Press Releases

Today, Chairman Joe Heck (R-NV), of the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Military Personnel, made the following statement on the Subcommittee's hearing titled, "Department of Defense Views on Recommendations from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission on Military Health Care Reform."

"As we studied the Commission’s recommendations over the past 5 months, we considered the views of our current and retired service members through the organizations that represent them. We heard mixed reviews about TRICARE and the military health system; however the consistent viewpoint is that TRICARE can and should be improved. We take their concerns seriously and will consider all views before undertaking any changes to the military healthcare system.

That being said, I do believe that we can all agree that the work conducted by the Commission identified weaknesses in the current system that give us an opportunity to focus our efforts as we discuss reforming the military health system. It is our duty as the Military Personnel Subcommittee to get at the root cause of the issues and help determine the best course of action to fix them.

Today is the first hearing where we will receive specific testimony from the Department of Defense on their reaction to the Commission's recommendations to improve health benefits for our service members and families. I am interested in hearing from our distinguished panel if they agree or disagree with the Commission’s recommendations or if they have alternative suggestions for addressing the shortfalls identified by the Commission. In addition, I am interested in hearing the Surgeons General’s views on how the recommendations would specifically affect the future of the military treatment facilities and the direct care system.

As I’ve said before, a guiding consideration for our work is to ensure that we can continue to recruit and retain the best and brightest in order to maintain the viability of the All-Volunteer Force and ensuring that we do not break faith with our service members, retirees and their family members."