Heg Military Treatment facilities cut costs and ensure military readiness John Kokulis 13. 10-17-13. (Kokulis: Board of Directors for Gold coast Veterans Foundation. “Preserving the Military Health Care Benefit: Needed Steps for Reform.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed JSD.) in the purchased care system, the DoD pays in full for every dollar of service This increases costs, because as provided to a beneficiary at a civilian clinic. If the beneficiary were to visit an MTF, the only cash however, out of pocket for the DoD would be for any variable expense These from the visit, such as medicine and supplies. kinds of variable expenses usually constitute only 10-40 percent All other costs, such as of the visit’s expenses. doctors and facilities, are fixed and have already been paid for from the DoD budget, whether the facility is fully A $1,000 trip to a doctor in the purchased care system would cost the DoD a full $1,000, but used or not. that same visit to an MTF would run only anywhere from $100 to $400. the MTFs are Until they reach capacity, a lower-cost alternative to paying expenses in full to the purchased care network. More importantly, from a readiness perspective, with so many retirees now getting their care in the purchased care system—because only do costs go up, but the of either convenience or lack of appointment availability at the MTFs—not effectiveness of the MTF and those that train there is also eroded. MTFs need these “case intensive” retirees to provide the proper training to their medical staff. Of course, the kind of care retirees require does not exactly many procedures common among an aging population, mirror the kind of care required on the battlefield. That said, such as open-heart surgery, hip replacements, and chronic disease contribute a necessary—if perhaps not in keeping medical staff in shape and ready. sufficient—role This is an important issue and one that I address in the Recommendations section of this report.
Heg Military Treatment facilities cut costs and ensure military readiness John Kokulis 13. 10-17-13. (Kokulis: Board of Directors for Gold coast Veterans Foundation. “Preserving the Military Health Care Benefit: Needed Steps for Reform.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed JSD.) This increases costs, because as in the purchased care system, the DoD pays in full for every dollar of service provided to a beneficiary at a civilian clinic. If the beneficiary were to visit an MTF, however, the only cash out of pocket for the DoD would be for any variable expense from the visit, such as medicine and supplies. These kinds of variable expenses usually constitute only 10-40 percent of the visit’s expenses. All other costs, such as doctors and facilities, are fixed and have already been paid for from the DoD budget, whether the facility is fully used or not. A $1,000 trip to a doctor in the purchased care system would cost the DoD a full $1,000, but that same visit to an MTF would run only anywhere from $100 to $400. Until they reach capacity, the MTFs are a lower-cost alternative to paying expenses in full to the purchased care network. More importantly, from a readiness perspective, with so many retirees now getting their care in the purchased care system—because of either convenience or lack of appointment availability at the MTFs—not only do costs go up, but the effectiveness of the MTF and those that train there is also eroded. MTFs need these “case intensive” retirees to provide the proper training to their medical staff. Of course, the kind of care retirees require does not exactly mirror the kind of care required on the battlefield. That said, many procedures common among an aging population, such as open-heart surgery, hip replacements, and chronic disease contribute a necessary—if perhaps not sufficient—role in keeping medical staff in shape and ready. This is an important issue and one that I address in the Recommendations section of this report.