FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 1999
CONTACT: Lisette McSoud Mondello
SENATE PASSES HUTCHISON AMENDMENT
TO UPGRADE MILITARY HEALTH CARE
"Will make the military more family friendly," Senator says
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate today passed an amendment introduced by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to upgrade the military health care system. The amendment was added to a bill improving military pay and benefits.
"We are working to make the military more family friendly," Senator Hutchison said. "This is key to recruitment and retention efforts. We must pay our servicemen and women better, maintain good retirement benefits and improve the health care we provide our military personnel and their families."
"America's fighting forces are the best in the world, and my legislation is designed to keep them that way," the Senator said. "This is an important first step in addressing the quiet crisis in military health care. There's more work to be done, but my bill directs the Secretary of Defense to address the most egregious problems first."
The Hutchison provision of the legislation:
- Permits increased reimbursement levels for Tricare, the military health care delivery system, to attract and retain more participating doctors to the program.
- Expedites and reduces the costs of Tricare claims processing, which has been a thorn in the side of both beneficiaries and providers.
- Requires portability of benefits between regions. This would make it easier for military personnel to get their health care needs met as they move from one duty station to another.
- Brings the Tricare fee structure more in line with comparable civilian HMOs and brings Tricare co-payments more in line with civilian health care options as well.
"Military hospitals have been closed as a result of base closures and downsizing over the past decade, while the number of personnel who rely on the military health care system has remained constant," she said. "Today our armed forces have more married service members with families than ever before. Those who have served and are now retired were promised quality health care, as well. We have taken the first steps toward honoring those commitments."
"This is a critical issue to recruiting and retaining first-rate military personnel -- which in turn is crucial to the security of our country," she said.
Senator Hutchison's measure also was endorsed by a wide segment of military and veterans groups, including The Military Coalition.
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