Defense Health Care: Expansion of the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative Into DOD's Region 6 - Government Accountability Office (GAO) report

Defense Health Care: Expansion of the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative Into DOD's Region 6 - GAO Report

Date:	Feb. 9, 1994
Report No.:	HEHS-94-100
Pages:	12
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Subjects: Beneficiaries Comparative analysis Cost analysis Health care cost control Health care costs Health care planning Health care programs Health care services Health services administration Program evaluation Arkansas California CHAMPUS CHAMPUS Reform Initiative Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services Hawaii Louisiana Oklahoma Summary: Under the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative, private-sector contractors provide beneficiaries with managed health care services under regional, at-risk contracts that supplement the care provided in military hospitals and clinics. In a December 1993 letter, the Secretary of Defense told Congress that the Initiative, with some benefit revisions and managerial changes, would be the most cost-efficient way of providing health care to beneficiaries in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and parts of Louisiana and Texas--the Defense Department's (DOD) health service region 6. GAO found that the analyses supporting DOD's certification for expanding the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative into region 6 were done in a reasonable way. Moreover, the analyses fairly represent the likely impact of the modified CHAMPUS Reform Initiative on cost, quality, and access.