From abcnews.go.com
The U.S. military is devising major reductions in its medical corps, unnerving the system’s advocates who fear the cuts will hobble the armed forces’ ability to adequately care for health problems of military personnel at home and abroad.
The move inside the military coincides with efforts by the Trump administration to privatize care for veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs last month proposed rulesthat would allow veterans to use private hospitals and clinics if government primary care facilities are not nearby or if they have to wait too long for an appointment.
Shrinking the medical corps within the armed forces is proving more contentious and complex. In 2017, a Republican-controlled Congress mandated changes in what a Senate Armed Services Committee report described as “an under-performing, disjointed health system” with “bloated medical headquarters staffs” and “inevitable turf wars.” The directive sought a greater emphasis for military doctors on combat-related needs while transferring other care to civilian providers.
Details of reductions have yet to be finalized, a military spokeswoman said. But within the system and among alumni, trepidation has increased since Military.com, an online military and veterans organization, reported in January that the Department of Defense had drafted proposals to convert more than 17,000 medical positions into fighting and support positions — a 13 percent reduction in medical personnel.
“That would be a drastic first cut,” said Dr. David Lane, a retired rear admiral and former director of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
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