HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- When it comes to the future of military health care, the voice of every beneficiary matters.
Just a sample of those voices was heard Wednesday at "The Future of Military Health Care" military family program at the Association of the United States Army's Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville. The first of its kind forum provided attendees with the opportunity to hear from leaders and advocates within military health care about the challenges they are facing today, and what is being done to mitigate those challenges in the future.
"Your health care is personal and a personal choice, and our role here is to make sure we can support it in the best way possible," said Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency, which was established in 2013 as a joint agency that supports the Army, Navy and Air Force medical services to provide "the delivery of integrated, affordable and high quality health services" to the service members, retirees and families they serve.
The forum kicked off with remarks from Brig. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, deputy chief of staff for operations, G-3/5/7, for the Army Medical Command, who provided an update on the current health and wellness initiatives within MEDCOM, which are largely focused on moving from a "health care system to a system of health," Dingle said.
One's health is determined 10 percent by their access to care, 20 percent by their genetics, 20 percent by their environment and 50 percent by the choices they make, according to Dingle, hence the move from a medical system that finds disease in its patients and attempts to fix it, to a system that predicts and personalizes the health care experience, ideally heading off any health issues before they arise. Part of the Army's commitment to that model is apparent in the increase in Army Wellness Centers, which will go from 27 to 37, Dingle said.
"It is indeed an honor to serve you as we serve to heal you -- but if we can, (we want to) move to a system for health to prevent it from happening," Dingle said. "When we are called upon, you'll get world-class health care," Dingle said.
Beneficiaries from across the services with a variety of backgrounds -- from active duty to Guard, Reserve and military spouses -- used the forum as an opportunity to voice their questions and concerns. The panel, moderated by retired Lt. Gen. James Barclay III, included Bono, Joyce Wessel Raezer, executive director for the National Military Family Association; and retired Navy Capt. Kathryn Beasley, co-chair for the Health Care Committee for The Military Coalition.
"This is a good news story, people in positions to change things who want to change things and want to respond to you," Raezer said.
At the top of the list for many in the room was access to care -- being able to see their doctor and receive the care they need when they need it. Raezer cited one example of a woman who had a mass in her breast, but had to wait for more than two months to receive a diagnosis.
Of 6,000 military spouses who were surveyed in December and January, nearly 30 percent who use a military treatment facility for their primary care indicated they never or rarely received an acute care appointment within 24 hours, which is a standard, according to Raezer.
"We want a world-class health care system to deliver world-class health care to the people that deserve it," Beasley said.
Also of concern to attendees was the proposed fiscal year 2017 budget, which does little to address issues such as access to care, according to Beasley, who described the budget as "heavy on placing fees on the beneficiaries," with no concrete plan as to how the current challenges facing Tricare will be addressed.
"The bottom line for our recommendations is this: preserve what works well and fix what's not," Beasley said. "We don't think the Tricare system needs to be scrapped, but if we could design it from scratch now we probably would design it a little differently, but we don't have that luxury. We've got to work with what we have. There's a lot of really good parts that are working well, and we need to either stop doing or revise what's not working."
Hosted by, the AUSA Family Readiness Directorate, symposium organizers hope the inaugural event will continue in the future.
"I don't believe that there's anything more important the than health and well-being of our force, their family members, our veterans and our retirees," said Patty Barron, AUSA director for family readiness.
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