Brookings reports that “the Center on 21st Century Security and Intelligence (21CSI) at the Brookings Institution held a wide-ranging event on military health care reform. The conversation included a diverse group of speakers from the Department of Defense (DoD) to the think tank and management consultancy worlds to the Congressional Budget Office.”  

“Michael O’Hanlon of 21CSI hosted the event and was pleased to welcome Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Jonathan Woodson as keynote speaker. Woodson described the value of the DoD health care system—which cares for nearly 10 million beneficiaries, costs more than $50 billion a year and has treated more than 50,000 war wounded in the conflicts of the 21st century to date. It employs roughly 140,000 full-time personnel at more than 50 hospitals and some 600 medical or dental clinics. It also involves a network of private providers who treat DoD patients as well; that network includes some 400,000 providers in round numbers.”