TRICARE West: Don’t Lose Your Coverage
By Debbie Gregory.
Some 50,000 TRICARE users in the newly-formed West region could be on the verge of losing coverage.
United Healthcare used to be the contractor for the West, but as of January 1, 2018, Health Net Federal Services took over the contract. Due to the changeover, registration for all users except check allotment payers didn’t transfer, requiring a new registration.
Again, since this is so important, if you previously made TRICARE enrollment payments via an automated method of either electronic funds transfers (EFT) or recurring credit card (RCC) with United Healthcare, this arrangement did not transfer over to Health Net.
According to Health Net, approximately 39,000 TRICARE Prime retiree users/TRICARE Reserve Select users and 25,000 Reserve or young adult plan beneficiaries still need to update their premium payment. Users were supposed to have done so by December 20, 2017.
Payment methods include electronic funds transfers, credit card or debit card. Retirees have the additional option of using a paycheck allotment.
In order to accommodate those who haven’t yet supplied their updated registration, Health Net has extended their deadline to March 23rd and is sending out a new round of notices to beneficiaries who have yet to submit their payment information.
Health Net will also be sending out an email to those who have a registered email address on file. It is especially important to be on the lookout for these notices, and more importantly, to comply with the request for registration, regardless if any notices, if you know you are among those who could be losing coverage.
The TRICARE West Region includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa (except the Rock Island Arsenal area), Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri (except the St. Louis area), Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas (areas of Western Texas only), Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
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