The military health care system is used by some 9.5 million active duty personnel, military retirees and their dependents, and it serves hundreds of facilities around the world.
Two senior defense officials told POLITICO that the cuts would have effectively affected the Pentagon’s health care system during a nationwide pandemic.
“Many of the decisions were made in dark, smoky rooms, and it was driven by random number cuts,” said one senior defense official with knowledge of the process. “They wanted to book the savings to report it.”
Lawmakers and advocacy organizations, including VoteVets, quick criticism the Trump administration after the proposal came to light.
Top DoD leaders have argued that the country’s private health system could suffer from cuts. But some Trump officials, including the health department’s top official, had warned the Pentagon earlier about earlier cuts, saying the civilian health system would not be able to absorb the military’s potential needs.
The Pentagon noted that Esper had yet to be informed of the proposal, as part of the Secretary-General’s review. “The [chief management officer], Lisa Hershman, will in the coming weeks bring recommendations on a wide range of DoD budget issues (including health care) to the secretary and his leadership team where proposals are being considered, “tweeted Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman.
The move soon threatened to become a problem during the presidential campaign.
“Secretary Esper and President Trump, it’s a president’s job to protect the health and safety of our troops and their families,” Democratic President Hopeful Joe Biden tweeted on Monday. “Dismissing the military health care system – not least during a global pandemic – is unacceptable.”
