Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday said that the committee likely will reject a Department of Defense proposal to increase TRICARE fees for some military retirees, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 5/2). Under the proposal, developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, TRICARE co-payments and enrollment fees would increase by 115% for military retirees younger than age 65. The Joint Chiefs have said that the fee increases would save TRICARE about $735 million in fiscal year 2007 and $11 billion over the next five years and are needed to improve the finances of the program (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/18). Graham said that he will seek to "institute a study" to review the efficiency of TRICARE and make recommendations to reduce program costs before the committee takes action on the proposal (CongressDaily, 5/2). "We're not going to ask for any contributions from (TRICARE) members until we do the best we can to realistically bring about efficiencies in the current system," Graham said (Donnelly, CQ Today, 5/2).

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