TRICARE, the Defense Department’s managed health-care plan, wants beneficiaries to be aware of changes that took effect at the beginning of the new year.
For those who fall under the West Region, TriWest Health Alliance is replacing Health Net Federal Services LLC. Also, six states – Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin – have been moved to the West Region from the East Region. Some zip codes in these states, however, will remain in the east.
TRICARE’s program management office is advising beneficiaries to take steps to ensure their personal information is up to date, to ensure that coverage continues unimpeded and communications about it get to them in a timely manner.
Beneficiaries can create accounts on the TriWest website. When doing so, they are being advised to double check the information they provide to ensure it matches current records. Beneficiaries who use bank electronic funds transfer, debit or credit cards need to provide payment information to TriWest. Those who use military pay system allotment to cover their costs need not do this.
TRICARE is advising all beneficiaries to switch to allotment payments. This would avoid the need to update payment methods should any future changes should they occur. This can be done on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s allotments page, on the DFAS web site.
Note: On April 1, the TRICARE Online Patient Portal will no longer be available. The Department of Defense’s new electronic health record—MHS GENESIS—has replaced the TOL Patient Portal. As part of the transition, the DOD is decommissioning the TOL Patient Portal. If you want to keep a copy of your legacy health records for personal use, you must download them from the TOL Patient Portal before April 1.
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