The CBO suggested that increasing Tricare enrollment fees for working-age retirees — those under age 65 — could help slash the deficit by $12.6 billion. To obtain this, it said, the Defense Department should more than double annual enrollment fees for individuals and families enrolled in Tricare Prime and institute annual fees of $485 for an individual and $970 for a family for Tricare Select. Most working-age retirees currently pay no enrollment fees for Tricare Select.
Another option would be to introduce minimum out-of-pocket requirements for those using Tricare for Life. In this proposal, TFL would not cover any of the $750 of cost-sharing payments under Medicare and would cover just 50 percent of the next nearly $7,000.
According to the CBO, the Department of Veterans Affairs also presents several opportunities for cost-savings measures. Some suggestions in the CBO assessment include:
1)Narrowing eligibility for disability compensation for seven diseases the Government
Accountability Office has said are not caused or aggravated by military service, including
arteriosclerotic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn’s disease,
hemorrhoids, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and uterine fibroids. This option would save
$33 billion over 10 years.
2)Ending the VA’s individual unemployability payments to disabled veterans when they turn 67, the
retirement age for receiving full Social Security benefits, which would save an estimated $48
billion.
3) Reducing disability benefits to veterans older than 67 who are receiving Social Security
payments. This could save the government $11 billion.
4)Eliminating disability compensation for 1.3 million veterans with disability rates below 30
percent, saving $38 billion over an eight-year period.
