Thousands of Defense Department employees in Japan, unhappy that Congress trimmed their access to health care at military hospitals this year, turned out at a series of town halls to let the Pentagon hear their dissatisfaction.

DOD civilians described a lack of staff, long waits, Japanese providers refusing to treat Americans and prohibitively high upfront costs when that treatment is available.

Andrew Hakun, 52, a Navy veteran and father of two boys, died in February 2021 after a long, agonizing wait for surgery following a heart attack at this base in western Tokyo, according to his widow and medical records.

Defense Department civilian employees facing reduced health care options in Japan jeered Pentagon officials who provided few clear answers and no immediate solutions during a town hall Tuesday.

Pentagon officials at a town hall Monday on this airlift base in western Tokyo offered few answers to hundreds of Defense Department civilian employees questioning their loss of access to military health care.

Japanese government officials and health care providers say they were not told in advance of a U.S. Department of Defense decision last year to force tens of thousands of its civilian employees into Japan’s health care system.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned Defense Department changes that reduced civilian employees’ access to health care on U.S. military bases in Japan.

News of two officials’ visit to Japan follows months of confusion after changes that abruptly limited on-base health care options for anyone other than those covered by the military’s Tricare Prime medical plan.

A hundred people attended the town hall at MCAS Iwakuni for information and to protest the Defense Health Agency’s order restricting Defense Department employees’ access to military hospitals.

Defense Department civilian employees in Japan mounted an email and phone campaign aimed at reversing a Pentagon decision to reduce their access to medical care at military hospitals.