BOLTON, Conn. — A new federal law extends healthcare benefits for surviving families of service members who are killed within one month of being activated.
The death of an Army reservist from Bolton led to this legislation.
“We were married almost 20 years, he was my best friend, the father of my children,” said Rachel Clark, wife of Sergeant First Class Michael Clark.
Michael Clark died in July 2022, after he was struck by lightning during a training exercise at Fort Gordon in Georgia.
“We were used to Mike being gone, but obviously, this is different,” she said. “He always came home, he was always there for us, he was always only a phone call away.
Michael served in the Army Reserves for more than 22 years and shortly after he died, Rachel was notified she would lose her military health insurance through TRICARE.
“I was pretty upset and pretty devastated, just not knowing what to do,” Rachel recalled.
Under previous law, survivors and their families only retained their health benefits on TRICARE Reserve select for six months if the servicemember died less than 30 days after being activated.
“After the six months, the monthly rate would increase by almost 500%,” explained Rachel. “I just felt that it was unfair and unjust for everything that my husband had done for the military. I was just very surprised that this was the law and that was what was in place.”
So she reached out to her congressman, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D, CT-2).
“What the Clark family had to go through was just totally inexcusable,” Courtney said.
Last spring, he and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D-CT) introduced the “Sergeant First Class Michael Clark TRICARE Reserve Parity Act” to extend the six-month window to three years.
“This measure will forever be a recognition because it is named for him,” said Blumenthal.
With bipartisan support, the proposal was included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law last month.
“Just knowing that other families will benefit from it and they will not have to go through what we went through, I can't describe how amazing that feels,” said Rachel.
Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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