Could Guard troops get free TRICARE? This state might become the first

Absolutely - as a recruiting tool I think it's great. However, I disagree with the premise of why they 'have to' do it. TRICARE Reserve Select is one of the best health insurance plans that a reserve component Soldier will encounter. I chewed the ear off of every junior enlisted/officer reservist about enrolling in TRS routinely.

For the Soldier and his family, the premiums are less than $3k a year and a catastrophic cap of $1,217 a year... Hell, there aren't many plans out there you could get on the civilian side that even approach that.

For those Soldiers who think health care is important to them or their families, there is very little reason for them not to get TRS. If you offered those 60,000 reservists who don't have any health insurance an option of full coverage or a $2,000 bonus, my gut tells me that the majority of the would take the check.

However, I AM in favor of dropping the premiums and including it as part of the "total force" picture. While the reserve component only actively drills once a month (normally) with an annual training sometime during the year, they are expected to meet the standards of medical fitness year-round. As such, I think including the premiums and treating them (plan wise) as if they were active duty Soldiers regarding fees (i.e., no premiums for "Select", but they would still have the same "active duty family" cost shares, caps, etc).

That would be a wonderful benefit to Guard Troops!