Despite his intention to get an independent assessment of the military healthcare system to “get some idea of what the real needs are,” Sen. Lindsay Graham believes there will be an “erosion of benefits,” meaning military retirees will pay more for Tricare. Graham asked rhetorically, “Will [the benefit erosion] come in a way that people can afford, and will we have a soft landing or will we have a hard landing?”
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
