Pentagon plan would privatize medical positions

WASHINGTON – The Defense Department plans to transfer thousands of uniformed health care personnel out of their positions in military medical facilities over the next few years and replace them with civilian workers or contractors.

The initiative is part of a larger Pentagon effort to reassign military members to jobs that are more directly tied to wars and national security, leaving the tasks they had been performing to civil servants or private contractors, or eliminating the positions.

The plan could bring important changes in the way the Defense Health Program provides medical and dental care to 8.9 million active members of the military, their dependents and military retirees. The changes are expected to affect thousands of doctors, dentists, nurses, administrators and ancillary staff employed in a network of 75 military hospitals and 461 military clinics.

Pentagon officials declined to discuss most details of the plan, saying it is part of the department’s budget development process. The administration has requested $17.6 billion for the department’s health program next year, including $35.8 million to fund the conversion of positions held by military personnel to civilian workers or private contractors.

The rationale behind the plan is that only certain jobs – for instance, those of surgeons who care for Marines wounded in battle – must be performed by a person in uniform, officials said. Others can be done by civilian or contract workers – or could be eliminated.

“Generally speaking, should a position be converted from military to civilian, the military personnel would be reassigned to another position in military medicine that requires a military person with that expertise,” Marianne Coates, a Defense spokeswoman, said in an e-mail response to questions.

“Importantly, the military’s health plan, Tricare, has tremendous flexibility designed in so that our beneficiaries continue to receive the care they need, when they need it. … We have civilian physicians and nurses working in our military medical facilities today, so having more would not degrade our standard of care.”

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