Tricare Reimbursements

[orbitsurgMD]

That is just not correct.

Take a look around a military hospital...then take a look around a civilian one....There are MAJOR differences in where the costs are going....

Those high dollar COWmanders who do nothing but wield clipboards.

Those nice offices that E-4's command that my current private practice of 8 BC anesthesiologists would envy.

etc. etc...

it wouldn't triple the cost...you just need to "realign" the costs.

That's the truth. A huge cost in the military medical enterprise is the de-facto jobs corps that it has become. Lots of clinical people doing administrative "work" for which there is no need or counterpart on the civilian side. The uniqueness of the military healthcare mission is that it also has to give senior personnel who don't do clinical work anymore something to keep busy with until they retire. I used to see this at NNMC which when you looked at the place was a modest community hospital and physician's professional building bundled with a huge non-clinical office complex that if eliminated, probably wouldn't have been missed by anyone (except maybe the lunch wagon people).

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[IgD]

My understanding the largest cost for military medicine by far is post-retirement health care. The military tried to increase annual premiums but was shot down by congress.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

My understanding the largest cost for military medicine by far is post-retirement health care. The military tried to increase annual premiums but was shot down by congress.

Is that surprising? The military career structure allows retirement at 20 years' employment, which leaves 20-30 years of primary coverage until reaching Medicare eligibility and even then, secondary coverage for the duration of the member's natural lifespan. With aging comes greater consumption of medical services, as is true of any natural population. The system is designed for high legacy costs. No one should expect any different. Young healthy people generally have few medical needs compared to their elders, trauma and obstetrics being the principal exceptions.