Annual Evaluation of the TRICARE Program Section 717 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1996 directed the Department of Defense to conduct an ongoing Evaluation of the TRICARE Program, requiring that the evaluation explicitly address the following issues: 

1. The impact of the TRICARE program on military retirees with regard to access, costs, and quality of health care services; and 
2. Identify noncatchment areas in which the health maintenance organization option of the TRICARE program is available or is proposed to become available. 

Additional objectives of this task are: 

• Examine the trends in beneficiary population demographics and utilization and DOD costs under TRICARE and compare them with civilian-sector benchmarks, 
• Identify possible determinants of changes in health care utilization and costs, 
• Examine the trends in beneficiary satisfaction and other Military Health System (MHS) performance metrics and compare them with civilian-sector benchmarks, and 
• Determine the impact of TRICARE on the out-of-pocket expenses of MHS beneficiaries.