06/05/2026
How is the DoW doing providing care for it's military beneficiaries with the most significant special needs?
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), services could be better.
TRICARE's Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) program providers services beyond the typical TRICARE health plans. Each enrollee is allowed $36,000 per year to cover extra services such as respite care, adaptive equipment, diapers, etc.
But GAO found the $36,000 cap isn't going as far as it did when it was established in 2009 and recommended the DoW consider increasing the cap.
In addition, GAO recommended the DoW review ECHO services to ensure they are keeping pace with current medicaid services offered by the states.
DoW declined consideration of reviewing the 36k cap because they argued that beneficiaries rarely use more than $6,600. GAO countered this argument by saying families may be foregoing medical equipment in an effort to avoid overshooting the limit.
DoW's insistence that ECHO is operating smoothly because families aren't using the max amount of money may be seen as a form of "resource gaslighting".
In other words...DoW may believe that if families need this resource, then why aren't they maxing out the funding? And this justifies DoW's denial to further investigate why families are not utilizing the ECHO program to the fullest extent.
GAO found that families may not be able to utilize resources due to the outdated dollar cap and policies kept in place by the DoW...some may argue this program can be considered resource gaslighting to military beneficiaries with special needs.
Good programs and resources should be easily accessible, meet the individual's needs, and appropriately funded.
TRICARE's ECHO program has potential to be great, but DoW must update their policies and funding to meet the needs of active-duty beneficiaries with significant special needs.
Report link:https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-108086.pdf
