Short-term deployments and unexpected extensions may lead to military families being unable to access suitable medical care, a Military Officers Association of American leader warned in a Military.com column.
Karen Ruedisueli, the organization’s director of government relations for health affairs, wrote that recent developments in the Military Health System reform, including the transfer of the management of Army, Navy and Air Force military treatment facilities to the Defense Health Agency, could lead to issues for military families.
“We fear DHA doesn’t have the right problem reporting and tracking systems in place to identify and resolve issues if systemwide problems – or even if just pockets of trouble – arise,” she wrote.
Ruedisueli suggests that DHS allow more flexibility to Tricare enrollment, create an online tool to report issues related to treatment facilities and provide better access to facility metrics to target appointment shortages.
Navy photo by CDR Denver Applehans