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Reservist families face healthcare jam

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By Janelle Carter

March 25, 2003  |  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Families of reservists called up for the war could be in a health care jam. After 30 days of active duty, insurance coverage by the reservists' regular employers switches to a military plan, and that can mean having to switch doctors.

Lawmakers want to let them keep their private coverage, with the government picking up the premiums.

In the past week, the Bush administration has begun urging government agencies to continue paying the premiums for federal employees called to active duty so that they can keep their employer-based insurance with no penalty.

And in Congress, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Mike Capuano, both Massachusetts Democrats, have offered legislation that would amend health laws to allow activated reservists to keep their employer-based coverage. The federal government would pay their premiums.

"The object here is to provide more seamless coverage for dependents and reservists so they don't have to drop out of their civilian program, . . . and then somewhere down the line, go about re-establishing their insurance," said Steve Anderson, legislative counsel for the Reserve Officers Association.

With the efforts under way, "They can continue with the doctors they know," Anderson said. "It will be more seamless."

Kennedy said "the least we can do for these brave men and women is to help their families at home by assuring they receive quality health care without interruption during their absence."

So far, close to 213,000 reservists have been mobilized.

Supporters said the changes essentially would help family members of reservists. Those mobilized for more than 30 days of duty, and their family members, are covered under the military health insurance program known as TRICARE.

While the reservist has easy access to care while in service, family members often must scramble to find new doctors to accommodate their new health plan. The sudden change can be even more traumatic if a member of the family is undergoing a specific treatment regimen, supporters of the bill said.

The idea of helping ease health care problems of activated reservists' families already has found some Republican support.

"It's something I think is worth pursuing, and in fact we are," said Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Armed Forces subcommittee that deals with reservist issues. "It is an issue for many of these individuals, and we certainly feel an obligation to do whatever is appropriate and achievable to smooth that out."

The proposed congressional legislation amends health rules known as COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986. COBRA allows workers to continue receiving health insurance for up to 18 months after becoming unemployed, but the employee must pay the full premium. The bill allows reservists to use the COBRA mechanism to keep their employer-based coverage when called to active duty, with the federal government paying full premiums.

The concept isn't entirely new. Two years ago, the Defense Department began paying premiums for its civilian employees called to active duty in the Reserves or National Guard.

Last week, Kay Coles James, head of the Bush administration's Office of Personnel Management, sent a memo to federal agency heads urging them to do likewise. Currently, when a reservist who is a federal employee is called to duty, the government pays the full premium, but the employee accrues a debt for their portion that must be repaid.

James has told agencies that they have the authority to pay the full premium for 12-18 months without requiring the employee to pay the money back. Each agency would be responsible for drafting its own rules and guidelines.

James' action was precipitated by the number of reservists called to active duty in recent months, said Abby Block, OPM's senior policy adviser for employee and family policy. According to the agency, there are 54,427 reservists within the federal government; 11,254 of those have been activated.

"Many, many of these folks have family at home," Block said. "They wanted to be sure, and we wanted to be sure, they could continue their health care coverage without being concerned about facing a substantial debt when they come back."

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