Universal Healthcare's effect on Military Benefits?

[SlapItHigh]

I can't find anything on this, can someone point me in the right direction? Any articles? Links? Since military personnel and their families already get "free" healthcare, how much tax money would have to go to military salaries to make up for the loss in benefits? Does anyone work that into the cost of their universal healthcare plans?

[0zzy]

I can't find anything on this, can someone point me in the right direction? Any articles? Links? Since military personnel and their families already get "free" healthcare, how much tax money would have to go to military salaries to make up for the loss in benefits? Does anyone work that into the cost of their universal healthcare plans?

My dad is in the military. All I know is good benefits, horrible pay :).

[SlapItHigh]

My dad is in the military. All I know is good benefits, horrible pay :).

exactly, so if you get rid of the benefits then no one will join/re-enlist. I'm assuming pay would have to go up drastically once free healthcare was no longer a draw. I'd like to read more on this but my google searches aren't coming up with anything.

[dwdollar]

I had the summary when I was separating but I wouldn't be able to find it readily. This might be a good start.

http://www.military.com/benefits/tricare

Military healthcare is on base care plus what is offered by TRICARE. I don't know if you could privatize active duty healthcare. The system is set up for the military lifestyle. However, I think it would be a good idea to privatize all healthcare after separation.

[SlapItHigh]

I am a military spouse so I know all about tricare. Once we have universal health care for the entire country, tricare is no longer going to be a benefit in the true sense of the word. It doesn't benefit me to get free health care if everyone else is getting it "free" as well. The benefits give at least some draw to join or stay in to compensate for the horrible pay. There is nothing about military health care that is set up specifically for the military lifestyle unless you just mean that it is the care is poor because it definitely is.

I assume people proposing these universal health care plans are addressing this issue or there are critics pointing this out. I just can't find either. It is going to take a whole lot of extra tax dollars to fund the huge increase in military pay.