News and Updates

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  • September 3, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | Delayed medical bills confuse hundreds of Defense Department civilians in Japan

  • August 27, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | Air Force reopens Okinawa clinic following probe into ineffective vaccines

  • August 23, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | Rare blood drive collects 173 pints for US military community in Japan

  • August 20, 2024

    Military.com |Air Force Families Must Be Prepared for Catastrophic Events Amid Shift to Potential Pacific Conflict, Service Chief Says

  • July 12, 2024

    Federal Times | Defense Health Agency nurses face recruiting freeze, threats to pay

  • June 13, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | Health care for DOD workers in Japan is near ‘lowest point in decades,’ advocates say

  • May 2, 2024

    NPR | After downsizing health care for years, Pentagon says medical readiness was a casualty

  • May 1, 2024

    NPR | Pentagon's reduction in military medical costs is criticized as going too far

  • April 19, 2024

    Business Insider | I gave birth to my daughter in Japan. My husband and I loved living there, but she needed better healthcare, so I moved back to the US.

  • April 18, 2024

    GAO | Electronic Health Records:DOD Has Deployed New System but Challenges Remain

  • April 17, 2024

    DOD Inspector General | Project Announcement: Audit of DHA’s Management of Military Treatment Facilities.

  • April 1, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | Lack of civilian health care in Japan causing ‘serious and negatve impacts,’ lawmakers say

  • March 25, 2024

    Federal News Network | In Japan, half of military spouse health workers unemployed amid ‘shortage’ of providers

  • March 21, 2024

    Military.com | Medical Care Shortfalls for US Personnel in Japan Trigger Push from Lawmakers for Improvements

  • March 20, 2024

    Congress | Ongoing Concerns with Civilian Access to Medical Care In Japan

  • February 14, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | US personnel ‘routinely denied’ emergency care in Japan, military probe finds

  • February 12, 2024

    Stars and Stripes | Army program helps DOD civilians navigate Japanese health care system

  • February 6, 2024

    GAO | DOD Should Monitor Urgent Referrals to Civilian Behavioral Health Providers to Ensure Timely Care

  • January 24, 2024

    Military.com | In Reversal, Defense Department Now Wants to Bring Tricare Beneficiaries Back to Military Health System

  • January 4, 2024

    Military.com | Denied Care, Deaths in Japan Result from Lack of Emergency Medical Services for American Personnel

  • December 7, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD IG report highlights health care access issues in US military communities worldwide

  • December 6, 2023

    Military Times | DOD watchdog report warns of issues across military health care system

  • November 29, 2023

    DOD Inspector General | (U) Management Advisory: Concerns with Access to Care and Staffing Shortages in the Military Health System

  • November 28, 2023

    Federal News Network | In Japan, civilian feds say health care crisis still isn’t fixed

  • October 19, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | ‘We need to leave’: Questionable health care has some DOD teachers looking to depart Japan

  • August 7, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Overseas and under the poverty line: The system that keeps so many military spouses abroad unemployed

  • July 17, 2023

    Federal News Network | Congress nudges DoD toward fixing serious health care shortfalls in Japan

  • July 12, 2023

    Military.com | Plan to Slash Military Medical Billets Based on Faulty Analysis, Federal Watchdog Says

  • July 11, 2023

    GAO | Defense Health Care: Additional Assessments Needed to Determine Effects of Active Duty Medical Personnel Reductions

  • June 15, 2023

    Military.com | Staffing Shortages Hit Naval Hospital Okinawa, Causing Chaos for Expecting Moms

  • June 9, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Pregnant military mothers dodge delivery-care drama on Okinawa

  • June 2, 2023

    NIKKEI Asia | Japan's health care reform debate drags on as worker shortage grows

  • April 21, 2023

    PRESS RELEASE | Letter to DoD on Civilian Health Care in Japan

  • March 17, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | US military hospitals in Japan further ease DOD civilians’ access to health care

  • March 6, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD’s reversal on civilian medical care ‘a move in the right direction,’ advocates say

  • March 5, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Military doctors must treat DOD civilians’ chronic conditions in Indo-Pacific, DHA says

  • February 27, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Longtime AFN leader dies of heart attack at US air base in Japan

  • February 9, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Civilian organizers used social media to spark DOD health care revolt in Japan

  • February 6, 2023

    Federal News Network | ‘More people are going to die’: DoD civilians in Japan face health care access crisis

  • February 2, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD civilian health care tour in Japan ends with raucous meeting on Okinawa

  • February 1, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | More than 10 Japanese hospitals declined to admit DOD civilian ahead of his heart attack death

  • February 1, 2023

    DVIDS | Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness visits Yokota Air Base

  • February 1, 2023

    Coffee or Die | The US Military needs them in Japan, but the Pentagon just dropped their healthcare.

  • January 31, 2023

    DVIDS | Defense Health Agency to Japan “We Hear You!”

  • January 31, 2023

    The Daily Caller | US Defense Employees In Japan Struggle For Health Care After DOD Scaled Down Services, Failed To Tell Tokyo

  • January 31, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Pentagon execs say 'solutions' are needed for DOD civilian health care in Japan

  • January 30, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD failed to apprise Japanese medical providers about a potential wave of US patients

  • January 24, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | Senator questions Pentagon decision to limit DOD civilians’ access to on-base health care in Japan

  • January 24, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | Pentagon officials to visit major US bases in Japan to discuss civilian health care

  • January 19, 2023

    Japan Today | Ambulance workers struggle to find hospitals to admit patients for 4th consecutive week

  • January 13, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD civilians air health care complaints during third town hall in Japan

  • January 13, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD civilians in Japan press Congress to restore their access to military hospitals

  • January 6, 2023

    Stars and Stripes | DOD civilians in Japan air their complaints about restrictions to on-base medical care

  • January 5, 2023

    Aviation Pros | DOD Civilians in Japan Must Find Medical Care Off-Base

  • December 29, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | DOD civilians in Japan must find medical care off-base

  • December 16, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | DOD says it will stop treating civilians in Indo-Pacific for chronic health conditions

  • November 15, 2022

    Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research | Shortage of Doctors at the Root of Japan’s COVID Hospital Crisis

  • October 18, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | DOD civilians in Japan should plan for off-base medical care, Defense Health Agency chief says

  • October 12, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | ‘A problem unique to Japan’: DOD civilians warn of looming loss of military health care

  • September 30, 2022

    Health.mil | DHA Region Indo-Pacific Standardizes Medical Readiness and Health Care

  • September 30, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | Lack of medical care for civilians raises concerns at US Navy base in Japan

  • September 16, 2022

    The Japan Times | Japan to face a shortage of nearly 1 million medical and welfare staff in 2040

  • August 17, 2022

    Japan Today | Record high number of ambulances struggling to find hospitals in Japan

  • August 10, 2022

    CBS News | Lawmakers demand change as civilians are hit with "exorbitant" medical bills for emergency treatment at military facilities

  • July 15, 2022

    NHK World Japan | Foreigners without residency status fear for their lives

  • July 7, 2022

    US GAO | Defense Health Care: Actions Needed to Improve Billing and Collection of Debt for Civilian Emergency Care

  • June 24, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | US air base in Tokyo sends civilian children off base for health care

  • June 20, 2022

    Stars and Stripes | Family says air base in Japan denied spouse mental health referral before suicide

  • November 22, 2021

    The Mainichi | Uninsured foreigners in Japan face threats to life, ballooning medical costs

  • October 25, 2021

    Federal News Network | Moving more TRICARE patients to civilian care would cause ‘significant harm,’ study finds

  • August 25, 2019

    The Mainichi | Some hospitals in Japan imposing conditions for foreigners amid language, other concerns

  • August 19, 2021

    Kyodo News | Woman with COVID-19 loses baby after being forced to give birth at home

  • August 7, 2019

    AAFP | Letter Urges Protection of Access to Military Health Care. AAFP Joins Objection to Replacing 15,000 Positions With Civilians

  • March 2, 2019

    The Lancet | Health-care disparities for foreign residents in Japan

  • April 16, 2018

    Stars and Stripes | Yokosuka hospital makes changes to unpopular appointment policy

  • December 29, 2017

    Stars and Stripes | Yokosuka hospital stands by rule that limits access for civilians

  • May 6, 2016

    Stars and Stripes | Navy hospital billing backlog leaves patients mired in debt and red tape

  • September 26, 2012

    GEO | Defense Health Care: Additional Analysis of Costs and Benefits of Potential Governance Structures Is Needed

  • July 23, 2011

    Japan Today | Cases of emergency patient refusal by hospitals rise to over 16,000

  • March 13, 2005

    Stars and Stripes | Relations with Japanese hospitals strained by unpaid medical bills

  • August 31, 2000

    US GAO | Defense Health Care:

    Resources, Patient Access, and Challenges in Europe and the Pacific