Better health care benefits are on the way for South Carolina’s 19,000 military reservists and Guard members.

Just before it adjourned for its annual August recess, Congress approved an appropriation of $638 million to start the program. It is part of a 2005 fiscal year defense appropriations bill.

Under a proposal pushed by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, now awaiting President Bush’s signature, members of the Guard and Reserve would be allowed to purchase health insurance for themselves and their families through TRICARE, the military’s health care system.

“This benefit is long overdue,” said Graham, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Under the current system, Guard members and reservists enter the military health care system only when they are put on active duty. If they are not activated, they must depend on their employer-sponsored health insurance.

The $638 million approved by Congress would cover the program to the end of the year.

Graham said he is optimistic that an amendment he and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., attached will be adopted, making the program permanent.

Forty percent of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are members of the Guard and Reserve.

“It is now time to upgrade their benefits,” Graham told a news conference at the S.C. Military Department. “This $638 million is a down payment for a program I hope will continue forever.”

The annual premium would be about $530 a year for a single person and $1,800 a year for a family.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the program would cost $5.4 billion over the next five years.

That’s about one tenth of one percent of the federal budget, Graham said.

“The troops have earned this program,” he said. “They deserve this program.”

Air Force Brig. Gen. George Patrick, who heads the S.C. Air National Guard, said the proposal is “absolutely critical for our combat readiness.”

Graham said it would help with retention and recruitment.

“I am confident that once the money begins to flow, it will not stop,” he said, “that Congress will continue to fund this program because it will have a tremendous effect on retention, recruitment and readiness.”

Graham also is working on legislation that would:

• Allow reservists and Guard members to retire after 20 years of service, like active-duty soldiers do. Currently, they cannot retire until they serve 30 years.

• Give tax credits for employers who pay the difference between the active and civilian pay so that Guard and Reserve families do not take an economic hit.

“It’s one thing to leave your family for a year to go off to a strange place and put yourself at risk, to put your life at risk, and to have a pay cut put on top of it,” Graham said. “That’s unacceptable, and we need to change that.”

Reach Bandy at (803) 771-8648 or lbandy@thestate.com.