Military and Veterans' Health Care

The Department of Defense provides health care to service members, retirees, and their eligible family members through the TRICARE program, and the Department of Veterans Affairs provides health care at little or no charge to veterans. CBO examines the budgetary and other effects of the current programs and proposals to change them.

Report
A Review of CBO’s Estimate of Spending From the Department of Defense’s Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund
October 15, 2020
In a cost estimate prepared in October 2000, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that spending for new health care benefits for military retirees would total about $57 billion over the 2003–2010 period; actual costs over that period were about $55 billion.
Report
Comparing the Costs of the Veterans' Health Care System with Private-Sector Costs
December 10, 2014
Recent legislation calls for the Veterans Health Administration to expand the availability of health care to veterans. Research suggests that VHA-provided care has been cheaper than private-sector care, but future costs are uncertain.