NORFOLK -- Veterans organizations and retirees are ready to do battle again. This time, the enemy is proposed increases in health care fees.
Under Pentagon budget cuts laid out this week, retirees would pay $13 billion over five years for medical coverage and prescription drug needs. TriCare Prime enrollment fees would quadruple - from $520 to $2,048 a year. Pharmacy co-pays for retail drugs would cost $26.00 instead of $12.00.
Retirees, many of whom are on a fixed income, say this isn't what they were promised.
"It adds up and you've got to realize we don't have an opportunity to go out and get another job. I'm 80 old, for crying out loud. Who's going to hire an 80-year old to do anything?," says Chris Vatidis, a retired Navy captain who lives in Va. Beach.
The Military Officers Association of America is urging its members to contact Congress, calling the proposal an assault on veterans' quality of life.
Rep. Scott Rigell (R-2nd D.) says the country should keep the promises it's made.
"If they want to take a look at young people entering service, that's an entirely different subject, but to go and unilaterally increase fees, increase deductibles and essentially shift costs to retirees, that's not what our men and women understood when they enlisted," he said.
The retirees and MOAA say they believe young people would quit or not sign up if they see a bait and switch.
