrible by any stretch. The out of pocket cap will increase by $500 and there will now be a the deductible. The overall price could still be called reasonable, but now that it has been established that out of pocket costs will increase you can expect similar size increases in perpetuity. Tricare Select is NOT as good as my civilian job coverage (probably among the best in the private sector) so I may drop it since that will enable me to qualify to use a HSA that will provide a vehicle to hide more money from the tax man. For the average Joe who is retired military, Tricare will remain his best option. It will simply be a crappier best option than anticipated that will eat up an ever growing share of his retirement. The outrage is generated by the ex post facto changing of the “deal”.

:rolleyes:

That's a reductionist trope. You're missing the point of having Tricare Select in AD retirement (pre-medicare): I don't need to be tied to an employer to have it! You may not put much value to it because you're committed to toiling until your hands give out, but I do put a value to it. Especially the value of not having to ask 'mother may I?' to some employer in my 50s as a pre-condition of providing healthcare access to my family. I don't do that because my statistical civilian options (and healthcare options by proxy) outside the military are that of a retail greeter according to your trope. I do it because employer-independent healthcare in "working" age isn't the bug for me, it's the FEATURE.

At this juncture in my life I don't even euphemize the transactional reasons for pursuing an AD retirement. It's actually ironic to me you consider the employer-dependent paradigm the more enviable construct.

Not sure why you are so offended that some folks have better health insurance options. You are tied to an employer to have have it. The US military. They still own you and have the right to recall you if needed. Just because this hasn’t been common lately doesn’t mean that commitment doesn’t exist. You can resign your commission to eliminate the commitment, but then you would lose your pension, Tricare, and most veterans benefits. As far as toiling until my hands give out, really, what exactly do you think I do for a living? I will still have the ability to sign up for Tricare going forward if my life circumstances change. (Assuming I drop select this fall.) To be honest, you sound like you drank a little too much blue koolaid. I loved serving my country, but I never bought into the idea that I was going to be taken care of for life. Military personnel are by definition disposable, that’s why we drop them into the world’s $hit holes and assign them tough jobs. Society (ours included) has always offered just enough incentives to fill the ranks or simply drafted bodies when that got too expensive. You could call it cynical, I call it an acknowledgement that service is just that, service. Not really intended to be a means to get ahead in life.