Access to Health Care Among TRICARE-Covered Children
Abstract
Military children often face unique stressors that can affect their health care needs and the level of care they receive, including frequent moves, limited pediatric provider options when parents are posted to geographically remote installations, the stresses of deployment, and limited informal support networks to help with special health care needs (SHCN). TRICARE, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) insurance program for eligible service members and their dependents, provides health care coverage to nearly 2 million children under the age of 18 (Defense Health Agency, 2020). These children receive health care either at on-base military treatment facilities (MTFs) or from a network of contracted providers. Prior DoD evaluations have found that TRICARE meets internal standards for access for child beneficiaries (Defense Health Board, 2017; Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2014), but survey results suggest that TRICARE-covered children may have less access to care than children with other sources of insurance and, in some cases, children with no insurance coverage. In response to these findings, DoD asked the RAND Corporation to investigate potential gaps and to identify opportunities to improve health care for military children.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1152816
Entities
People
- Carrie M. Farmer
- Courtney A. Gidengil
- Joachim O. Hero
- Nabeel Shariq Qureshi
- Terri Tanielian
Organizations
- RAND Corporation