Hmmm, gee I wonder why no one is calling for budget cuts in Political or Presidential pay ?
All the money being squandered on keeping former Presidents comfortable and politicians receiving Gold plan medical care.
But it's the money used for Veterans and Military pay that are breaking the bank , RIGHT?
Sure it is ........
~Desert Rose~
..........
Obama Urges Congress to Support Tricare Fees
Nov 19, 2013
by Richard Sisk
On
Monday the White House pressed the Pentagon to rein in Tricare costs
and begin a new round of base closings as the Senate took up the
National Defense Authorization Act on the military’s 2014 budget.
There
are a number of areas of agreement with the initial markup of the
Senate Armed Services Committee on the NDAA, but the administration "has
serious concerns with certain provisions,"
Office of Management and Budget officials said in a lengthy response to the markup.
OMB
called on SASC to control Tricare costs at the Department of Defense
"while keeping retired beneficiaries' share of these costs well below
the levels experienced when the Tricare program was implemented in the
mid-1990s."
Slowing the growth of Tricare costs would result in
savings of $902 million in fiscal year 2014 and $9.3 billion through
fiscal year 2018. Those savings were needed to offset projected
increases in personnel costs, OMB said.
President Obama has
proposed slowing this growth by introducing a new set of enrollment fees
and higher co-pays to retirees under the age of 65.
The
Pentagon proposed an annual enrollment fee based on a percentage of
retired pay for Medicare-eligible retirees in the Tricare For Life
Program. Working age retirees in the Tricare Standard and Tricare Extra
programs also would face new annual enrollment fees phased in over five
years.
Read More Here
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New budget cut options include military pay, veterans
By Tom Philpott
Published: November 14, 2013
Military
members, retirees and veterans have a few more reasons to be wary of
politicians who say their top priority is to cut federal spending.
The
Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday released a report of more than
100 options for reducing budget deficits. It’s a timely product as
House and Senate conferees strive to negotiate by mid-December a new
debt-cutting deal to replace automatic budget cuts of sequestration.
More
than a few of the CBO options are fresh ideas to roll back compensation
for categories of veterans or to raise TRICARE fees for military
retirees, on suggestions that the government is being too generous.
To
be fair, CBO is not singling out veterans here. There are options in
the report to make nervous many segments of society dependent on federal
payments, from social security recipients to drug manufacturers.
But
for select veterans’ programs, CBO makes some hard-edged points that
lawmakers bent on cutting spending might find compelling, if not
persuasive, to help address the nation’s debt crisis.
Here are some of those ideas:
Cap Military Pay Raises – From
2000 through 2010, Congress approved basic pay raises that averaged a
half percentage point above private sector wage growth. The military
could save $25 billion from 2015 to 2023 by reversing course, capping
raises yearly at .5 percent below civilian wage growth. CBO predicts
only a “minor” effect on force retention.
Evidence in favor of
this move are data showing cash compensation for enlisted members now
exceeds wages of 90 percent of civilian counterparts, well above the
Defense Department’s goal of keeping service pay ahead of 70 percent of
civilians of similar age and educational background. CBO says officer
compensation exceeds 86 percent of private sector peers.
The case
against capping raises is that recruiting and retention goals could be
compromised, CBO says, and smaller raises also dampen other elements of
military compensation including retirement annuities.
Raise TRICARE Fees –
CBO floats two options to have military retirees pay more for health
care. One is to have TRICARE-for-Life users — retirees, spouses and
survivors age 65 and older — pay the first $550 of costs not covered by
Medicare and then 50 percent of the next $4950. CBO says this would
slow TRICARE costs by $31 billion from 2015 to 2023 but also save
Medicare dollars as older beneficiaries seek fewer health services.
The
drawback is some TLF users might not seek needed preventive care or
manage their chronic conditions as closely as they do now.
The
second option targets “working age” retirees and families enrolled in
TRICARE Prime by raising fees, deductibles and co-pays in a complex
combination too detailed to describe here. The Prime changes for
retirees could save from $2 billion to $11 billion by 2023, depending on
final details.
Read More Here
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