Bills Introduced to “Grandfather” Some TRICARE Prime Enrollees - The new TRICARE contracts now call for the shrinking or reduction of TRICARE Prime Service areas across the United States. As of now on October 1st 2013 certain TRICARE Prime beneficiaries will be disenrolled and moved to TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Extra or may be able to reenroll in TRICARE Prime at an MTF). Since this will not affect Active Duty service members or their Family members living in an affected PSA this will affect military retirees and their dependents who are presently enrolled in TRICARE Prime in an effected Prime Service Areas (PSAs). There are approximately 173,000 beneficiaries that would be affected. The stated reasoning of DoD is: "PSAs are geographic areas where TRICARE Prime is offered. PSAs were created to ensure medical readiness of the active duty force by augmenting the capability and capacity of military treatment facilities (MTFs). The affected areas are not close to existing MTFs and have never augmented care around MTF or Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) locations. “ The areas affected are:”In the North Region, specific areas affected include Springfield MA (extends into CT), Kankakee IL, Gary IN, Auburn MI, St. Louis MO, Charlotte NC, Greenville NC, Raleigh-Durham NC, Winston-Salem-Greensboro NC (extends into VA), Akron OH, Cincinnati OH, Columbus OH, Pittsburgh PA, and Milwaukee WI. In the West Region, affected areas include Des Moines IA, Minneapolis MN, Springfield MO, Medford OR, Eugene OR, Salem OR, Portland OR, Yakima WA, and Outer Islands HI, and PSAs will be reduced in size in Northern Nevada and Southwest Idaho. All of the South Region was formerly considered a PSA. As of October 1, 2013, PSAs are locations that are within 40 miles of an MTF or a BRAC site. “ This will be a financial burden to many retirees and their Families. (According to the Department of Defense a family of three using TRICARE Standard averaged $2,075 in out-of-pocket costs for health care in fiscal 2009, while a similar family in Prime paid about $1,375, So bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to grandfather all TRICARE Prime enrollees as of September 30th 2013 in effected PSA’s to remain, in Prime as long as they continue to live in the same zip code. For information on this go to: trea.org
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:46:01 +0000
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