[CPEO-IRF] Retiree services and base closure

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[I remember the 1991 BRAC Commission hearings, when busloads of military 
retirees showed up to oppose base closure, because they wanted continued 
access to the infirmaries and commissaries. It always seemed off-base, 
if you'll excuse the expression, for U.S. military posture to be 
influenced by needs of retirees. If this article is accurate, 
developments since the early 1990s have created options for those 
retirees that uncouple their needs from the survival of local military 
bases. - LS]

This BRAC round could spark smaller retiree migration


By: Tom Philpott
North County Times (San Diego County, CA)
May 7, 2005

Sometime between now and May 16, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will 
release a list of military bases the department wants closed, labeling 
it unneeded infrastructure that wastes billions of dollars annually.

And tens of thousands of military retirees who rely on these bases for 
medical care, cost-free drugs, discount shopping and more will wonder 
whether to pull up roots and move near a base not on the BRAC list.

...

But there's general agreement among BRAC experts that the next round of 
closings should trigger smaller retiree migrations than past rounds.

They point to two healthcare options enacted since BRAC 1995 that should 
ease the expense for retirees of living without a base. They are TRICARE 
for Life, the robust insurance supplement to Medicare for service 
elderly, and the increasingly popular TRICARE mail order pharmacy plan.

They also cite a boom in commercial discount stores, such as Wal-Mart 
and Price Club, which now compete for customers with military base stores.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/05/07/news/columnists/philpott/5605194650.txt


--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org

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