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IN THE MILITARY

Democrats propose
health-care package

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii Rep. Neil Abercrombie has joined key House Democrats in proposing a package of military health-care reforms they say takes care of career military men and women and their families.

Health-care reform in the military, according to Defense Secretary William Cohen is "perhaps the single most important issue we can address this year and in the future."

The proposal would:

Allow Medicare-eligible military retirees over 65 to chose either a military hospital or a Medicare provider in their communities.

Eliminate co-payments in the government's medical insurance program for active-duty personnel.

Provide all retirees and family members with access to the national mail-order pharmacy program and retail pharmacies, which eliminates the requirement that retirees over 65 use a base pharmacy to fill prescriptions.

Trim the government's Tricare out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic care from $7,500 to $3,000 annually.

Extend for one year a demonstration project that would allow retirees to voluntarily sign up for the same health-care benefits as federal employees -- the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

Abercrombie estimated that these improvements would cost $2 billion a year.

Active-duty personnel currently receive their primary health care free at a military installation or through Tricare, which is similar to a health maintenance organization. There are 47,000 active duty personnel in Hawaii, 65,000 dependents and 15,000 retirees.

The Air Force has transferred 1,049 acres at Bellows Air Force Station to the Navy for use by the Marines. But the Air Force will retain ownership of 283 acres of beach-front property for recreational use. The public will still be allowed to use Bellows beaches and campsites on weekends and holidays under agreement between the Navy and the city.

One of the nation's last dreadnoughts -- the battleship New Jersey -- is headed for a final resting place on the Delaware River, across from its birthplace at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Following a spirited contest, with civic leaders of Camden and South Jersey pitted against advocates of Bayonne (near New York City in northern New Jersey), the Navy decided on Camden's proposal for a floating museum in its waterfront district.

Only the fate of the country's fourth battlewagon, Iowa, is to be determined. But a drive is under way to dock it in San Francisco.

The Wisconsin will be anchored in Norfolk, Va., by the end of the year and the Missouri is resting in Pearl Harbor. Although all four battleships have been decommissioned, the Wisconsin and the Iowa have to be maintained by the Navy and could be reactivated for naval service.