U.S. Military (Ret.): Members of Congress do pay for health care - Military Retirement, leaving the service - Military Times

U.S. Military (Ret.): Members of Congress do pay for health care

Retired Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Eddie Tubbs says he’s one of the many military retirees who were promised “free health care for life.”

Tubbs is also one of the many folks alarmed over the apparent willingness of members of Congress to go after military retiree health care benefits.

As that scenario plays out, he’s also not alone in wondering what health benefits lawmakers receive — and whether they pay for those benefits.

“How do my costs compare to members of Congress?” he asked in a recent email. “Do they pay monthly premiums, or is their medical care totally free?”

Members of Congress use the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, the same program offered to every other federal employee.

FEHBP is not a single program. Beneficiaries have a choice of a wide range of health care plans, none of which are free; they have varying features, deductibles and other costs.

Just as it does with health care benefits for military retirees, the government subsidizes a big chunk of FEHBP costs — about 70 percent — with beneficiaries paying the rest.

Among the five plans offered in the District of Columbia itself, for example, the monthly costs for individual coverage in 2011 run from $82 to $342 a month, or $984 to $4,104 for the year. Family coverage runs from $190 to $781 a month, or $2,280 to $9,372 for the year.

That’s a lot more than the annual Tricare Prime enrollment fee for retirees of $260 a year ($21.67 a month) for individuals and $520 a year ($43.33 a month) for families.

It’s even more still than Tricare Standard and Tricare for Life, which have no premiums, although a proposal is in play to begin charging an annual enrollment fee of $200 for TFL.

(And before the deluge of angry letters pours in, it’s true that TFL eligibility is contingent upon enrollment in Medicare Part B, which costs about $100 a month.)

Members of Congress do get a few extras that other feds don’t. For example, for a little over $500 a year, they can get care from an on-site doctor in the U.S. Capitol, including physical exams and therapy, X-rays, lab work and other routine services.

There’s one other big perk — the one that probably fuels the notion that members of Congress get completely free health care: Lawmakers (but not their families) are eligible for free outpatient health care at any military medical facility in the Washington, D.C., area.

Inpatient care at military facilities, however, is not free; that care is covered under the individual’s FEHBP insurance.

There are plenty of reasons for retirees to be unhappy with Congress. But the fact is that almost all lawmakers do pay for their health care.