United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-02-27 monographic deposited born digital 6 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-495R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R P0b002ee1803a4560 f:d04495r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R GAO-04-495R Financial management Health care cost control Health care planning Health care services Performance measures Strategic planning Interagency relations Appropriation accounts Correspondence A09401

Combined, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provide health care services to about 12 million beneficiaries at an estimated cost of about $53 billion for fiscal year 2004--$26.7 billion for DOD and $26.5 billion for VA. In 1982 the Congress passed the VA and DOD Health Resources Sharing and Emergency Operations Act (Sharing Act) to promote more cost-effective use of health care resources and more efficient delivery of care. Specifically, the Congress authorized military treatment facilities and VA medical centers to enter into sharing agreements to buy, sell, and barter medical and support services. To further encourage on-going collaboration, the Congress, in section 721 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2003, directed the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a joint incentives program to identify and provide incentives to implement, fund, and evaluate creative health care coordination and sharing initiatives between DOD and VA. To facilitate the program, each Secretary is required to contribute a minimum of $15 million from each department's appropriation into an account established in the U. S. Treasury for each fiscal year from 2004 through 2007. DOD's TRICARE Management Activity and VA's Medical Sharing Office administer the incentive fund program. The offices have jointly issued a request for proposals from DOD and VA medical facilities around the country. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R.pdf GAO-04-495R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-495R Correspondence GAO-04-495R; DOD and VA Health Care: Incentives Program for Sharing Resources; Financial management Health care cost control Health care planning Health care services Performance measures Strategic planning Interagency relations Appropriation accounts Title 31 Section 1301(a) 31 U.S.C. 1301(a) Volume 96 Page 70 96 Stat. 70 Volume 116 Page 2589 116 Stat. 2589 Public Law 97-174 Public Law 107-314