Democrats are telling us a lot about their priorities: take care of union members, but not the but not military in the health care "reform" bill passed by a partisan vote. I guess they may have figured out a way to lower these costs -- by screwing the military.

By the time Congress passed the national health-care overhaul, anxiety about it was so widespread that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued a statement reassuring military families. The legislation, Gates said, "will not negatively impact the TRICARE medical insurance program" for members of the armed forces.

Indeed, partly to avoid such criticism, the legislation left Tricare untouched.

Now, some military families have a different concern: They are discovering that a popular and highly publicized benefit of the new law does not apply to them.

Under the law, other Americans are gaining the option of keeping their children on their health insurance plans -- or putting dependents back on their policies -- until they turn 26. But for the most part, Americans covered by Tricare have no such luck.

Teresa Roberts of Alexandria, a retired naval intelligence officer, said she was excited when she heard about the young adult coverage -- and disappointed when she learned it doesn't apply to her daughter, who graduated from college May 8.

"It seems discriminatory to those of us who have military benefits for which we are paying," Roberts said.