Discretionary Spending
Function 050 - National Defense
Modify TRICARE Enrollment Fees and Cost Sharing for Working-Age Military Retirees
CBO periodically issues a compendium of policy options (called Options for Reducing the Deficit) covering a broad range of issues, as well as separate reports that include options for changing federal tax and spending policies in particular areas. This option appears in one of those publications. The options are derived from many sources and reflect a range of possibilities. For each option, CBO presents an estimate of its effects on the budget but makes no recommendations. Inclusion or exclusion of any particular option does not imply an endorsement or rejection by CBO.
| Billions of dollars | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2015-2019 | 2015-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modify TRICARE Enrollment Fees, Deductibles, and Copayments | |||||||||||||
| Change in Mandatory Outlays | 0 | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | -0.1 | -0.3 | |
| Change in Revenuesa | 0 | * | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.2 | -0.2 | -0.2 | -0.3 | -0.3 | -0.3 | -0.4 | -1.7 | |
| Change in Discretionary Spending | |||||||||||||
| Budget authority | 0 | -1.0 | -1.4 | -2.0 | -2.1 | -2.3 | -2.5 | -2.7 | -3.0 | -3.2 | -6.5 | -20.3 | |
| Outlays | 0 | -0.8 | -1.3 | -1.8 | -2.0 | -2.2 | -2.4 | -2.6 | -2.8 | -3.1 | -5.9 | -19.0 | |
| Make Retirees Ineligible for TRICARE Prime | |||||||||||||
| Change in Mandatory Outlays | 0 | * | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | |
| Change in Revenuesa | 0 | -0.2 | -0.6 | -1.1 | -1.3 | -1.5 | -1.6 | -1.7 | -1.8 | -1.9 | -3.2 | -11.7 | |
| Change in Discretionary Spending | |||||||||||||
| Budget authority | 0 | -3.7 | -5.6 | -7.9 | -8.4 | -8.9 | -9.5 | -10.1 | -10.7 | -11.4 | -25.6 | -76.1 | |
| Outlays | 0 | -2.9 | -5.1 | -7.3 | -8.1 | -8.8 | -9.3 | -9.9 | -10.5 | -11.2 | -23.4 | -73.2 | |
Sources: Congressional Budget Office; staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation.
Notes: This option would take effect in October 2015. Estimates are relative to CBO’s August 2014 baseline projections.
* = between -$50 million and $50 million.
a. Negative numbers denote a reduction in revenues.
This option comprises two alternatives that would reduce future growth in military health care spending by requiring working-age military retirees and their families to pay more for TRICARE. Such individuals are currently eligible to enroll in TRICARE Prime, a plan that operates like a health maintenance organization. Military retirees who do not enroll in TRICARE Prime may receive benefits under TRICARE Standard (a traditional fee-for-service plan) or Extra (a preferred provider network).
The first alternative would raise the enrollment fees, deductibles, and copayments for working-age military retirees who want to use TRICARE. The second alternative would make working-age military retirees and their families ineligible for TRICARE Prime, which is the most costly of the three programs for the Department of Defense. Those people could instead enroll in TRICARE Standard or Extra, although they would pay a monthly premium that would be set at 28 percent of the average cost of providing Standard or Extra benefits for that group.