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December
29, 2005
Defense
officials want annual enrollment fees for TRICARE Prime, the military's
managed care plan, to triple by October 2008 for working-age retired
officers, from $230/$460 a year (individual/family coverage) up to
$750/$1500, and to double, to $450/$900, for under-65 enlisted retirees.
Beyond 2008, all TRICARE fees and co-payments would be indexed to
medical inflation. TRICARE retail pharmacy co-payments also would be
raised, which would be the only change to impact Medicare-eligible
retirees too. The goal would be to discourage purchase of maintenance
medicines through the more expensive retail network, by increasing the
$3 co-payment for generic drugs to $5 while offering free generic drugs
by mail. The current $9 co-pay for brand drugs would jump to $15 retail
and $10 by mail order. For more information, read Tom Philpott's article
"Joint
Chiefs to Back Higher TRICARE Fees".
How
do you feel about this action? Let
your public officials know how you feel.
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