In light of the big changes in the Tricare program in the last year, a military advocacy group wants your input on your experience with military health care.
The Military Officers Association of America has been tracking the effects of these changes in a variety of ways, including surveys of military beneficiaries.
Their current short survey, available online here through Jan. 18, asks about beneficiaries’ satisfaction with various aspects of the program, such as the cost of care, the cost of medications, the choice of medical providers and overall satisfaction with the Tricare Select, Tricare Prime and Tricare for Life programs.
MOAA fielded a baseline survey in December, 2017, just before the changes went into effect, combining the former Tricare Standard and Tricare Extra into the new Tricare Select program, among other things.
Because of the way defense officials decided to change its fee structure, active-duty families and retiree Tricare Select co-payments increased. Retiree Tricare Prime co-payments increased, and pharmacy co-payments have increased. There have also been issues with the availability of medical providers for military families.
In its last survey in June 2018, MOAA saw increasing dissatisfaction with certain aspects of Tricare, although those using Tricare for Life are generally highly satisfied. Tricare for Life is for beneficiaries age 65 and older.
The results of the online survey are anonymous, and MOAA seeks input from as many beneficiaries as possible to help them track the effects of Tricare changes so that they can help advocate for needed changes to improve access and quality of health care for the military community.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
