Addressing TRICARE concerns, ensuring a fair pay raise for servicemembers, and seeking long-overdue reforms to some military benefits are at the top of MOAA's to-do list as work begins in Congress on the 2020 military budget, Lt. Gen. Dana T. Atkins, USAF (Ret), President and CEO of MOAA, said in a recent television appearance.
“Over the past few years, there's been unannounced [TRICARE] premium increases, co-pay increases and pharmacy increases. We are just making sure that whatever occurs within the TRICARE system remains reasonable and proportional,” Atkins said during Monday's edition of Government Matters, which aired on WJLA 24/7 News in the Washington, D.C., area and is now available online. “The other part about the TRICARE system is contract changes. Over the last two years, there have been contract changes for the West Coast and East Coast beneficiary population. Every time you have a contract change, you obviously instill some level of confusion for the beneficiary population.”
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Atkins also spoke about the Survivor Benefit Plan-Dependency and Indemnity Compensation offset, also known as the “widows' tax.” MOAA has fought to end financial penalties for military survivors and continues to support legislation that would reverse a federal law requiring survivors of deceased military members to forfeit part or all of their SBP annuity when they are awarded DIC.
Other issues included MOAA's push to ensure the FY 2020 military pay raise matches the Employment Cost Index of 3.1 percent, and the protection of military benefits as DoD commissions its Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation.
Watch the full interview from Government Matters below.
Amanda Dolasinski is MOAA's staff writer. She can be reached at amandad@moaa.org. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMOAA.
