Both Military and Foreign-Service Families Seek Better Care for Their Children with Special Health Care Needs
“We Are Just Tired of This Fight”: Special-needs families say military is still failing them
As explained in the above article from Stars & Stripes (8/21/18), about 35 military families submitted a written complaint on August 9 to the Department of Defense Inspector General to request an in-depth review and oversight of the Department’s treatment of military families with children who have special health care needs. The complaint outlines the department’s Defense’s “failure to follow the law, its history of mismanagement of these critical programs and the inconsistent approaches across the services.”
At the same time, foreign-service families who have children with special health care needs are expressing similar frustrations, as explained in this article: Pompeo Ignores Plea from Diplomats with Children with Special Needs (Foreign Policy, 8/14/18). In May, a group of foreign-service officers representing about 1,400 families sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a letter about the department’s cuts in benefits and funding for children with special needs. In some cases, the department told employees that their children had been given benefits in error, and is seeking compensation from the families for that the value of the services received. Secretary Pompeo has not yet responded to the letter.
Information:
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- How to Choose or Change Your TRICARE Provider (TRICARE Benefit Update, 8/14/18)
- How Does the TRICARE Catastrophic Cap Work? (TRICARE Benefit Update, 8/17/18)
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