SMA Calls for TRICARE Review

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston used a July 23 appearance on Capitol Hill as an opportunity to press lawmakers to improve service members’ access to TRICARE services. TRICARE provides service members and their families with access to health care when military treatment facilities are not readily convenient. But many civilian doctors decline to accept TRICARE, because of lengthy waits for reimbursement of services, Preston told members of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee during a hearing on military family support programs. "One of the major accessibility challenges to getting quality medical care if finding sufficient health-care providers outside our military installations who accept TRICARE payment," Preston said.