From the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions: To contain military health care costs, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering a proposal to increase TRICARE fees in next year’s U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) budget. Fees have not been raised since 1995.

The Center notes that: “TRICARE provides care for almost ten million eligible beneficiaries. This number is expected to grow as more military retirees and their families seek health care through the DOD due to rising private health care costs. According to the DOD, total health care costs for the Pentagon, the nation’s single largest employer, were more than $50 billion last year and are expected to increase to $65 billion by 2015. Health costs represent ten percent of the total defense budget today”

This bears watching for military retirees and their families.