[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCING THE HEALTH CARE COMMITMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to the ``Health 
Care Commitment Act.'' This legislation allows Medicare eligible 
military retirees and their dependents to voluntarily participate in 
the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
  We recruit young men and women to serve in our nation's military with 
a promise that the government will provide them health care for life. 
While this is not a contract, many men and women enlist with the good 
faith belief that we will provide their medical needs for when they 
retire. After these men and women have served their country and turned 
65, the Department of Defense reneges on its promises, turns them away 
from its insurance programs and effectively denies them access to its 
medical treatment facilities.
  The Department of Defense is the only large employer in this nation 
that kicks its retirees out of its health insurance programs. But it 
does not need to be. Civilian employees in the same Department of 
Defense, and throughout the government, are given the opportunity to 
participate in one of the finest health insurance programs in the 
country. The Federal Employees Health Program is an established health 
insurance program that enables employees to choose from a range of 
health insurance packages. Federal retirees, unlike their counterparts 
who served in the military, are not dropped from their insurance plans 
when they turn 65 and are not placed at the bottom or priority lists. 
Instead they are treated with the respect and dignity that they 
deserve.
  My legislation ensures that all federal retirees, whether they served 
their nation as a member of the armed forces or as a civilian employee, 
are treated with the same dignity and have an equal opportunity to 
participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

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