{"id":52764,"date":"2021-05-04T18:08:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T18:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:47:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:47:24","slug":"guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The head of the National Guard Bureau wants <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/2021\/03\/31\/tricare-expanding-program-for-nearly-16000-military-family-members-with-autism\/\" target=_blank>free health care coverage<\/a> for every guardsman, calling it an issue of both strategic and moral importance for the military force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat happens if they get sick or injured when they come off orders?\u201d said Army <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2020\/07\/21\/with-confirmation-of-national-guard-bureau-honcho-trump-has-chosen-every-member-of-joint-chiefs\/\" target=_blank>Gen. Daniel Hokanson<\/a>, chief of the bureau, during testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. \u201cThey\u2019re doing the same job as their active or reserve counterparts, but they are treated differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of my most pressing concerns is premium free health care for every guardsmen who serves in uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2021\/04\/02\/pandemic-adds-strain-on-already-stressful-life-of-military-kids-child-psychologist\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hill-F-35-deployment-return-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pandemic adds strain on already stressful life of military kids: child psychologist<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Congress should commission a long-term study on the pandemic&#039;s effects on military children&#039;s educational outcomes, compared to their civilian peers, researchers say.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments came during a congressional review of the National Guard\u2019s spending priorities for fiscal 2022. Last year was the busiest for the Guard in the last eight decades, with more than 120,000 guardsmen deployed to overseas missions and domestic operations, including the pandemic relief effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that increased workload has also brought increased attention to the benefits available to part-time troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While on federal active-duty orders for more than 30 days, guardsmen and reservists are eligible for the same medical coverage as active-duty troops. But service members activated for less than a month have fewer options, and have to pay for coverage on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same goes for guardsmen in the weeks after their orders end, or if their activation is on state-specific orders. Hokanson said the confusing patchwork of rules leaves his troops at a disadvantage, and potentially distracted from their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Establishing full-time health care for all National Guard troops nationwide could prove costly, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Guard received about $14.6 billion in appropriations last year. The Defense Department currently spends about $50 billion on the Military Health System annually for active-duty troops and family members. Adding nearly 450,000 guardsmen \u2014 nearly a third more people \u2014 and an unknown number of dependents could significantly inflate that total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But lawmakers said they are open to the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lack of coverage or [expensive] co-pays for those with coverage has made it difficult to ensure that everyone has access to medical care,\u201d said Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., and chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee\u2019s defense panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a panel that addresses health care \u2026 and I need to understand how TRICARE first into this. So my staff will be following up with questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/coronavirus\/2021\/04\/16\/having-covid-doesnt-guarantee-immunity-study-of-marine-recruits-finds\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/recruit-depot.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Having COVID doesn\u2019t guarantee immunity, study of Marine recruits finds<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Ten percent of Marine recruits who had COVID antibodies got COVID again during basic training.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congress has also discussed several measures this year to attempt to bring education payouts in line with active-duty offerings. Hokanson said those kinds of changes are needed to help with recruiting, retention and morale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe National Guard is about 20 percent of our joint force, and anything that impacts our readiness makes the total force less competitive, less capable and less lethal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don&#8217;t have medical coverage they need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":82,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,93,82,12,25,15,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-52764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-mil-money","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CSBBZH6SNZHPLMBGAEZLLSFVCM","arc_canonical_url":"\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don&#039;t have medical coverage they need.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don&#039;t have medical coverage they need.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-04T18:08:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T10:47:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-04T18:08:49+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T10:47:24+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 452,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6455491.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"Mil Money\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pay &amp; Benefits\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not - Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6455491.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-04T18:08:49+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T10:47:24+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don't have medical coverage they need.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6455491.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/6455491.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Mil Money\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/mil-money\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"mil-money\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Marine Corps Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not - Marine Corps Times","description":"Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don't have medical coverage they need.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not","og_description":"Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don't have medical coverage they need.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/","og_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","article_published_time":"2021-05-04T18:08:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T10:47:24+00:00","author":"Leo Shane III","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leo Shane III","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not","datePublished":"2021-05-04T18:08:49+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T10:47:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/"},"wordCount":452,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6455491.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","Mil Money","News","Newsletters","Pay &amp; Benefits","Pentagon &amp; Congress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/","name":"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not - Marine Corps Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6455491.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-04T18:08:49+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T10:47:24+00:00","description":"Leaders worry that troops who suffer injuries before and after active-duty don't have medical coverage they need.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6455491.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6455491.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2021\/05\/04\/guard-chief-wants-free-health-care-for-all-troops-activated-or-not\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mil Money","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/","ad_zone":"mil-money"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Guard chief wants free health care for all troops, activated or not"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","name":"Marine Corps Times","description":"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization","name":"Marine Corps Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","caption":"Marine Corps Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6455491.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52764"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89346,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52764\/revisions\/89346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52764"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=52764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}