HEARING ON CAPITOL HILL, DEC. 3, 2015
CHAIRMAN HECK, MADAM RANKING MEM- BER [SUSAN] DAVIS, AND MEMBERS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE, good morning. First, from my humble perspective as president of MOAA for the past 13 years, this committee’s ac- tions have been the driving force in sustaining the all-volunteer force while our nation has been at war.
Leaders make a real difference, and you have done just that. Thank you. As for today’s subject of military health care, MOAA’s first guiding principle is to do no harm. We think it’s important to preserve what’s working and fix what’s not working. In the category of what’s working, we would include: combat casualty care; the overall quality of military
health care, once it’s delivered;
TRICARE For Life, which is working even better than origi- nally anticipated;
pharmacy programs, including the mail-order pharmacy; and
TRICARE Standard, for the most part.
On the latter score, MOAA’s recent
survey of more than 30,000 beneficia- ries found Standard participants had
a higher satisfaction rate and signifi- cantly lower dissatisfaction than TRI- CARE Prime beneficiaries. In the list of things that are not
working, MOAA would include: First and foremost, the fundamen- tal inefficiency of a system built around three separate military service programs, with no single budget and oversight authority. We fight wars jointly — thanks to Congress’ insistence in the 1980s, over the objections of the Joint Chiefs. Why can’t we do the same in medical? In layman’s terms, there are simply “too many cooks in the kitchen.” As a result, our survey confirmed serious shortcomings in: the TRICARE Prime appointing and referral processes;
Guard and Reserve TRICARE coverage;
Then-MOAA President Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret), front; current President Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, USAF (Ret), left; and Director of Government Relations Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF (Ret), right, are shown on camera during a hearing on Capitol Hill about military health care Dec. 3, 2015.
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