Written by / Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
The Defense Department announced new contractors to provide managed care support of the North, South and West TRICARE regions of the United States, under contracts that collectively are worth an estimated $55.5 billion over the 10-month base and five oneyear option periods.
Under the new contracts, TriWest Healthcare Alliance will continue serving the West region, while Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Government Health Plans replaces Sacramento, Calif.-based Health Net Federal Services in the North region and Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Military and Veterans Services replaces Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Military Healthcare Services in the South.
The new contractors for the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA), as the organization is officially called, will begin providing services April 1, 2010, though transition from the current to the new contracts has already begun.
“TMA and all the managed care contractors are dedicated to making a smooth transition with minimal impact on beneficiaries,” said TMA Deputy Director Rear Admiral Christine Hunter in a press release. “We will ensure that key information flows to all of our beneficiaries and stakeholders, in particular those affected by the changes in contractors or providers.”
TMA administers health care benefits for 9.4 million military servicemembers, retirees and their families. Financial incentives included in the new contracts are designed to foster good customer service and quality care; detection of fraud and waste; and electronic processing of claims.
More information on the individual contracts can be found at www.tricare.mil/ t3contracts.
CBRN Marines in Beaufort Get New Facility
The U.S. Marine Corps began building a new training facility at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response.
The new facility, which will be ready later this year, doubles the capacity of the existing facility, which was originally a warehouse, the USMC said in a press release. The new facility features an air filtering system that eliminates environmental exposure to gas particles used in training and also includes a classroom with better temperature control, lighting and audiovisual equipment.
“A [CBRN] attack is one of the most desperate situations that can happen in combat, and training is what will help keep these Marines alive to make sure they can finish the fight and come home safely,” Colonel John Snider, the air station’s commanding officer, said in an official statement during the ground-breaking ceremony marking start of construction.
The current facility has been used to train more than 8,000 Marines since 2004.
DoD Contributes to Worldwide Flu Response
A recent article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) highlighted the success of DoD’s Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (GEIS) in helping develop current vaccines, including for flu, a recent posting on the Military Health System Blog noted.
GEIS was created in 1997 to detect new flu viruses and identify and control outbreaks among stationed military populations, in part through collection of samples from countries around the world, and since its creation has helped communities around the world improve their surveillance of influenza and epidemiologic capabilities.
The full AJPM article may be viewed online at www.ajpm-online.net. But not all is well with the ability of U.S. officials, military and otherwise, to respond to pandemic flu, according to a new report from Trust for America’s Health, the Center for Biosecurity, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“Pandemic Flu: Lessons from the Frontlines,” as the study is called, found that U.S. officials showed good communication about and coordination of their response to the recent H1N1 outbreak. But, among other problems, the study found that coordination among governments internationally was more complicated than expected, the World Health Organization “alert phases” confused people, and the response by the public to the relatively mild outbreak nevertheless “overwhelmed the public health system.” In addition, the report said that the public health system and health providers did not properly coordinate their communication.
The full report is available at www.healthyamericans.org.
In other vaccine news, the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia awarded two contracts worth $46.7 million combined to supply influenza vaccine to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune Vaccines received a $32.3 million firm-fixed-price, sole source contract to be completed by June 30, 2010, while Swiftwater, Pa.-based Sanofi Pasteur signed a $12.4 million firmfixed- price contract to be completed by May 26, 2010. ♦