Join us on MOAA's Facebook page here on March 15, at 2:00 p.m. EST for our live Q&A on TRICARE changes.
MOAA's Facebook Live town hall will help shed light on the new changes to military and veteran health care programs. Topics will include a review of the changes and how beneficiaries have been impacted; successes and challenges; how challenges have been and are being addressed and solved; and what changes beneficiaries can expect in the future.
Background: The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act enacted sweeping changes to the Military Health System, which resulted in major reforms to the TRICARE program. Among these reforms was the plan to reduce TRICARE regions from three to two and to simplify health plan options by creating the new TRICARE Select (formerly TRICARE Standard and Extra). The objectives were to save the government money and to decrease administrative hassles for military beneficiaries, who tend to move around frequently between regions. Many of these changes have worked out well, but there also have been challenges. Some of these challenges have been due to the change of TRICARE contractors in both regions Jan. 1, new fee increases, and other changes.
The Defense Health Agency is aggressively addressing these challenges and providing the required oversight of the managed care support contractors. There are mitigation strategies and corrective action plans in place that address key issues. These will be discussed during the town hall.
Moderator: Capt. Kathy Beasley, USN (Ret), director of health affairs, MOAA Government Relations, will interview Mr. Ken Canestrini, director of DoD's TRICARE health plan.
Format: Approximately 45 minutes of an interview-style discussion, followed by 15 minutes of a relaxed, conversational Q&A session via Facebook Live. The interview will take place in MOAA's call center to ensure high responsiveness.
About us: The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is the nation's largest officers' association with more than 355,000 members from every branch of service, including active duty, retired, National Guard, Reserve, and former officers and their families and survivors. MOAA is a nonprofit and politically nonpartisan organization and an influential force in promoting a strong national defense. MOAA represents the interests of servicemembers and their families in every stage of their lives and careers.