Senate Compromise
On Providing Healthcare Coverage
For Guard And Reserves
October 9, 2003
At-A-Glance
The Senate agreement on reserve health care will
ensure that every member of the Guard and Reserve has access to health
insurance and that they will be as healthy as possible when they answer
the time-honored call-to-duty. It has four major provisions
1) TRICARE Buy-In:
Guard members who are unemployed or whose employers do not offer
health insurance would be able to enroll themselves and their families in
the military’s TRICARE program on a cost-share basis. A single reservist
would pay an annual premium, around 30 percent of the annual cost of
providing care, amounting to about $420 annually for single reservists and
$1450 annually for a reservist and his or her family
2) TRICARE upon
Receiving Orders: All Guard members, Reservists and their families
would be eligible to enroll in TRICARE as soon as they receive activation
orders, as opposed to when they are actually activated. This change will
smooth the transition to active service, allowing you to begin some of the
paperwork earlier.
3) Extension of TRICARE
Eligibility after Demobilization: All Guard members, Reservists, and
their families would be able to stay in TRICARE for six months after
demobilization, whatever your time in service.
4) Civilian Health
Coverage Reimbursement: Families of deployed Guard members and
Reservists would be able to choose to avoid the turbulence of switching
from their private insurance to the TRICARE program and could maintain
their civilian insurance while their loved one is deployed. The
government would reimburse these families for the cost of continuing to
use their civilian health insurance.
This Is An Affordable Plan
This legislation is affordable. The
legislation will cost $400 million in Fiscal Year 2004 and $500 million in
Fiscal Year 2005. This is a small price to pay, considering the
improvement in readiness and retention that the new program will bring
about.
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