Evaluation of the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative. Volume 6, Implementation and Operations.
Abstract
The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) pays for much of the health care that dependents of active-duty personnel, military retirees and their dependents, and survivors of deceased service members get from civilian providers. In response to growing costs in CHAMPUS and dissatisfaction with the program on the part of its beneficiaries, the Department of Defense (DoD) proposed in 1987 a set of reforms based partly on civilian managed-care plans. The CHAMPUS Reform Initiative (CRI) makes reduced cost sharing available to those beneficiaries willing to restrict their physician choice to a specified provider network offering discounts for its services. CRI offers two new health plans as alternatives to the Standard CHAMPUS plan-a health maintenance organization (HMO) called CHAMPUS Prime and a preferred provider organization (PPO) called CHAMPUS Extra. Through these new plans, CRI improves coverage of preventive care and reduces paperwork for beneficiaries, introduces comprehensive utilization review, and promotes better coordination of civilian-provided care with care in military treatment facilities (MTFs). Since CRI fundamentally changes the Military Health Service System (MHSS), Congress required a demonstration to test the initiative's feasibility and cost-effectiveness before nationwide implementation. The demonstration began in California and Hawaii in February 1988, and, following its planned five-year run, Congress also mandated an independent evaluation of the CRI demonstration. RAND was asked to perform that evaluation. JMD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA290943
Entities
People
- Mary E Anderson
- Susan D. Hosek
Organizations
- RAND Corporation