Obama Administration Proposes Slashing Health Care Benefits for Military

◼ Congress won’t let him get away with this, but it is indicative of how seriously the administration is out to corral as many people as possible and put them in Obamacare insurance exchanges. - Rick Moran/PJM

The 2013 defense budget will force active duty and retired military to pay more for their health insurance. Gallingly, unionized civilian defense workers will not suffer the same fate.

◼ Trashing Tricare: Obama to cut healthcare benefits for active duty and retired US military - Bill Gertz/Washington Free Beacon

The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges.

The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.

The proposed increases in health care payments by service members, which must be approved by Congress, are part of the Pentagon’s $487 billion cut in spending. It seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget, and $12.9 billion by 2017.

Many in Congress are opposing the proposed changes, which would require the passage of new legislation before being put in place.

“We shouldn’t ask our military to pay our bills when we aren’t willing to impose a similar hardship on the rest of the population,” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a Republican from California, said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. “We can’t keep asking those who have given so much to give that much more.”

Administration officials told Congress that one goal of the increased fees is to force military retirees to reduce their involvement in Tricare and eventually opt out of the program in favor of alternatives established by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.