“COVID-19 has the Defense Health Agency checking its math on some of the biggest reforms it’s conducting within the Military Health System, and may derail some of those efforts.”
“DHA was planning on offloading about 200,000 TRICARE beneficiaries from treatment at military clinics, and sending them to private practitioners in the local community. However, DHA Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Place said Thursday that the Defense Department isn’t sure certain localities will be able to handle the influx of patients anymore.”
“’Some outpatient physicians’ offices have either downsized or closed themselves,’ Place said during a Defense Writers Group event. ‘Some hospitals across America have either downsized or closed. So some of the information that we were relying on to make recommendations to the department about where the capability may exist in the civilian community to effectively provide access to safe, high quality care for some of these beneficiaries, that information may no longer be true.’”
“Place said DoD now needs to go out and reassess the medical markets because the data is outdated. He doesn’t expect a decision to be made until early 2021.”
“That’s not the only reform that COVID is throwing out of whack, though…” Read the full article here.
Source: COVID-19 throwing a wrench in DHA transition plans – By Scott Maucione, October 8, 2020. Federal News Network.
