The Effects of Proposals to Increase Cost Sharing in TRICARE
Abstract
The TRICARE program provides health care for the militarys uniformed personnel and retirees, and for their dependents and survivorsthe more than 9 million people eligible to use its integrated system of military healthcare facilities and providers and regional networks of contracted civilian providers. In 2008, the Department of Defenses (DoDs) costs for that medical care were$42 billion, or about 6 percent of DoDs total funding for that year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)has projected DoDs future spending on the basis of the information in the most recent Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).1 Those projections indicate that costs for medical care will rise more rapidly than overall resources for defense and require an estimated 13 percent of total defense funding by 2026.2To accommodate that growth could require reductions in spending for other defense programs, such as the procurement and maintenance of weapon systems. Alternatively, if policymakers chose to increase DoDs resources, such boosts in funding might put pressure on other types of federal spending. Thus, many policymakers have expressed the concern that the current TRICARE program will become unaffordable in the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- AD1134634
Entities
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office