A Proposal To Reduce The Defense Budget (Opinion)

Disclaimer: This post represents my opinion only and is no reflection on the views of my employer.

There is no question that the Department of Defense is a huge part of the National Budget.  I think that it is possible to make significant cuts in that budget without impairing our national capabilities.  There are many issues in the Defense budget to include Healthcare, size of the force, entitlements, compensation etc. that are important, but I am not going to discuss those issues.  Rather, my interest is in how the Department of Defense buys stuff.

A lot has been written about Acquisition Reform, and I am not going to write much about that topic except to say that every few years there is another reform effort that never seems to reach the vision of those who initiate it.  A lot of very smart people work on this issue and fail, and I am not convinced that I am any smarter or more earnest than they are.  Rather, I intend to propose fixing the system from the bottom up with a few radical policy changes that would greatly empower end users to get the goods that they need at effective prices.

The Medco Model of Customer Service

I am enrolled with a health plan through which I get my medications from Medco®.  On June 25, my doctor sent in a prescription for Patanol®, an allergy medication for the eyes. As of July 10, I had received no word on the prescription.

On Saturday,  July 10, I called Medco to find out what had happened.  After navigating their inane voice-mail system, I was able to speak to a human being.  I achieved this amazing feat by repeatedly saying "representative" to all of the voice-mail prompts.

The woman on the other end told me that my prescription had stopped for some unknown reason, but that she could restart it manually and that I should expect it to arrive in 8-10 days.  She told me that I could go to my local pharmacy and that Medco would pay for a 7-day supply to hold me over.  It sounded too good to be true.