TRICARE is the medical insurance scheme offered in the U.S.,
and unlike other health insurance schemes which are available to all citizens,
this medical health insurance scheme is restricted to benefit military personnel,
providing them with great TRICARE benefits.
The process of applying to the TRICARE health insurance scheme has become much easier. Before you were buried under tons of tedious paperwork and bureaucratic procedures. The TRICARE scheme provides the active and retired military personnel a way of lessening their burden of paying for their medical expenditure.
Once you obtain coverage, make sure to take the utmost advantage of all the TRICARE benefits that are available. Read carefully all of our useful tips to enjoy your TRICARE benefits to the fullest.
- Make sure you are in good standing with the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting system (DEERS). This allows you to receive timely TRICARE Benefits as well as access to maximized care.
- The doctor will be assigned to the family under the TRICARE prime policy. This assigned doctor should be approached any time you suffer any health related issues. Also, you’ll need referrals from these doctors should you need to get in touch with specialists of a certain medical area. The referral letter from the doctor is usually provided for doctors within the network of TRICARE policy. Were that not the case, the letter will be of significant help for future claims.
- Should there be any queries relating to your treatment, doctors or their procedures, always be ready to address your problem by yourself, at least at the beginning. This may help you get better solutions to your problems rather than having a third person do it for you.
- If there is any need to switch between two policies, say from TRICARE standard to Prime, it is always better to directly call the customer care helpline of TRICARE as the online application filling may turn out to be much more tedious, leaving you uncertain as to whether the change has been updated.
- POS (Point of Service), also known as one of the best TRICARE Benefits, is very helpful for regular TRICARE users when a referral from a Primary care provider is not available immediately. This service helps get you assigned to relevant doctors that can treat your condition. However, the expenses generated by these services have a deductible and are considered to be higher compared to the traditional referral methods.
- Keep in mind that POS require prior authorization and are not available for active military duty personnel eligible for OHI (Other Health Insurance) and need Emergency Room services.
- It helps if you are signed up for regular newsletters from important TRICARE and Humana Military Resources. This way you can be made aware periodically of any updates in the policy, health care costs and essential TRICARE benefits changes. The websites where you can sign up for these updates are as follows:
- It also helps to call the IVR services offered by Humana Military Resources on the toll-free number, 1-800-444-5445.
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