The military’s health care and retirement systems have serious structural problems. Simply tinkering around the edges will leave military personnel and taxpayers paying more for less service. Instead, as The Heritage Foundation proposes, Congress should transform the military health care and retirement systems into defined-contribution plans that maximize individual choice. This would enable military personnel to tailor their benefits to match their individual circumstances while saving the Department of Defense at least $ZZZZ in five years.
The Heritage reform plan, advanced in Saving the American Dream, and five other reform plans differ in detail, but their main features are similar. Congress should build on this powerful consensus and craft a comprehensive reform of the Medicare program.
Today, our military services fight on often ill-equipped, with old or sometimes even broken hardware. The men and women who serve our country will continue to do so proudly, despite these challenges, but their service and sacrifice deserve better from us.