President Obama on April 26 signed the legislation sponsored by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) to ensure the Administration’s new health care reform law would not adversely affect Tricare. Both the House and Senate passed the Tricare Affirmation Act (HR 4887) unanimously. In an April 26 statement, Skelton said that the Tricare and non-appropriated fund (NAF) “health plans are such great plans that they already meet the minimum requirements for individual health insurance coverage in the recently enacted health care bill, and no Tricare or NAF health plan beneficiary will be required to purchase additional coverage beyond what they already have.”
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.