While most of the country is locked in a debate about entitlement reform and jobs creation, the soon-to-be-former Defense Secretary still wants to talk about healthcare. Specifically, Robert Gates wants to talk about how much of the military budget is eaten up by rising healthcare costs and pensions.
This realization is probably unsettling for both parties. Republicans don’t like the idea of anything appearing to hurt our armed forces, and Democrats don’t like the idea of that much of the Pentagon budget not being spent on expensive warplanes.
Gates, in an interview with NPR, said more than $50 billion is spent every year on military healthcare with about the same amount going to pensions. He’s not saying we need to slash either of those, but he is proposing some very modest changes.
The average government worker in the United States pays about $4000 a year for their family healthcare plan. If you’re in the military you only pay $460, according to Gates.
Rightfully, our brave men and women deserve some hazard pay. They shouldn’t pay as much for healthcare because they put themselves in danger, they have to live with the tolls of war and they could be moved at a moment’s notice.
No one is suggesting we make them pay the $4000 that your average civil service worker has to contribute. Gates is only asking that we raise the personal contribution to $520. If you’re scoring at home, that’s $5 a month.
Congress and veterans groups won’t hear of it. It has become a “What’s next?” paradox. Gates can’t get them to accept a $5 increase because they’re worried that next year he’ll ask for $10.
But the longer they stonewall, the more the Department of Defense will need to cut and the more pressure they’ll face politically in a climate of budget cuts.
Our soldiers deserve to be taken care of and they’ve earned this kind of treatment. Yet, $5 a month seems pretty reasonable when you’re employer is spending $600 million a month.
This is a great way to demonstrate the shared sacrifice motif. It’s also a great way to tell the rest of the government that it’s time to get serious.
If our soldiers can sacrifice after already giving so much, surely the rest of us can do so as well.
