Congress asked DOD to realign its Military Health System five years ago. It included moving as many as 1.9 million people from the Military Health System into private care, along with a DOD plan to cut thousands of medical billets, as Federal News Network reported.

Post-pandemic, the Defense Health Agency’s plans are similar but on a different scale, the outlet reported.

DHA’s current plan is to move about 200,000 TRICARE beneficiaries to private medical networks and shut down fewer than 7% of DOD’s military treatment facilities. It has not been authorized by Congress or the Pentagon to proceed with that plan.

Federal News Network also reported on a Pentagon-funded study that questions the quality of inpatient care some patients get at private facilities compared to medical facilities.

Navy photo by Douglas H Stutz