Budget crunchers set their sights on military retirees’ health costs

Budget crunchers set their sights on military retirees’ health costs

Once again the powers that be need money, and once again they look at the military retiree (“Health care is the Pentagon’s Achilles’ heel,” March 17).

In 1971 as a young private, who enlisted in the U.S. Army, I was told that if I served my country for 20 years I would receive free health and dental care for the rest of my life. The truth is we really didn’t think much about it back then. It was just part of the package.

I went on to serve 22 years, retiring in 1993. By 1995 the free health care was gone. We had Tricare, and we had to pay for it even if we went to the on-base hospital. And forget about seeing a dentist.

But it wasn’t so bad and we accepted it. $460 a year, $12 co-pay for a doctor’s visit. And $3, $9 or $22 for a prescription, depending on what it was.

Now is where it turns common sense on its head.

You get a little older and end up on Medicare with Tricare for Life as a secondary. Tricare for life is free, you no longer pay the doctors visit co-pay. But what many forget is that you now don’t pay the $460 a year, but you do pay roughly $2,400 a year for Medicare, for yourself and spouse.

Now that increase on a fixed income isn’t enough; they want us to pay an additional $200 a year (not sure if that is per individual or family) plus the first $500. (Again not sure who this covers)

But it looks like they now want an additional $1,400 a year from military retirees on a fixed income. Not to mention our prescription rates are also going up to $5, $15, and $25.

Haven’t we given enough?

I consider myself to be fairly average, and I have never made $50,000 a year with my work and military pension combined as your article alleges.

Everett W Oliver, Lowellville

Sergeant First Class, US Army, Retired

Where have all the Socialists gone?

In a letter to the editor March 14, a writer, in making his misguided point, stated: “In contemporary America, Socialists have already been reduced to near extinction.” That statement has been driving me nuts since I read it.

It seems to me that someone’s not paying attention. There are more Socialists in America now then at any time in our history.

The problem is they don’t realize they are Socialists. They don’t realize that they vote as Socialists. They aren’t registered as Socialists. They don’t call themselves Socialists. They call themselves Democrats and Republicans.

Frank Santolla, North Lima