U.S. armed services retirees and their families will now pay higher annual fees for the Tricare Prime health benefits system beginning Oct. 1, 2012. The fee increases range from 3.6 percent and 17 percent (for most), reports the Navy Times:
Military retirees who enrolled in the system on or after Oct. 1, 2011, and all new beneficiaries will pay $269.28 a year for an individual, up from $260, and $538.56 for a family, up from $520.Those who were in Prime before Oct. 1, 2011, will see their annual fees increase from to $269.28 from $230 for individuals and to $538.56 from $460 for families. [...]The Obama administration had pressed for heftier increases in its proposed fiscal 2013 defense budget along with new enrollment fees for Tricare Standard, Extra and Tricare For Life, the health benefit for Medicare-eligible retirees and their families.The proposal was struck down by the House and Senate Armed Services committees on a bipartisan basis.
The Obama administration originally pushed for significantly higher premiumsfor Tricare enrollees in their fiscal year 2013 budget, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon earlier this year. In July, the administration threatened to veto a defense appropriations bill, in part, because it did not include higher Tricare fees.
