WASHINGTON – About 1,000 Maine veterans, or their surviving spouses, are owed free lifetime medical care, according to a recent decision by a federal appeals court.

And members of Maine’s congressional delegation want to expand the ruling to cover all veterans who have served at least 20 years in the military.

“This is an incredibly important decision for veterans everywhere and certainly is important to those it will affect in Maine,” Ron Sailor, adjutant general of the American Legion in Maine, said Friday.

“It is long overdue and I am sure veterans all over the state will applaud it when they realize its significance.”

Last week’s decision, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ruled the government had broken a contractual obligation to military retirees who had joined before 1956 and had completed at least 20 years of service before retiring. Chief Judge H. Robert Mayer wrote the unanimous opinion in the cases of two Florida men. Lawyers for the two believe about 3 million people are affected by the ruling.

“The retirees entered active duty in the armed forces and completed at least 20 years service on the good faith belief that the government would fulfill its promises,” Judge Mayer said in the ruling, “The terms of the contract were set when the retirees entered the service and fulfilled their obligation. The government cannot unilaterally amend the contract terms now. The government breached its implied-in-fact contract with the retirees when it failed to provide them with health care benefits at no cost.”

Congress reduced veterans’ eligibility for free care in 1956, and adopted further restrictions in 1966. Under a law passed that year, retired members of the armed services had to rely on Medicare for health care benefits. Like all Medicare beneficiaries, retired veterans must pay a premium of $50 a month for coverage far short of the original promise of free health care. For example, Medicare does not generally pay for prescription drugs outside of hospitals.

“I hope the government does what is right and does not appeal this,” Sailor said, “and I hope Congress takes this ruling as a signal and expands this to all veterans.”

The Justice Department has not decided whether to appeal the ruling. In the cases, the government admitted that military recruiters had promised free lifetime health care, but argued the recruiters’ promises were not binding on the government. The three-panel appeals court strongly disagreed, as do members of Maine’s congressional delegation.

“I look on this as an obligation to those who served in our military,” said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The promises were made and we should keep them to these veterans that put their lives on the line for this country.”

Collins said she supports legislation that would pick up the entire tab for coverage through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program for those 20-year veterans who joined before 1956.

“And I support … legislation [by Sen. Tim Johnson, D-South Dakota] to allow all veterans with 20 years’ service to buy coverage under the federal program,” she said. “This just has to be a priority because it really is an overdue obligation.”

Collins said she believes the court ruling should help garner support for passage of the legislation, which has support in both branches of Congress. U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, is co-sponsor of similar legislation introduced last month in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and represents Maine’s 1st Congressional District. Allen also had co-sponsored a bill similar to the Johnson measure last year, but that failed to garner much support.

“America should fulfill the promise made to our veterans and military retirees,” he said. “I hope that Congress will act to keep faith with our nation’s military retirees who put their lives at risk for the sake of our nation.”

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, co-sponsored similar legislation offered by Johnson during the last session of Congress. She called the additional benefits for veterans “long overdue” in a statement endorsing that bill.

U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, D-Maine, said he also supports the proposal, despite a price tag estimated at $30 billion over the next 10 years. As veterans grow older, the cost increases as expected use of health care services increases.

“I know the price tag is high on this, but I think it is something we owe veterans, ” he said. “This is like a long overdue bill and Congress needs to pay up.”

And Baldacci, who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, said he is also supporting related legislation that would clearly spell out to potential recruits the scope of health benefits they would receive if they made the military a career. He said he agreed some of the recruiting information is misleading.

“But the reality is we need to do more for all veterans in providing them quality and available health care,” he said, “It does not do much good if they have to drive hours to get free care because then it really is not free care. We really need to do a better job with outreach and clinics.”

Sailor said he is pleased with the support members of the state’s congressional delegation have given to the issue of veterans’ health care. But he acknowledged the legislation is likely to face an uphill battle, because not all members of Congress give the issue as high a priority as Maine lawmakers.