A few weeks ago we asked our readers to tell us which of the suggested Tricare cuts, if any, they liked the best.
Both a commission tasked by Congress with examining military benefits and the President have proposed very different Tricare cuts. One looks to sack Tricare and replace it with a healthcare market place. The other, proposed by the President, looks to dismantle the current Tricare options and instead create "Tricare consolidated."
You can read about those options in this post.
As of this writing, over 14,000 of you have taken our poll about the proposed changes. And here is what you said:
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Not shockingly a strong majority of you just don't anything about it changed at all.
The second favorite option was to only change it for those who haven't yet joined the military.
And far and away the minority picked actual changes as an option.
But you left the real details on just how strongly you feel about this issue in our comments section where, as of this writing, over 300 of you had voiced your opinions.
The vast majority of the comments were from retirees with two very strong messages:
The first -- changing Tricare is the same as backing out of a promise. You earned your healthcare benefits through service, you said, and you should not have to pay more for them or faces changes to what is available.
"When I joined in 1986 I was promised FREE, I'll repeat... FREE medical and dental for me and my family if I completed at least 20 years honorably for the rest of our lives... Give me what was promised," one commenter wrote.
The second -- elected leaders should be forced to use the same healthcare system they dictate military members and retirees use.
"Put the politicians in Washington on the same medical benefits that the military is forced to use, and on social security. Not only would the medical problems for our servicemen get fixed but also the social security program would be guaranteed to be funded until 2050," another wrote.
This feedback isn't a surprise to anyone. But how do you make your voice heard?
The best way to get your voice heard on this issue is to contact your representatives.
