According to the Defense Health Board's Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care,13 rising health care costs result from a multitude of factors that are affecting not only DOD but also health care in general. These factors include greater utilization of health care services, increasingly expensive technology and pharmaceuticals, growing numbers of users, and the aging of the retiree population. Additionally, in 2009, the Defense Business Board reported14 that defense health care costs are taking up more of the defense budget, and its health care programs may eventually compete with other critical defense acquisition and operational programs.