Gates Tries To Cut Military Health Care

[n2doc]

ANNE FLAHERTY | 01/ 7/11 05:47 PM |

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates is betting that Americans' frustration with a ballooning deficit will finally allow him to trim one of the government's most politically protected entitlement programs: the military's $50 billion-a-year health care system.

The defense chief has tried to push similar proposals through Congress before and failed. And this year's pitch is a particularly fraught with political risk. President Barack Obama is defending his own health care plan from threats of repeal in the House, while Republicans are looking for ways ahead of the 2012 election to discredit the administration's commitment to the troops.

The military health care program, set up in the 1960s and known as TRICARE, has exploded in cost in recent years with some 10 million individuals now eligible for coverage, including active-duty personnel, retirees, reservists and their families. The price tag has climbed from $19 billion a year a decade ago to its current $50 billion.

Last month, Congress voted to extend coverage of children of service members and retirees until the age of 26, putting the program in line with new requirements for civilian policies.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/gates-tries-to-cut-milita_n_806187.html

Way to support those troops, Gatesy! :sarcasm: