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interwar period, because older officers who had been passed over for promo- tion were not forced to leave the service — thereby freezing the promotion system and causing many good officers to exit out of frustration. MOAA first and foremost is concerned

with how potential changes might affect the overall readiness of the future all-vol- unteer force. We will continue to monitor discussions on this and other aspects of military personnel reform.

TRICARE Reform

Survey Results More than 30,000 provided input on their health care.

A

SURVEY RESULTS

Quality of Care

Ability to Pick Doctor How Much You Pay

s part of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, the House and Senate Armed Services Committee chairs included language in- dicating they anticipate their committees will be undertaking a reform of military health care programs as part of the FY 2017 defense bill.

The committee chairs expressed con- cern that most reform efforts to date have focused on raising beneficiary fees, and that while they believe increased fees will be on the table in their reform consider- ation, they also want to look at the whole system from top to bottom to sustain read- iness, implement efficiencies, and deliver better care.

To help prepare for these discussions,

MOAA developed a survey and asked for your input. MOAA’s intent was to gauge beneficiaries’ experiences in accessing their health care, what they perceive as a reasonable cost for their care, and the quality of that health care received. Over 30,000 of you responded. Once they access care, the vast majority

of survey respondents are satisfied with their health care. Here is a summary of satisfaction ratings on several key topics: On the ability to get routine care within the seven-day DoD timeliness standard, 20 percent of TRICARE Prime beneficiaries said they “rarely or never” can get care that fast — almost double the TRICARE For Life (TFL) and Stan- dard responses.

Among Prime beneficiaries, those seeking care in military treatment facili- ties reported much greater problems getting appointments than those seeing civilian providers. The most consistent responses among

all survey takers were on the question, “Is it reasonable to ask military beneficiaries to pay more?” The percentage saying “def- initely not” or “probably not” was 76 per- cent for TFL beneficiaries, 74 percent for Prime, and 78 percent for Standard, with all categories reporting 56 to 58 percent saying “definitely not.” MOAA greatly appreciates everyone who participated in the survey. We used your responses to substantiate our testimony to Congress, and your voices were heard.

Percentage of respondents who said they were

“satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the applicable topic TRICARE For Life 95% 90% 86%

TRICARE Standard 86% 81% 68%

36 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2016

TRICARE Prime 81% 62% 80%