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their unrelenting commitment to making the program a success,” says Cmdr. René Campos, USN (Ret), a MOAA deputy di- rector of Government Relations. Among the many provisions in the

Choice Act, the law calls for a commission to study how to improve access and delivery of veterans’ health care for the 21st century. MOAA joined other organizations to ask Congress to appoint members to the com- mission and give them sufficient time to do their work and present their findings. The last commission on care was al-

most a generation ago. That commission created quality and performance bench- marks and transformed the VA health system for veterans to receive routine primary care needs and specialized care for wartime disabilities. The VA health care system is the larg-

est integrated system in the country, with nearly 10 million veterans enrolled.

Retail Pharmacy

Comeback? A new proposal might give beneficiaries more choices.

T

he House version of the FY 2016 defense bill contains lan- guage giving military beneficiaries the option of using a designated “preferred retail pharmacy” to obtain medications. The pilot will include maintenance medica- tions, which, after last year’s policy change, currently are available only at military treatment facilities or through the home- delivery program. The assumption is that by giving participating pharmacies the abil- ity to buy medications at rates available to the federal government, retailers will pass the savings on to beneficiaries. DoD will be responsible for identifying the regional area where the pilot will be

34 MILITARY OFFICER JULY 2015

conducted, as well as determining the par- ticipating pharmacy retailers. For selected pharmacies to receive federal pricing on medications purchased for beneficiaries, retailers will need to abide by DoD distri- bution and compliance requirements. The pilot will be evaluated for gov- ernment cost-savings, which the home- delivery program has provided. Skeptics are concerned the distribution and com- pliance requirements might be costly for the pharmacies and drive up the costs of prescriptions.

Enhancing health care convenience and access long has been a goal of MOAA. “We are in favor of giving TRI- CARE beneficiaries more choices within their health care pharmacy options,” says Capt. Kathy Beasley, USN (Ret), a MOAA deputy director of Government Rela- tions, “and we are hopeful that this pilot will demonstrate that retail pharmacies can be cost-effective.” If enacted, the pilot will run from May 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2018.

Survivor Benefit W

Change Proposal The White House backs modifying the benefit plan.

hite House support for changes to benefits for military survivors comes after

a proposal from the Military Compen- sation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC) to split the Sur- vivor Benefit Plan (SBP) into two tiers. The first tier continues the program under existing rules. A second, more expensive tier charges higher premiums and eliminates an unfair penalty that forces thousands of military survivors to forfeit their earned benefits. Retirees