Tricare Reimbursement Rate Slash Looms

Unless Congress does something about it when the lawmakers return to Washington later this month, Medicare payments to physicians will be chopped by 5.1 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2007. This would be a severe blow to Tricare and Tricare for Life beneficiaries because Tricare reimbursement rates are tied directly to Medicare rates. If the rate cut occurs, many doctors have said they will no longer be able to accept new Medicare — thus Tricare – patients, and some have declared that they will stop seeing existing patients. Veterans’ organizations are asking their members to contact their elected officials to urge them to reverse these cuts before they start in January.