Defense Health Care: TRICARE Resource Sharing Program Failing to Achieve Expected Savings
Abstract
The Department of Defense's (DOD) nationwide managed care program, called TRICARE, is intended to improve the military community's access to health care while maintaining quality and controlling costs. TRICARE represents a significant effort to reform DOD's $15 billion per year health system. DOD's approach to this reform involves a unique partnership between military and civilian health care entities that will include seven multistate managed care support contracts together estimated to cost about $17 billion over 5 years. In that partnership arrangement, resource sharing is an important cost-saving feature. To share resources, the contractor supplements the capacity of a military hospital or clinic by providing civilian personnel, equipment, or supplies. DOD has estimated that resource sharing could save about $700 million over 5 years for the contracts under way during our review.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- AD1170183
Entities
People
- Stephen P. Backhus
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office