Opposing view: Troops already sacrificed for health care

Opposing view: Troops already sacrificed for health care: "Response to Recent USA TODAY Editorial: Military's Tricare benefits are too sweet a deal

Many seeking defense budget cuts call for large health fee hikes for retired military families. They say that military fees should be more like civilians' and that retired servicemembers with access to civilian care should forfeit military coverage.

The Military Officers Association of America isn't opposed to military health fee increases. We think the 13% increase proposed by the House Armed Services Committee for 2012 is reasonable.

But we also assert, as the committee does, that the law should acknowledge that career servicemembers have already pre-paid very large premiums for their health care in retirement — through decades of service and sacrifice — over and above what they pay in cash. In consideration of that heavy premium, the committee could limit future fee growth to the percentage growth in military retired pay ."