{"id":656,"date":"2005-03-24T23:50:18","date_gmt":"2005-03-25T05:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=656"},"modified":"2005-09-25T03:50:35","modified_gmt":"2005-09-25T08:50:35","slug":"dod-announces-new-heath-benefit-reserves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/?p=656","title":{"rendered":"DoD Gives New Health Insurance to Reserves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a bit of good news<\/a> for members of the National Guard and Reserve components activated or facing activation. It’s surprising, but something like this has slipped by for so long.<\/p>\n

A new health care plan, with coverage comparable to that enjoyed by federal employees under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance plan, will be available to eligible members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families April 25, Defense Department officials announced today at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

The new plan, called Tricare Reserve Select, will serve as a bridge for reserve component members entering or leaving active duty who are not covered by civilian employer or other health insurance plans. It applies to all reserve component personnel who have been activated since Sept. 11, 2001, and who agree to continued service in the Selected Reserve. The coverage will be applied retroactively, officials said.<\/p>\n

Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Charles Abell, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs Thomas Hall, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. William Winkenwerder announced the plan at a Pentagon news conference.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are committed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Abell said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to providing the proper combination of compensation and benefits that will allow us to attract and retain the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best fighting force.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Abell said that while large numbers of National Guard and Reserve members have health insurance through their employers, the department \u00e2\u20ac\u0153recognizes the importance of maintaining a continuity of care as they transition from their employers to serve with us and then back, as well as the need for some of them who may be self-employed or who work for small businesses to have health coverage.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Winkenwerder praised the members of the National Guard and Reserve. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They have shouldered a tremendous share of the global war on terror in which we are deeply engaged,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and they have performed exceptionally well.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They mobilized and deployed side by side with active duty forces, many serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Winkenwerder continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They served with pride and loyalty. And while we have, in the past, offered full healthcare benefits for these servicemembers, and for their families, this change will shortly offer a more comprehensive benefit for transition back to private life, and, importantly, the opportunity for those who have served in contingency operations, the option for obtaining Tricare coverage on a longer term at very attractive rates.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also wanted to blog this because Winkerwerder is a funny name, and I’m not above that<\/a> (the name Jihad Ballout still makes me chuckle).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a bit of good news for members of the National Guard and Reserve components activated or facing activation. It’s surprising, but something like this has slipped by for so long. A new health care plan, with coverage comparable to that enjoyed by federal employees under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance plan, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}