The House of Representatives recently approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included an amendment authored by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) requiring advance notice of health policy changes for service members.
Ellmers originally introduced the Timely Information Management Enforcement (TIME) Act in February to ensure that service members who receive health insurance through TRICARE are made aware of policy changes before they occur. The measure was then incorporated as an amendment into the NDAA, which would authorize military funding for fiscal year 2015.
“Today I’m honored to announce the passage of my amendment to protect service members, their families and veterans from being blindsided by changes made to their TRICARE coverage,” Ellmers said. “This amendment will address a problem facing tens of thousands of military members and their families who are left to navigate the bureaucracy of their healthcare benefits without adequate information and timely updates from their provider, TRICARE. For far too long, military families have been caught off guard by changes to policies and procedures regarding their benefits, leaving them ill-equipped to plan ahead and understand their options.”
The amendment would require TRICARE to notify all affected beneficiaries and providers of changes to their health plans at least 90 days before the changes go into effect.
Ellmers introduced the legislation in February following news that active-duty veterans could see the first major increase in benefit costs since 1997. The average military retiree’s out-of-pocket costs for healthcare could increase as much as 11 percent under a Pentagon proposal, AL.com reports.