MILITARY UPDATE
TRICARE beneficiaries' personal information stolen
Military Update focuses on issues affecting pay, benefits and lifestyle of active and retired servicepeople. Its author, Tom Philpott, is a Virginia-based syndicated columnist and freelance writer. He has covered military issues for almost 25 years, including six years as editor of Navy Times. For 17 years he worked as a writer and senior editor for Army Times Publishing Co. Philpott, 50, enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1973 and served as an information officer from 1974-77.
By Tom Philpott
The FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the theft of personal data about 550,000 TRICARE beneficiaries across the 16-state Central Region of the military's managed care network.
The theft affects anyone stationed in the region as far back as 1999.
Officials announced Dec. 23 that the stolen computer hard drives of enrollment and claim files include names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, claims data and other information on every beneficiary enrolled in TRICARE through TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp., the managed care support contractor for the Central Region.
"This is theft of information, pure and simple," said David J. McIntyre Jr., president of TriWest, in a phone interview.
The Central Region is Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and western Texas.
Among potential victims of one of the largest identity theft cases in recent memory are tens of thousands of active duty service members who are listed as sponsors to family members. The threat of financial mischief through credit cards applications, access to e-mail, rerouting government checks and false identifications is clear. But the stolen data also would seem to create risks to national security and to personal safety, in light of the war on terror.
The break-in occurred Dec. 14, when a thief or thieves stole every hard drive out of TriWest servers used to store enrollment and claims storage. TriWest for the past year has housed its servers in industrial park offices in northwest Phoenix.
The thief apparently gained access to a property manager's office, stole a master electronic key and entered TriWest spaces with ease. The office was not protected by surveillance cameras. Electronic door records show the thief was confident enough about not getting caught to make two trips, in and out, of the secured area.
"We and the Department of Defense obviously are concerned for individuals whose personal records were stolen," said McIntyre. "We hope that the intent was not to steal the identities of individuals. But we are operating on the assumption we need to take every measure to assist beneficiaries (to understand) steps they can take to protect their information."
TriWest beneficiaries can call a toll free number if they suspect personal data is being misused or their identity has been stolen. The number is (888) 339-9378. Also, by e-mailing computertheft@triwest.com, beneficiaries can get an information packet on the incident and steps to protect against identity theft.
TriWest is one of four contractors having deals with the Military Health System to provide care to service members, retirees and their families. The four and, presumably, other managed care contractors were to deliver their bids in January for the next generation TRICARE support contracts. DoD has delayed the filing deadline by several weeks.
TriWest used back-up tapes to restore stolen files within three hours of the theft's discovery, McIntyre said. But irked Defense officials said in a statement they got word of the theft from TriWest on Dec. 20, six days after it occurred, and then "began working with them to ensure uninterrupted delivery of medical benefits in the wake of the break-in."
TRICARE officials have ordered its other managed care contractors to reassess physical and electronic security.
Military pay raise
Confirming disagreement in the Bush administration over how future military pay raises should be set, senior Defense officials say the department is recommending that the 2004 raise be a half percentage point above private sector wage growth.
But with the White House budget office pressing for smaller military raises in 2004 and beyond, the officials say military pay levels are more than competitive with the private sector.
Charles S. Abell, principal deputy undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said whatever the size of the 2004 pay raise, Defense officials again want to target or vary the increase by pay grade to put more dollars once again into the pockets of career enlisted.
In 1999, to close a perceived pay gap, Congress ordered military pay raises, up through 2006, to be set a half percentage point above wage growth in the private sector. Under that law, the military is due an average 3.7 percent raise in January 2004.
The Office of Management and Budget wants to cap the 2004 raise at 2 percent and tie future military raises to inflation rather than to private sector wage growth. Abell didn't discuss OMB's stand but appeared to leave room for President Bush to decide to accept either OMB's guidance or some compromise to pare back military raises.
"Our analysis will reveal that, in some cases, we are now paying folks more than their contemporaries in the private sector," said Abell. "So it may be time to re-look whether or not (wage-growth-plus-a-half-percent) needs to continue for all pay grades all the time."
Basic pay for grades E-5 through E-9 is still not competitive. On the other hand, said Abell, basic pay of "our most junior enlisted and our most junior officers is significantly better than pay of (civilian) counterparts, based on age and experience and education levels on the outside."
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