Tricare Reassures Beneficiaries

In the wake of recent reports that its West Coast contractor provided cash awards to senior employees for dropping beneficiaries with serious ailments from its rolls after they initially were approved for coverage, a senior Tricare official clarified the agency’s commitment to provide services to everyone entitled to them. “I want to remind our beneficiaries that Tricare is an entitlement earned by military service,” said Army Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, Tricare’s deputy director, in a press release. “They shouldn’t worry as their entitlement to care is statutory. No contractor can simply drop the health care coverage of our beneficiaries.” Concerns among military beneficiaries arose when recent news reports alleged that Health Net Inc., of Woodland Hills, Calif., a regional managed-care provider for Tricare, rewarded its senior analyst in charge of cancellations for exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, according to the press release. Health Net’s move involved a civilian arm of the company and had nothing to do with its contractual obligations as a provider of coverage for military beneficiaries, the press release said.