United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-02-26 monographic deposited born digital 20 p. GA 1.13:T-HEHS-98-100 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100 P0b002ee180389185 f:he98100t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100 T-HEHS-98-100 Managed health care Health care cost control Health care services Medical services rates Health care programs Service contracts Military personnel Health services administration Beneficiaries DOD TRICARE Program CHAMPUS Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services Testimony HEHS GAO discussed the status of the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of its managed health care program, TRICARE, focusing on: (1) DOD's progress in implementing TRICARE; (2) whether DOD is adequately assessing TRICARE'S effects on military health care access, quality, and cost; and (3) the implications of ongoing and proposed changes in the military health care system itself for TRICARE's future.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) TRICARE was established in an era of military downsizing and rapidly escalating DOD health costs; (2) it was envisioned as a way to maintain beneficiary access to high-quality care while containing costs; (3) designing and implementing TRICARE to achieve these objectives, however, has proven to be a complex and difficult undertaking involving many stakeholders, including Congress, the individual services and their many facilities and contractors, and the more than 8 million beneficiaries of the military health care system; (4) DOD has taken steps to improve the program as it has evolved, but much remains to be done before TRICARE becomes the smooth-running and beneficiary-friendly endeavor envisioned by its developers; (5) moreover, many questions concerning its cost-effectiveness and ability to meet beneficiary access and quality of care concerns are still to be answered; (6) in addition to operational difficulties, TRICARE is likely to continue to be implemented amid many changes that could profoundly affect not only the program but the entire military health care system; and (7) the result of the continuing evolution of TRICARE and the collective effects of these individual changes on it remain to be seen. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100/html/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100.pdf GAO/T-HEHS-98-100 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-100 Testimony GAO/T-HEHS-98-100; Defense Health Care: Operational Difficulties and System Uncertainties Pose Continuing Challenges for TRICARE; Managed health care Health care cost control Health care services Medical services rates Health care programs Service contracts Military personnel Health services administration Beneficiaries DOD TRICARE Program CHAMPUS Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services