Pentagon reassigning military health workers

[Judi Lynn]

Sept. 2, 2004, 11:09PM

Pentagon reassigning military health workers
Noncombat care by civil servants will save money, officials say
By CHRISTOPHER LEE
Washington Post
MILITARY HEALTH CARE
• Conversion : The military plans to transfer thousands of uniformed health care jobs to civilian contractors.
• Quality maintained : The Pentagon says the shifts will not affect the quality of care in a system that employs 40,648 civilians and 91,917 military personnel, with a budget of $17.3 billion.


WASHINGTON - The Defense Department plans to transfer thousands of uniformed health care personnel out of their positions in military medical facilities in 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 war-fighting 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 military personnel, their dependents and military retirees.

Pentagon officials declined to discuss most 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.
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