WASHINGTON — A new report raises questions about TRICARE and finds that there are still some barriers to mental health care for the program's more than 9.5 million military beneficiaries.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that TRICARE's behavioral health and substance abuse disorder benefits may fall short of the Defense Health Agencies' goal of eliminating all unnecessary treatment limitations.
"If there are certain coverage limitations or things that are prohibiting a military service member or their family from getting care, it just exacerbates the issue," said Alyssa Hundrup, a director in the GAO's health care team and author of the report, in an interview Wednesday with 13News Now.
In the report, Hundrup notes that mental health and substance use disorders can have harmful consequences on the military and its service members, including decreasing readiness.
She says getting this right is important.
"The Defense Health Agency has stated that addressing mental health needs is vital to the well-being and readiness of our military force," she said. "DOD recognizes this as an issue. And I think they think they're taking actions, and we agree with that. But I think there's always more they can do."
According to the report, areas where there are inconsistencies in coverage include care for eating disorders and PTSD.
The GAO recommends that the government take steps to periodically assess TRICARE's behavioral health coverage to determine if goals are being met.