Address as a letter or an email to both of your Senators and your House of Representative Congressional representative for your voting district. If you use email, DO NOT send on a military computer.  Use your home computer or a public device such as one in the public library.

Click following links to find name & address of your: Senators and House members.

EXAMPLE LETTER:

CLICK HERE to download a microsoft word document to use as a template Or cut , paste, and edit as below.

Change as you feel comfortable…  BUT DO IT NOW !

Dear (Senator or Representative as appropriate) (Last Name),

I urge you to support full funding for military health care for FY 2010 and to vigorously oppose any additional costs to military beneficiaries for such care.  Military members, especially those who served in times of war, paid a great enough price for their health care and were promised that health care if they served 20 or more years of military service.  Additionally, those relatively few Americans who served a full military career have more than earned and pre-paid for the health care they will receive from the government during their post-military, retirement years.  I am a member of the Air Force Sergeants Association, and I closely follow this issue and support the association’s efforts to protect the quality of the lives of enlisted military members.

Additionally, I request that you take the lead on the following:

·         Oppose any increases in military healthcare enrollment fees, copayments, deductibles, or pharmaceutical fees for FY 2010.

·         Ensure DoD pursue greater efforts to improve the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of TRICARE without seeking to further “tax” the budgets of military beneficiaries.

·         Support the provisions of H.R. 816, by Rep. Chet Edwards and many others, which contends:  1) DoD and this nation have a committed health benefits obligation to retired military personnel that exceeds the obligation of corporate employers to civilian employees; and (2) DoD has many additional options to constrain the growth of healthcare spending in ways that do not disadvantage beneficiaries.

·         Oppose charging active duty members and their families any fees for TRICARE Prime.

·         Oppose enrollment fees for TRICARE Standard or TRICARE for Life.  Neither program guarantees access to TRICARE-participating providers.  Additionally, TRICARE for Life was a bipartisan achievement of Congress--intended by the visionary leaders at that time to be a permanent, non-enrollment-fee program—which recognized earlier promises and the extraordinary contributions of career military members and their spouses.  There should never be an enrollment fee for this program.

(Senator or Representative as appropriate) (Last Name), I urge you to take a strong stand on this matter and work to block any increases in military health care fees.  I greatly appreciate your support of those who put their lives on the line to preserve freedom, and I look forward to hearing from you on this matter so I can let my colleagues know where you stand on this important issue.

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