Options for Paying Military Physicians
Abstract
In 1990, the Department of Defense (DoD) will spend around $1 billion to pay the military's 13,000 active-duty physicians. Five types of compensation, referred to as the medical special pays, make up about $370 million of that total. These special pays, which are the focus of this report, are variable special pay, additional special pay, board-certified pay, incentive special pay, and the medical officer retention bonus (MORB). Summary Tables 1 and 2 detail these pays. For a physician who is a lieutenant colonel (with 12 years of military service), the sum total of these special pays can vary between $29,000 and $65,000. The range reflects differences in specialty (surgeons get paid more than primary care providers) and in willingness to stay on duty for two or more years (to receive a MORB, physicians must sign a multiyear contract). Starting next year, the authority to pay the MORB will end, and incentive special pay may increase to make up the difference. The question for the future is whether this system of special pays will meet the Defense Department's need for physicians. Will enough physicians be willing to stay on active duty to take care of active-duty personnel, to be ready to take care of casualties in a major war, and to provide care in peacetime to about 7 million eligible beneficiaries who are not on active duty (dependents of active-duty personnel, retired military personnel and their dependents and survivors)? The answer depends in large part on assumptions about the future size of the military and the number of physicians required to attend it.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA528694
Entities
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office