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.