McHugh defends proposed Tricare fee increase

WASHINGTON — Army Secretary John M. McHugh defended the Pentagon’s proposed sharp increases in health insurance premiums, denying a congressman’s suggestion that the move is meant to drive people away from the program.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing today, Mr. McHugh — who grappled with the issue while representing Northern New York in Congress — said the more-than-doubling of some fees sounds high but that fees haven’t increased since the mid 1990s. The steep increases would hit retirees younger than 65, but no one in the active force.

When Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., suggested that a similar increase in the business world would suggest people are being pushed out on purpose, Mr. McHugh responded, “Absolutely not.”

Working-age retirees would see their Tricare Prime fees eventually climb from $460 a year to $2,048, Mr. Scott said, citing the Obama administration’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

“That’s a significant increase to people that earned that benefit,” Mr. Scott said.

Mr. McHugh said that even if the fee increases are enacted, the program is “still very generous” compared to insurance policies by private employers.

Defense officials have cited climbing health care costs for the increases.