Posted on: Monday, April 11, 2005

MILITARY UPDATE

By Tom Philpott

Three weeks before the TRICARE Reserve Select program begins, a key senator predicts Congress this year will embrace his plan to offer even better healthcare benefits to drilling Reserve and National Guard members.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), new chairman of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel, described as "excellent" the prospect of opening TRICARE Standard, the military's traditional fee-for-service health insurance, to any drilling reservist and family, and with none of the onerous strings attached as occurs under TRICARE Reserve Select.

"I have 70 senators behind me," Graham said on Tuesday, moments after chairing his first personnel subcommittee hearing.

At the hearing, Dr. David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, testified with the service personnel chiefs on recruiting and retention problems. Chu said the troubles are only "of the moment" and will be relieved by adding recruiters, raising bonuses and talking up the value of military service with parents, teachers, coaches — "influencers" who have been advising youths not to join the military.

Chu suggested that a better TRICARE plan for reservists is not needed. Graham disagreed, arguing that reserve recruiting and retention shortfalls in the Army and Marine Corps are here to stay unless military family support structures are strengthened.

"No amount of (bonus) money is going to be able to fix this problem in isolation," Graham said after the hearing. "This is a chronic problem because you now are having people ... on their third, fourth trip to Iraq. The weak link in the chain is the family support piece."

TRICARE Reserve Select enrollments will begin April 26. TRS was a late-hour compromise between Graham's plan to open all of TRICARE to drilling reservists who lack health insurance, and the Defense Department's opposition to any health benefit for drilling reservists.

The result is a benefit both complex and restrictive. Only Reserve and National Guard members deactivated from post-9/11 deployments are eligible. They must have served at least 90 continuous days of active service. For every 90 days activated, they are eligible for a year of TRS, a scaled-down version of TRICARE Standard.

Enrollees must sign a binding agreement to remain in drill status, susceptible to mobilization, for the duration of TRS coverage. They will pay monthly premiums of $75 for member-only TRS or $233 for family coverage. They also will pay TRICARE Standard fees, co-payments and deductibles. If a reservist stops the TRS premiums, coverage would end but the extended service obligation would stand.

Given operational demands on Guard and Reserve forces in the terrorism war, Graham said TRS isn't enough. In February, he introduced Senate Bill 337, which offers TRICARE Standard benefits to all drilling reservists and their families. Graham said he will offer it as a floor amendment to the 2006 defense authorization bill later this year.

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