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Show 8 Hilltop Times April 23, 1992 isting CHAMPUS workload to military medical treatment facilities or network providers, thus freeing funds budgeted for CHAMPUS, Mendez said. In addition, he told lawmakers that a CHAMPUS reform initiative test in California and Hawaii shows d that it is essential for the contractor to work each hospital commander "every day with of health care finders." management regarding "There have been substantial improvements in the management of CHAMPUS; however, CHAMPUS is just 26 percent of our health care resources," Mendez said. "Significant opportunities also exist, over time, for improving management in the remainder of the Managed care initiatives, rising CHAMPUS costs, more retirees cause concern hand-in-han- by TSgt. David P. Masko Air Force News Service - WASHINGTON Health care for the military continues to dominate discussion on Capitol Hill as Congress and the services debate how to provide quality care with less defense money. Dr. Enrique Mendez Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, believes the Pentagon's three-yea- r implementation of a new coordinated care program is the best way to serve the 8.4 million people eligible for medical benefits. The managed care initiative is designed to better accomplish the medical mission by improving access to quality health care services, while controlling health care cost growth, Mendez told the Senate Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations April 2. The centerpiece of the program will be military medical facilities and local networks based on arrangements between military and civilian health care officials. Although funding for military medical care is currently programmed to increase by about 4 percent each year for the next five years, Mendez said this increase still "looms" in a declining defense budget. The Pentagon's medical portion of the defense budget in 1993 is $15.3 billion, a figure Congress calls considerable, even when compared to estimates of both hospital and physician services in the commercial sector. Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Daniel Inouye, said the military's expansion of managed care initiatives signals a concern for the effective.use of health care dollars. Inouye's concern centers on the rising cost of CHAMPUS care, which will increase from $3.6 billion in 1992 to $3.9 billion in 1993. Additionally, he $foM$LJ iv5'- - Hn mm 1 i system, which consumes 74 percent of our said there have been numerous complaints from military people who have been serviced under CHAMPUS. "We have always been advised that it would be cheaper to treat patients at military hospitals and facilities than under CHAMPUS," Inouye said. "If this is true, why aren't we maintaining a higher level of personnel at some of these military facilities in order to increase patient workforce to then beneficiaries load, to go for dependent CHAMPUS?" Mendez responded by highlighting several alternative health care delivery programs being used to test different medical care concepts in the CHAMPUS portion of the military health servin-hou- se ices system. One goal of the coordinated care is to redirect ex resources." Another area of concern on Capitol Hill and in the military medical community is how to care for the rapidly growing population of retired beneficiaries who will need specialized care in the future. Mendez, a retired Army medical officer, says he can relate to the problem of being a retiree who is looking for medical services in the bureaucracy of today's military health care system. There are problems with caring for the retiree, but officials are working on plans to solve these problems. The current senior population is about 10 percent of the beneficiaries, or 900,000 people who receive medical care, at 148, hospitals and 554 clinics worldwide. "Take that figure to the year 2000, and it grows to well over a million people who will need military health care services," Mendez said. "We must proceed with care when committing our health care resources." He told lawmakers that the medical service is de- veloping plans for health care for eligible beneficiaries remaining in areas affected by base closure actions. The Base Realignment and Closure Act has generated considerable concern in Congress because many retirees live close to military hospitals scheduled for closure. - flTl Lru Military - 5 Civilian Personnel onvenient and Quick Gash!! Cash for personal needs, vacations, etc. BORROW. UP TO $200 INSTANTLY!! Military ID or Civilian ID and Post Dated Check is all you need. IF YOU NEED INSTANT CASH, COME SEE US AT a 300 EAST GENTILE ST. OPEN: MON.-THUR- S. 10 TO 5 (Inside Layton FRI. 10 TO 5:30 Mini-Mal- i) LAYTON 546-277- 8 NOW OPEN SATURDAYS 11 A M to q p m lomsmmmMpmsmmmmmmmimm : . |