TRICARE Sucks ...

[mAlice]

I dunno, it was the Dr office on Bolling AFB. When I went to the ER, it was on Andrew's AFB. I think its just the military in general, or at least around here.

You need an appt. with a specialist.

 

[mAlice]

How does it work then?

This is how it works for me. I b!tch, moan and whine until I get what I want. They're human and can only take so much. If the doc's don't satisfy, see your patient affairs office.

 

[Fallen]

This is how it works for me. I b!tch, moan and whine until I get what I want. They're human and can only take so much. If the doc's don't satisfy, see your patient affairs office.

It didnt take long to get the Dr in there once I broke out the tears I'm glad I don't have to deal with them anymore though. I love my Dr. I never had him do anything like that and I never had to cry

 

[itsbob]

I'm here to tell you, for FREE Tri_care ROCKS cause I hear a lot of people with the same complaints or WORSE and they are paying $300 or more per pay period.. $600 a MONTH! for insurance.. yep I REALLY like tricare..

And if I go buy the insurance for $600 a month and the insurance pays 70% you'd think that tricare would pay the remaing 30% (from their rules paying 75%) but their rules are intrepreted wrong, they'd only pay 5%. SO yep, I like free!!

 

[Nickel]

I dunno, it was the Dr office on Bolling AFB. When I went to the ER, it was on Andrew's AFB. I think its just the military in general, or at least around here.

In my 24 years, I've been considered a military dependent for 22 years. I've seen a lot of military doctors. I've found that, in general, military doctors are on their own little schedule. Add to that the fact that most, if not all, of the military personnel and/or dependents in the area that need medical attention at any given time will be in the same clinic, and you're going to be waiting awhile. Doesn't make it right, but that's just the way it is. Like Bob said, it's free. But your wait time in the clinic really isn't an insurance issue, it's a clinic/staffing issue. :shrug:

 

[mAlice]

In my 24 years, I've been considered a military dependent for 22 years. I've seen a lot of military doctors. I've found that, in general, military doctors are on their own little schedule. Add to that the fact that most, if not all, of the military personnel and/or dependents in the area that need medical attention at any given time will be in the same clinic, and you're going to be waiting awhile. Doesn't make it right, but that's just the way it is. Like Bob said, it's free. But your wait time in the clinic really isn't an insurance issue, it's a clinic/staffing issue. :shrug:

No different than an ER. You could be there 4+ hours.

 

[itsbob]

In my 24 years, I've been considered a military dependent for 22 years. I've seen a lot of military doctors. I've found that, in general, military doctors are on their own little schedule. Add to that the fact that most, if not all, of the military personnel and/or dependents in the area that need medical attention at any given time will be in the same clinic, and you're going to be waiting awhile. Doesn't make it right, but that's just the way it is. Like Bob said, it's free. But your wait time in the clinic really isn't an insurance issue, it's a clinic/staffing issue. :shrug:

I haven't used or seen a military doctor in the last 17 years, not counting the medevac to Walter Reed... I've used nothing but civilian doctor, dentists, and optometrists thanks to the rules that say "Live within 75 miles of an Army installation" not a military installation.. so I lived close to Navy and AF bases but still got to see civilian doctors etc..

 

[crabcake]

you might need to update your primary care manager

Our issue is that she spends the summers with Daddy; school year with me. He's in the South Region; I'm in the North Region. He completed and turned-in (in person) all the portability/transfer paperwork to transfer her back up north, as well as make sure they had the copy of our divorce decree detailing the custody arrangements (otherwise, they won't release any information to me, nor allow me to make any changes).

I called them a month ago to make sure all was kosher with the transfer and her referral that was on file, and was told yes. Then today, I find out that she was in fact still listed as being in the south region.

I just got off the phone with my wife-in-law and told her what was going on, and she was pissed because they took a day to get all this info together, filled out and took it there in person (the base tricare office in Ga) because we'd been through this before so many times. Yet here we are, again, having to deal with it.

My issue is that she's 4 different appts now since she's been home, and TRICARE is saying that I will be responsible for those bills, to which I say I called to confirm everything was good to go over a month ago and was told "yes". The woman got snippity with me saying "well, it's your responsibility to verify it was done." First off, no, it's not. I'm not the damn member; he (Daddy) is, and he took it to the Tricare office in person. Secondly, what more can I do to verify it was done than to call and ask -- go rummage through their files and make sure it's safely tucked away in the "Crabcake Household" file? :shrug:

Like I said, as far as costs to participants for co-pays and prescriptions, TRICARE is great. As far as customer service and communicating among the different regions (contractors), they suck donkey butt.

There is no excuse why an organization that is providing services to the military (who do tend to relocate/travel/have dependents dislocated from themselves) is NOT communicating with other regions, or having some plan in place for cross-region issues like this. I know we can't be the only ones to deal with this. :shrug:

 

[crabcake]

You need to contact his parent command Personnel Department. It should still be in his jacket if he actually did it, and they can forward it.

The Mrs is digging through their files tonight to locate it. She said they made sure to get copies because of having been down the TRICARE- route before.

 

[mAlice]

Our issue is that she spends the summers with Daddy; school year with me. He's in the South Region; I'm in the North Region. He completed and turned-in (in person) all the portability/transfer paperwork to transfer her back up north, as well as make sure they had the copy of our divorce decree detailing the custody arrangements (otherwise, they won't release any information to me, nor allow me to make any changes).

I called them a month ago to make sure all was kosher with the transfer and her referral that was on file, and was told yes. Then today, I find out that she was in fact still listed as being in the south region.

I just got off the phone with my wife-in-law and told her what was going on, and she was pissed because they took a day to get all this info together, filled out and took it there in person (the base tricare office in Ga) because we'd been through this before so many times. Yet here we are, again, having to deal with it.

My issue is that she's 4 different appts now since she's been home, and TRICARE is saying that I will be responsible for those bills, to which I say I called to confirm everything was good to go over a month ago and was told "yes". The woman got snippity with me saying "well, it's your responsibility to verify it was done." First off, no, it's not. I'm not the damn member; he (Daddy) is, and he took it to the Tricare office in person. Secondly, what more can I do to verify it was done than to call and ask -- go rummage through their files and make sure it's safely tucked away in the "Crabcake Household" file? :shrug:

Like I said, as far as costs to participants for co-pays and prescriptions, TRICARE is great. As far as customer service and communicating among the different regions (contractors), they suck donkey butt.

There is no excuse why an organization that is providing services to the military (who do tend to relocate/travel/have dependents dislocated from themselves) is NOT communicating with other regions, or having some plan in place for cross-region issues like this. I know we can't be the only ones to deal with this. :shrug:

Call the Patient Affairs Office. They'll take care of it for you. You don't have to deal with any of these azzwipes.

 

[mAlice]

The Mrs is digging through their files tonight to locate it. She said they made sure to get copies because of having been down the TRICARE- route before.

When she finds them, she should take them to the Patient Affairs office. I can't tell you how many times they've made it right for me.

 

[crabcake]

When she finds them, she should take them to the Patient Affairs office. I can't tell you how many times they've made it right for me.

I'll mention that to her; thanks! She just got home while we were talking about it, and will be going through the file tonight. Daddy doesn't get back from the Sandbox for at least 2 more weeks. I'm just thankful she's a "willing participant" to help out with this and not being a snotty biatch telling me to figure it out myself. Maybe she likes me, or maybe it's cuz they'd be the ones (in the end) to foot the bill for it if they don't help rectify it.

 

[Pete]

You might want to change to tricare standard instead of prime. Standard is 100% portable, you pic the doc, no network crap.

I have standard and have never had a problem with me or Boy.

 

[crabcake]

You might want to change to tricare standard instead of prime. Standard is 100% portable, you pic the doc, no network crap.

I have standard and have never had a problem with me or Boy.

I'm pretty sure you still have to do transfers from one region to another, even with standard, though. After talking to my wife-in-law, I think we're going to split the cost to add her to my work HMO policy. I have BCBS which is available everywhere including the afterlife, and it would make like so much easier for me and them.

Does anyone who has BCBS know of any regional issues like what we're dealing with now? :shrug:

 

[Pete]

I'm pretty sure you still have to do transfers from one region to another, even with standard, though. After talking to my wife-in-law, I think we're going to split the cost to add her to my work HMO policy. I have BCBS which is available everywhere including the afterlife, and it would make like so much easier for me and them.

Does anyone who has BCBS know of any regional issues like what we're dealing with now? :shrug:

I dunno, but I have used tricare standard for me and boy in GA and MD and DE when he was at his mothers for the summer and never had a problem. We do not have to designate a primary care physician, no network crap, no referrals, we just go. If they don't take tricare I just pay and get reimbursed typically within 2 weeks.

 

[dustin]

I dunno, but I have used tricare standard for me and boy in GA and MD and DE when he was at his mothers for the summer and never had a problem. We do not have to designate a primary care physician, no network crap, no referrals, we just go. If they don't take tricare I just pay and get reimbursed typically within 2 weeks.

tricare standard is really good for the flexbility

 

[crabcake]

tricare standard is really good for the flexbility

I'll mention it to them to look into. I like the fact I have no copays for physicians right now, and my prescription costs are minimal (got two for DQ today for $6). It's just this damn portability issue that seems to be a problem for us twice a year (her going down and when she comes back). There's always some excuse as to why the paperwork wasn't put through, lost, etc., and we're always threatened with having to pay the bills that come in during the "non-covered" timeframe.

The wife-in-law agreed that they'd pay half the BCBS costs if we do switch over, but it might be better for them to go the standard route (what is it for one beneficiary? $300/year?) first and see if that remedies the problem. :shrug:

 

[crabcake]

Standard Coverage
No enrollment: TRICARE Standard is the basic TRICARE health care program, offering comprehensive health care coverage, for people not enrolled in TRICARE Prime. (Active duty service members (ADSM) must take action to enroll in Prime, and many other beneficiaries choose to enroll in Prime also.) Standard does not require enrollment.

Fee-for-service flexibility: Standard is a fee-for-service plan that gives beneficiaries the option to see any TRICARE-certified/authorized provider (doctor, nurse-practitioner, lab, clinic, etc.). Standard offers the greatest flexibility in choosing a provider, but it will also involve greater out-of-pocket expenses for you, the patient. You also may be required to file your own claims.

Costs: Standard requires that you satisfy a yearly deductible before TRICARE cost sharing begins, and you will be required to pay co-payments or cost shares for outpatient care, medications, and inpatient care.

Program details: For more information about the Standard benefit, see the TRICARE Handbook.

Now wait a cotton pickin' minute! I am not gonna be filing claims for reimbursement. The medical is his responsibility, and if we DO go this route, it means I have to pay, submit receipts, and await reimbursement. I don't have time for all that mess. That's the thing I like about Prime; no muss, no fuss ... except re-re-re-re-re-enrollment.

 

[Pete]

Now wait a cotton pickin' minute! I am not gonna be filing claims for reimbursement. The medical is his responsibility, and if we DO go this route, it means I have to pay, submit receipts, and await reimbursement. I don't have time for all that mess. That's the thing I like about Prime; no muss, no fuss ... except re-re-re-re-re-enrollment.

Standard does not have an enrollment fee, you have a slightly higher copay 20% of the allowed charges. I have a supliment that pays everything that standard doesn't. Even when I didn't have the supliment it wasn't bad. $300 a year deductable is all.

Most providers take standard so you don't have to make a claim. The deal with standard is it has a $300 a year deductable and small copays, prime has a $400 enrollment fee and no copays. Standard is easy, no refferals, no primary care, no network crap, totally portable. Prime is not.

 

[crabcake]

Standard does not have an enrollment fee, you have a slightly higher copay 20% of the allowed charges. I have a supliment that pays everything that standard doesn't. Even when I didn't have the supliment it wasn't bad. $300 a year deductable is all.

Most providers take standard so you don't have to make a claim. The deal with standard is it has a $300 a year deductable and small copays, prime has a $400 enrollment fee and no copays. Standard is easy, no refferals, no primary care, no network crap, totally portable. Prime is not.

I didn't think Prime had an enrollment fee if you (the sponsor) are active duty.

The appeal of "no copays" (in our situation) is pretty appealing, considering K is at the doc at least twice a month. That adds up pretty quickly when you take into account that specialist copays are usually $20+ a pop.

Like I said, I'll mention it to them, but if it's gonna end up being a year-long headache for me to deal with vs. two isolated headaches a year, I don't know it's a worthwhile change. I will be on the horn with BCBS tomorrow, though, to find out what I could expect from them.