MILITARY BENEFICIARIES ARE COUNTING ON IT
by Fred Edwards
July 4, 2008

As Medicare goes, so goes military TRICARE because TRICARE payments to doctors are tied to Medicare. And the doctors are being yanked around for a second year with cuts to Medicare payments they will receive. The law slashed Medicare payments 10.6 percent July 1, and Congress failed to correct it before taking their Independence Day recess.

Oh, they tried. First, the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 6331 and left town. With a vote of 355 to 59, the House could easily overturn a threatened presidential veto. Why a veto? Because, in order to “pay” for canceling the 10.6 percent cut, the bill would have cut payments to the insurance companies that administer Medicare Advantage. Those payments currently run an average of 13 percent more than regular Medicare payments. The president would have none of that.

With the House out, the Senate had no chance to hammer out a conference bill, so its only choice was to take up the House bill as written. It needed 60 votes to pass, but only could scrape up 59. Even if it had gotten 60, that number would not survive a veto.

On June 27, the Military Officers Association stated “They blew it. All of them. The President. Congress. House and Senate. Republicans and Democrats,” and said they were “playing political chicken” with senior’s care.

For a temporary fix, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said the pre-July 1 prices will continue until July 15. If the hiatus continues and the cuts begin, he plans to repay doctors retroactively. In addition, Department of Defense officials have announced that TRICARE will continue to process claims under the old rates at least through the end of the summer. Both agencies are assuming that Congress will fix the problem when it reconvenes.

If it doesn’t, a significant percentage of doctors have stated they will no longer accept new Medicare patients. How long they would retain existing Medicare patients is uncertain, but they can’t be expected to operate at a loss indefinitely. This is the second time Medicare cuts have been imposed — although reinstated retroactively the first time, in 2006 — if Congress does fix it this time, one wonders just how long doctors will put up with such yanking around until they decide that Medicare is not worth the hassle. This means that military TRICARE families as well as elderly American civilians would suffer.

As Medicare goes, so goes military TRICARE. We can do better for the troops and their families.

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The content of Crosshairs - Military Matters in Review may be copied or retransmitted for information purposes, but may not be used for any commercial purpose without my written permission. Please include this notice and credit the source as Crosshairs - Military Matters in Review by Fred Edwards.
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Fred Edwards is a military columnist and journalist. He has contributed articles to more than two dozen periodicals and has written six books. His most recent are The Buffie Brigade and The Bridges of Vietnam: From the Journals of a U.S. Marine Intelligence Officer.

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