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Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy
On The Introduction Of The
Comprehensive National Guard and Reserve Health Insurance Bill
April 10, 2003
Mr. President, today I am joined by Senator
DeWine; by our Minority Leader, Senator Daschle; and by Senator Smith
in introducing legislation that will boost the readiness of our
nation’s military reserve.
Never has our Nation relied more heavily on the
Selected Reserve – more than 875,000 men and women, who stand ready
for deployments at home or abroad, at a moment’s notice. More than 54
percent of the U.S. Army’s and 34 percent of the U.S. Air Force’s end
strength resides in the Selected Reserve. Both the Army and the
Marine Corps rely on these reserve forces for almost 20 percent of
their manpower strength. The skill, experience and professionalism of
these dedicated citizens often meet and exceed those of their brave
counterparts in active force.
It is no wonder then that more than 200,000
reservists have been called to duty for service that is related to the
war in Iraq. Many states have thousands of their citizens who have
temporarily dropped their civilian jobs and left their families for
deployments halfway across the globe. More than 300 citizen-soldiers,
sailors, airmen, and Marines in my home state of Vermont are serving
proudly at the moment, here and abroad. When you include the call-ups
since the September 11 attacks, the number of activated reservists
across the country far exceeds those in the first Gulf War.
These deployments have spotlighted some specific
and solvable problems that have affected the readiness of the reserves
and, in turn, our entire military. Some of the troops who have been
called up have not been as healthy as possible. Others have faced the
stress of leaving their families behind while looking back in concern
as their families try to navigate the sometimes arcane military health
care system. While often experiencing a loss of income, reserve
family members also have had to leave their civilian doctors and join
the military’s TRICARE program.
More troubling, many of the members of the Guard
and Reserve who might be activated any day do not currently have
access to affordable health insurance. A recent General Accounting
Office report underscores the fact that most of these uninsured Guard
and Reservists reside in the lower enlisted ranks, where the reserve
soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines oftentimes are unemployed or
switch jobs frequently. It is unfair to them and their families, and
it is unwise for the preparedness of our military, to expect someone
to deploy anywhere at the drop of a hat, but then to disregard whether
they will be as healthy as possible when we need to call them to
active duty.
These men and women are ready to make the
ultimate sacrifice for their country, and so are their families. But
they are performing as full-time soldiers with part-time benefits.
This situation is preventing the National Guard
and the Reserve from being as ready as possible for action. At the
same time, the stress and strain that activations place on families
has hurt recruiting and retention. To ensure the strongest and most
effective reserve and the strongest and most effective military
capability, it is critical that we address these issues and provide
comprehensive health insurance coverage.
The National Guard and Reserve Comprehensive
Health Benefits Act of 2003 will provide seamless health coverage to
our reserve forces at all phases of their service. Under our plan, if
one of 876,000 members of the Selected is in a drill status, that
reservist and his or her family will become eligible to join the
TRICARE military health insurance program. The reservist will pay an
annual premium, around 30 percent of the annual cost of providing
care. For a single reservist, the premium would be about $420 per
year, while for a family the annual payment would be about $1450.
This is not rock-bottom-cheap health care, but our aim is to ensure
affordable health insurance for hard-working families that may not
otherwise have access to coverage.
If a reservist is activated, he or she will
continue to have free health care through the military health system.
But under our legislation, the reservist’s family will be able to
avoid the considerable difficulties of switching doctors and health
insurance. They also can apply to have their civilian health
insurance reimbursed. The program will not cost any more to the
federal government than the current arrangement because the per capita
costs are capped to ensure that they are no more than the cost of
TRICARE. And when a reservist comes off active duty, he or she will
be able to enter the new premium-based TRICARE program, just as before
deployment.
Because reservists will be able to have access to
affordable insurance whatever their deployment status, this
legislation is being supported by several leading organizations,
including the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS),
the Enlisted National Guard Association of the United States (EANGUS),
the Reserve Officers Association (ROA), the Naval Reserve Association
(NRA), the National Military Family Association (NMFA), Marine Corps
Reserve Officers Association, the National Association for Uniformed
Services, the National Military/Veterans Association, and the Military
Officers Association (MOA). This legislation is the top priority of
The Military Coalition’s Guard/Reserve Committee.
We have worked hard to fully understand the
existing problems and to construct this efficient and effective
solution. We are part of a strong, bipartisan coalition that will
push for enactment of this long-overdue legislation. In the coming
weeks we plan to welcome additional cosponsors for this comprehensive
bill as we begin the process of moving it without delay through the
legislative process and to the President’s desk.
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