Services, 2009; TriWest, 2009). The remaining beneficiaries—about 0.6 million—are covered in overseas regions.

Only about 20% of beneficiaries are active-duty members of the armed forces or activated members of the National Guard or Reserves; 26% are family members (including children) of active-duty or activated personnel, and 54% are retirees and their families (TRICARE, 2009). Almost half the beneficiaries are female (48.5%). Figure 2.1 shows the beneficiary population’s age diversity.

Appendix B contains additional demographic and socioeconomic information about the general military population (including families) and the Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) warfighters. The data there are intended to provide more background on the similarities and differences between the TRICARE population and other managed–health-care populations.

Military life presents a number of exposures and risk factors that may influence the likelihood of experiencing a mental health problem. Different factors affect different segments of the beneficiary population. They are discussed below to highlight some of the issues that must be considered in evaluating the readiness of practitioners to provide diagnoses to and treat the population.

FIGURE 2.1 Age distribution of the TRICARE beneficiary population.

NOTE: Percentages shown are percentages for each sex, not the whole beneficiary population.

SOURCE: TRICARE (2009).