Posted on Dec 11, 2014
Defense bill mandates yearly mental health checkups for troops
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From: Navy Times
The defense policy bill passed by the House last week and now pending in the Senate will change how often troops get mental health exams, where they fill some prescriptions and how long they stay in a hospital for mental health treatment.
The bill, which authorizes $30.7 billion for the defense health program, rejected Pentagon proposals to consolidate Tricare into a single plan — an idea that would have altered the medical program for nearly all Tricare beneficiaries except active-duty troops — but still makes significant changes.
Among the largest is a requirement that all active-duty and Selected Reserve troops receive one-on-one mental health screenings once a year.
The assessments can coincide with annual physical exams or pre- or post-deployment assessments, but they must be face-to-face, according to the defense policy legislation. In addition, deployed troops also must have an in-person mental health exam once every 180 days of deployment.
Sens. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who proposed the new requirements, said they are needed to help break down the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues.
Donnelly named his original bill for Jacob Sexton, a 21-year-old National Guardsmen who fatally shot himself while home on leave from Afghanistan in 2009. As a Guard member, he had access to online assessments but was required to have a face-to-face exam only once every five years.
The legislation, which also requires the Defense Department to provide a report to Congress on in-person mental health assessments, is intended to fill gaps in current requirements, the lawmakers said.
Donnelly called suicide a "service-wide problem," adding: "Beating this scourge is a critical component of military readiness."
Another change included in the legislation that is sure to have an impact on most Tricare beneficiaries is a requirement that Tricare patients who take name-brand medications for chronic conditions fill them at a military pharmacy or with the Tricare home delivery program starting Oct. 1.
Details have yet to be released by DoD, but the bill essentially forces Tricare beneficiaries to use military pharmacies or mail order for prescriptions for long-term medical conditions unless they use generic brands.
The new requirement will save the Pentagon money: Last year, DoD's efforts to move retail prescriptions to mail or military facilities, including a program requiring Tricare For LIfe beneficiaries to use the mail or military pharmacies, saved $74.8 million, according to DoD.
But the move also will save Tricare patients cash as well. With prescription copayments included in the new legislation, the cost of a 30-day prescription at a retail pharmacy for name-brand medications will rise to $20 under the new legislation, while the same prescription is provided at no-charge at military treatment facilities. Moreover, a 90-day mail prescription will cost just $16.
Beneficiaries still will be able to fill prescriptions for name-brand drugs for acute illnesses at Tricare network retail pharmacies as well as prescriptions for generic brands, which will cost $8 for a 30-day prescription.
Another significant change in the bill will greatly benefit military family members and troops struggling with severe mental health conditions: The new legislation lifts limits on the number of days Tricare covers inpatient psychiatric care, currently 30 total days per fiscal years for patients 19 and older and 45 days for patients 18 and younger.
The change "removes a potential barrier to receipt of mental health care that does not exist for other medical or surgical care," lawmakers wrote in the explanatory report accompanying the bill.
A provision offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to require Tricare to cover the cost of breast-feeding equipment, support and counseling for moms who want to nurse their infants also made it into the final version of the bill.
That change aligns Tricare with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, which mandates that health insurers cover lactation equipment, counseling and support.
Other requirements in the bill include mandating DoD to provide reports to Congress on issues, including:
*The reduction of Tricare Prime service areas.
*The use of burn pits in deployed settings.
*Fertility treatments for injured service members.
*Service resiliency programs and transition care for troops diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2014/12/11/defense-bill-tricare-troops-health/20147081/
The defense policy bill passed by the House last week and now pending in the Senate will change how often troops get mental health exams, where they fill some prescriptions and how long they stay in a hospital for mental health treatment.
The bill, which authorizes $30.7 billion for the defense health program, rejected Pentagon proposals to consolidate Tricare into a single plan — an idea that would have altered the medical program for nearly all Tricare beneficiaries except active-duty troops — but still makes significant changes.
Among the largest is a requirement that all active-duty and Selected Reserve troops receive one-on-one mental health screenings once a year.
The assessments can coincide with annual physical exams or pre- or post-deployment assessments, but they must be face-to-face, according to the defense policy legislation. In addition, deployed troops also must have an in-person mental health exam once every 180 days of deployment.
Sens. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who proposed the new requirements, said they are needed to help break down the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues.
Donnelly named his original bill for Jacob Sexton, a 21-year-old National Guardsmen who fatally shot himself while home on leave from Afghanistan in 2009. As a Guard member, he had access to online assessments but was required to have a face-to-face exam only once every five years.
The legislation, which also requires the Defense Department to provide a report to Congress on in-person mental health assessments, is intended to fill gaps in current requirements, the lawmakers said.
Donnelly called suicide a "service-wide problem," adding: "Beating this scourge is a critical component of military readiness."
Another change included in the legislation that is sure to have an impact on most Tricare beneficiaries is a requirement that Tricare patients who take name-brand medications for chronic conditions fill them at a military pharmacy or with the Tricare home delivery program starting Oct. 1.
Details have yet to be released by DoD, but the bill essentially forces Tricare beneficiaries to use military pharmacies or mail order for prescriptions for long-term medical conditions unless they use generic brands.
The new requirement will save the Pentagon money: Last year, DoD's efforts to move retail prescriptions to mail or military facilities, including a program requiring Tricare For LIfe beneficiaries to use the mail or military pharmacies, saved $74.8 million, according to DoD.
But the move also will save Tricare patients cash as well. With prescription copayments included in the new legislation, the cost of a 30-day prescription at a retail pharmacy for name-brand medications will rise to $20 under the new legislation, while the same prescription is provided at no-charge at military treatment facilities. Moreover, a 90-day mail prescription will cost just $16.
Beneficiaries still will be able to fill prescriptions for name-brand drugs for acute illnesses at Tricare network retail pharmacies as well as prescriptions for generic brands, which will cost $8 for a 30-day prescription.
Another significant change in the bill will greatly benefit military family members and troops struggling with severe mental health conditions: The new legislation lifts limits on the number of days Tricare covers inpatient psychiatric care, currently 30 total days per fiscal years for patients 19 and older and 45 days for patients 18 and younger.
The change "removes a potential barrier to receipt of mental health care that does not exist for other medical or surgical care," lawmakers wrote in the explanatory report accompanying the bill.
A provision offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to require Tricare to cover the cost of breast-feeding equipment, support and counseling for moms who want to nurse their infants also made it into the final version of the bill.
That change aligns Tricare with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, which mandates that health insurers cover lactation equipment, counseling and support.
Other requirements in the bill include mandating DoD to provide reports to Congress on issues, including:
*The reduction of Tricare Prime service areas.
*The use of burn pits in deployed settings.
*Fertility treatments for injured service members.
*Service resiliency programs and transition care for troops diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2014/12/11/defense-bill-tricare-troops-health/20147081/
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Responses: 28
Anything that is mandatory and routine without adding personnel specifcally to serve the need.. Will become routine , minimized, rushed and dealt with as an additional burden. The service provided (or not) will reflect that.
This will prove to be another check the block task for overburdened physicians, PA, Combat Stress folks... who will now be forced to do routine health checks vice focused help to those in actual need.
This will prove to be another check the block task for overburdened physicians, PA, Combat Stress folks... who will now be forced to do routine health checks vice focused help to those in actual need.
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Lt Col (Join to see)
Not to mention the service members, who now have yet another annual requirement to fulfill in addition to all the other taskers they have.
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SSG(P) (Join to see)
You are exactly right SGM Marquez!
After my deployment to Iraq, I went to OCS at Fort Benning when my PDHRA came due. I went there and did all the tests, got poked, prodded, and blood drawn, etc. When it came time to fill out the paperwork, I ran a little test to see if the civilians collecting the paperwork were paying attention. I checked the box that asked if I had any concerns that I wanted to speak to a specialist about. I turned in my paperwork and watched as the civilian routinely stamped each page without looking at anything at all on the pages. Never heard anything about it either, because I went on to deploy a second time, and am closing out a year in South Korea.
Good thing we have all these requirements to fulfill that no one will even properly evaluate.
After my deployment to Iraq, I went to OCS at Fort Benning when my PDHRA came due. I went there and did all the tests, got poked, prodded, and blood drawn, etc. When it came time to fill out the paperwork, I ran a little test to see if the civilians collecting the paperwork were paying attention. I checked the box that asked if I had any concerns that I wanted to speak to a specialist about. I turned in my paperwork and watched as the civilian routinely stamped each page without looking at anything at all on the pages. Never heard anything about it either, because I went on to deploy a second time, and am closing out a year in South Korea.
Good thing we have all these requirements to fulfill that no one will even properly evaluate.
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11
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While I think this is a good thing as it helps keep the force healthy, my real question is, why do we continue to spend more and more money without fixing many of the issues that cause this spending?
The military is becoming another big government program.
The military is becoming another big government program.
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SSgt (Join to see)
CPT, my thoughts are the worry will be about us leaving, what MIGHT other countries do. I agree that it would help and that maintaining a small presence is necessary but the eventual cutbacks and closure of our presence in some regions may be indeed be necessary.
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SSG (Join to see)
"We do not need to keep creating more tanks and planes than we need, and from the same companies."
CPT Zachary Brooks , I could be misunderstanding your meaning. I'm interpreting this statement as saying that we should pay multiple companies for the same product. To me that doesn't make any sense. We'd be paying multiple companies for one thing that comes with varying degrees of quality. A problem which, from what I've come to understand, already exists when it comes to things like our uniforms, field gear, etc. I don't know how many of you have ever noticed it, but with some of the ACU blouses you can tighten the wrist and the pen sleeves line up perfectly, but with others it gets all jacked up and looks like crap and that's because, from what I've been told, they come from different manufacturers.
Take an issue like that, turn it into a mechanical matter, and apply it to weapons, vehicles or aircraft and you're looking at a big, expensive, and potentially deadly issue.
CPT Zachary Brooks , I could be misunderstanding your meaning. I'm interpreting this statement as saying that we should pay multiple companies for the same product. To me that doesn't make any sense. We'd be paying multiple companies for one thing that comes with varying degrees of quality. A problem which, from what I've come to understand, already exists when it comes to things like our uniforms, field gear, etc. I don't know how many of you have ever noticed it, but with some of the ACU blouses you can tighten the wrist and the pen sleeves line up perfectly, but with others it gets all jacked up and looks like crap and that's because, from what I've been told, they come from different manufacturers.
Take an issue like that, turn it into a mechanical matter, and apply it to weapons, vehicles or aircraft and you're looking at a big, expensive, and potentially deadly issue.
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CPT Zachary Brooks
SSG (Join to see)
The issue is that we have more tanks and planes than we could ever need and all the contracts get awarded to the same two or three companies. We are paying crony deals to make equipment we do not need in spite of benefits for the manpower.
The issue is that we have more tanks and planes than we could ever need and all the contracts get awarded to the same two or three companies. We are paying crony deals to make equipment we do not need in spite of benefits for the manpower.
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Oh, great... Another annual requirement... Add this to suicide prevention training, periodic health assessments, anti-terrorism training, and brown leather boot training.
Why not give reservists tricare like the active duty? After all, we have the same requirements.
Other Reserve CSMs have said this until we're blue int he face... We have way too many mandatory requirements. We have the same requirements as the active duty, but they have 365 days to do it. We have about 48, and the active duty says they don't have the time either.
How about we learn how to drive a truck for a few hours a year. Instead, Soldiers are poked and prodded by medical professionals more than the Roswell aliens.
Why not give reservists tricare like the active duty? After all, we have the same requirements.
Other Reserve CSMs have said this until we're blue int he face... We have way too many mandatory requirements. We have the same requirements as the active duty, but they have 365 days to do it. We have about 48, and the active duty says they don't have the time either.
How about we learn how to drive a truck for a few hours a year. Instead, Soldiers are poked and prodded by medical professionals more than the Roswell aliens.
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SSG (Join to see)
Does this mean they are going to start kicking guys out for PTSD issues because they haven't passed the mental part or gone to seek help by the VA or a private mental Psychologist.
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SSgt Todd Ricker
Whenever politicians weigh in on military members there should always be concern and bigger question, why are they concerned now? I believe a lot has to do with the current Obamacare and gun control. Kids are asked if there are guns in the house, and what does that have to do with a 2nd graders cough? The sad part is, if they come in and need real assistance with PTSD or depression, service members will be asked what kind of weapons are in the house. They will start taking weapons away. Agree with it or not, unfortunately, the underlining pursuit is probably not the real health of the service member.
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CSM Charles Hayden
Sgt Ricker, Your comment about school children being asked about guns in the house scares me.
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CPT (Join to see)
CSM Heidke, I concur with your sentiment. I myself am a reservist, and have Soldiers that would take advantage of having the ability to have Tri-Care provided at no cost. In fact, some of the individuals in my unit do not seek medical or mental health assistance due to the out of pocket funding required. I recently had a Soldier who wanted to seek help for drug addiction, but was not able to get admitted because they were not eligible due to their reserve status. I find it incredibly disheartening that we tell our Soldiers to seek help, and then they are turned away for being "substandard". This is another issue that the "Big Army" needs to address.
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