Noteboom The Law Firm

Keeping Tabs on TriCare Fees

Senator Jim Webb (D-Va) is the Chairman for the Senate Armed Service Committee's personnel panel. It was suggested raising Tricare rates for retirees would help cut costs out of the 2012 budget for personnel-related savings. Sen. Webb, however, is not willing to take that step; at least not just yet.

According to Sen. Webb, Tricare healthcare benefits are owed to service members and should not be changed to save money, which would violate the country's "moral contract" with those who serve this country.

Although a possibility in the future, now is not the right time, according to Sen. Webb. The proposed hike in rates for the next year would be a maximum of $5 per month for retirees not yet 65 years of age, and any future increases would be directly tied to the cost of medical inflation.

Sen. Webb is convinced he can cut spending without making TriCare more expensive. Instead, he will look into personnel programs to determine individual program efficiency and effectiveness. Unsuccessful programs face elimination as the Department of Defense (DoD) is not immune from being included in eliminating wasteful federal spending.

For those programs that have proven successful and rewarding, they should be retained, funded, and expanded. Sen. Webb's theory of slimming down federal spending and giving the government a better focus cannot happen with dead weight dragging it down.