House OKs Exempting Troops on Meal Charge

Military troops hospitalized as a result of combat-related injuries would no longer be charged $8.10 a day for food under a bill that passed the House unanimously.

“The troops are insulted by it,” said Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), who said he learned of the meal charge from his wife, who regularly visits injured servicemen and women in military facilities.

Young said officials at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington told him they had to levy the charge under the current rules.