TRICARE Hearing

Previous posts have discussed TRICARE. On Thursday, the Personnel Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing.Autism Speaks reports:

WASHINGTON, DC -- A Senate Armed Services subcommittee sharply questioned representatives from the Department of Defense (DoD) today on why they offer limited autism insurance benefits to military families, particularly in light of the federal government's decision to begin coverage for the nation's 8 million civilian employees, retirees and dependents. Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Geraldine Dawson (left, with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand) testified at the Subcommittee on Personnel that the DoD's exclusion of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) from basic TRICARE coverage on the basis that it was educational rather than medical relied on outdated and incomplete research. She said what limited ABA coverage the DoD does offer is restricted to active duty members and falls short in providing a sufficient level of coverage.

Links to prepared statements and the archived webcast are here.