“The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on reforms of the Pentagon’s health system, delaying plans to reduce services at 48 hospitals and clinics by months and forcing additional reviews of civilian care in locations affected by the changes.”
“Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Thomas McCaffery told reporters Thursday that efforts to alter operations at some military treatment facilities was scheduled to begin in September, but now may start “more toward the end of the year” or later.”
“The changes, designed to focus the facilities on providing medical care to active-duty personnel only as well as training military medical personnel, thereby shedding non-uniformed beneficiaries to the Tricare network, will result in outsourcing health care for at least 200,000 patients.”
“For the plan to work, the Defense Department is dependent on the availability of providers within Tricare. With the ongoing pandemic, however, “it’s going to affect the timeline as to when that happens…”
“In December, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy sent a memo to Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist expressing concern over what he saw as a “lack of performance and planning with respect to the transition” by the Defense Health Agency.”
“McCarthy asked for a delay in transitioning Army health facilities to DHA and also sought to keep the Army Public Health Center and Army Medical Research and Development Command, slated to transfer to DHA.”
“On Thursday, McCaffery did not comment on McCarthy’s request, but said much of the DoD’s funding for research and development comes through his office, and he works with the DHA and the services to determine priorities and allocate the money to various offices and research arms…” Read the full article here.
Source: Big Changes to Military Health System Will Be Delayed, Top Health Official Says – By Patricia Kime, June 12, 2020. Military.com.
