DoD Announces New Health Care Benefit for Guard and Reserve
By Terri Lukach
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 24, 2005 – A new health care plan, with
coverage comparable to that enjoyed by federal employees under
the Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance plan, will
be available to eligible members of the National Guard and
Reserve and their families April 25, Defense Department officials
announced today at the Pentagon.
The new plan, called Tricare Reserve Select, will serve as
a bridge for reserve component members entering or leaving
active duty who are not covered by civilian employer or other
health insurance plans. It applies to all reserve component
personnel who have been activated since Sept. 11, 2001, and
who agree to continued service in the Selected Reserve. The
coverage will be applied retroactively, officials said.
Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel
and Readiness Charles Abell, Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Reserve Affairs Thomas Hall, and Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Health Affairs Dr. William Winkenwerder announced
the plan at a Pentagon news conference.
“We are committed,” Abell said, “to providing the proper
combination of compensation and benefits that will allow us
to attract and retain the world’s best fighting force.”
Abell said that while large numbers of National Guard and
Reserve members have health insurance through their employers,
the department “recognizes the importance of maintaining a
continuity of care as they transition from their employers
to serve with us and then back, as well as the need for some
of them who may be self-employed or who work for small businesses
to have health coverage.”
TRS is a nationwide, premium-based plan that closely resembles
the Tricare Standard coverage of the active duty force. Its
rates are based on the premiums for the Blue Cross and Blue
Shield Standard Service Benefit Plan for federal government
employees. Premiums will be adjusted annually.
Reserve component personnel and their family members now
are also eligible for benefits 90 days prior to activation,
and for up to six months after demobilization, Hall said.
“For every 90 days of active duty service, Guard and Reserve
personnel are eligible for one year of Tricare coverage for
a modest fee,” Hall told reporters. “That means, for example,
that personnel who have served two years of active duty are
eligible for eight years of healthcare coverage.”
Winkenwerder praised the members of the National Guard and
Reserve. “They have shouldered a tremendous share of the global
war on terror in which we are deeply engaged,” he said, “and
they have performed exceptionally well.
“They mobilized and deployed side by side with active duty
forces, many serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Winkenwerder
continued. “They served with pride and loyalty. And while
we have, in the past, offered full healthcare benefits for
these servicemembers, and for their families, this change
will shortly offer a more comprehensive benefit for transition
back to private life, and, importantly, the opportunity for
those who have served in contingency operations, the option
for obtaining Tricare coverage on a longer term at very attractive
rates.
