Repeal of Obama Care and Tricare

From Military.com

"3 Rea­sons the repeal­ing the Patient Pro­tec­tion and Afford­able Care Act won’t change TRICARE.

A recent arti­cle by Leo Shane of Stars and Stripes explains how and why any actions to repeal the Patient Pro­tec­tion and Afford­able Care Act (a.k.a. Oba­maCare) will not make any imme­di­ate changes to TRICARE or the new TRICARE Young Adult option. In fact there are three main rea­sons why the actions taken by the House to repeal the act won’t change any­thing right away.

Rea­son 1. When PPAC was passed, Con­gress quickly fol­lowed up by pass­ing the TRICARE Affir­ma­tion Act, a law which ensured that TRICARE wouldn’t change due to PPAC. Sim­ply put, TRICARE was shielded from the rules for PPAC in the first place, so any repeal won’t have an effect any­way.

Rea­son 2. The expan­sion of TRICARE cov­er­age to include adult chil­dren over 21 (known as the TYA option) was not included in the orig­i­nal Patient Pro­tec­tion and Afford­able Care Act. In fact TYA is part of the National Defense Autho­riza­tion Act of 2011, which means that any effort to repeal PPAC will not have an imme­di­ate effect. Con­gress would have to pass a sep­a­rate bill to elim­i­nate the TYA pro­gram.

Rea­son 3. Although the House passed the repeal, it is not likely to get any trac­tion in the Sen­ate and there is no chance that this pres­i­dent will sign any such repeal."

To be quite honest, when the House repealed the Patient Pro­tec­tion and Afford­able Care Act it did not occur to me that Tricare would be affected. Did any one even think that the repeal would affect us negatively? What was your immediate response to the repeal of Obama Care?

Tricare and College Students

Came across an interest article about Tricare and College students:

"Do you have a teen graduating high school and heading off to college soon? Don’t worry, their TRICARE benefits will travel with them. As a military dependant, your student will remain eligible for TRICARE benefits until they graduate college or turn 23 years of age, whichever comes first. Once they turn 21 years of age, you will need to update the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) so they may keep their benefits.

There are a few options available to college students including TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Prime Remote, and TRICARE Prime overseas.

TRICARE Prime is available in the North, South and West Regions and assigns a primary care manager (PCM). Students will receive medical care from their PCM at either a military facility or from a TRICARE network provider. As an active duty dependant they will not incur any out of pocket expenses as long as care is received from their PCM or care from another provider with a referral.

To qualify for TRICARE Prime Remote students must live at least 50 miles or an hour’s drive from the nearest military treatment facility. Use the TRICARE Prime Remote zip code look-up tool to determine if your student will quality for TRICARE Prime Remote while attending college.
TRICARE Prime Overseas is for active duty and their dependants living overseas in non-remote locations. Dependants will be assigned a primary care manager (PCM) and will receive care at a military treatment facility (MTF).

No matter where your student attends college, they will be able to find adequate medical care because TRICARE is available worldwide. Contact the appropriate TRICARE Region for more information based on the school’s location. Visit the TRICARE website to learn more about all plans and their costs."

http://www.todaysmilitaryspouse.com/2010/09/tricare-and-college-students/

What do you do about TriCare when you move?

(The credit for the idea for this post goes to one of my very good friends, who asked for this advice)

So, you're PCS'ing (that's Army talk for moving). On top of deciding how you are going to move, finding a house, taking care of the previous house, enrolling your kids in new schools, you have to transfer their TriCare too... Because if it was easy to do, then it wouldn't be the Army.

My experiences have varied COMPLETELY from the two moves we did last year.

1. Fort Stewart- Fort Jackson: (If your husband is still on 10+ days of leave when you arrive at the new Duty Station, this is what you should do.) I was about 8 weeks pregnant by the time we got there. I had to get in the system to see an OB. What we did is we went physically to the Hospital on Post and told them we needed to sign in. Since my husband was still on leave and would not in-process for another month, we had to do this ourselves. It didn't take too terribly long, but still rather annoying.

2. Fort Jackson - Chicago (Recruiting): This was easy. We simply called TriCare and the hubby took care of everything during in-processing.

I would recommend calling TriCare and asking them what you should do. http://www.tricare.mil/contactus/

Every Post is different. Good Luck!!

IF YOU ARE STANDARD: I HIGHLY recommend personally hand walking your Medical Records to your new Doctors. Don't trust any one to do anything for you that you can do yourself.

Which TirCare to choose?

Choosing your medical plan is a huge decision that affects not only yourself, but your family as well. I hope this post helps you make an educated decision; Prime or Standard/Extra, it's your choice.

Things have changed for the better since I was a child on Prime. But my experiences as a child and now as a wife still push me to stay Standard and my husband and I have chosen to put our son on Standard as well.

Here are true experiences that prompt me to stay Standard:

1. At Fort Stewart a young woman was suffering chronic fatigue, acute displaced pain, and other symptoms. After two years at Winn they finally out sourced her to Liberty Regional Medical Center for Pain Management. As apart of the Doctor's preliminary testing, she tested positive for Hypothyroidism. A Condition that is easily regulated with medication and but can be extremely dangerous left untreated. Prime does not cover this simple blood test with their Primary Care Managers.

2. I have hypothyroidism (No I am not the lady mentioned above). And with it you take synthetic thyroid to regulate and make up for what your body doesn't produce. If you have low thyroid levels while pregnant it can cause low IQ levels in your child. Prime would not cover regular blood draws during my maternity care to make sure my hormones are throwing my thyroid out of whack. Thank God I am on Standard because I have had to adjust my medicine during my pregnancy.

3. The average wait for Winn ER is over 8 hours. Ask any wife on post. The average wait for the ER at Liberty Regional, directly outside of Fort Stewart, is less than 2 hours; more often less than an hour. (They have a fabulous Fast Tact ER attached to the ER for the less severe cases)

4. With Prime it can be difficult to get referrals for specialists. I have to see an endocrinologist about my thyroid because I have a severe case. Standard it is too easy to pick up a phone and make an appointment. OBGYN's are considered specialists and you need a referral as well.

5. With Prime, costs are covered 100%. With Standard you have a $150 for individual $300 for family deductible. After you meet your deductible you enter into cost share. Now, maternity is covered completely under Standard as well, with a $15.65 per day/$25 whichever is more co-pay for hospital stays. With all the specialists I see, and I have to get paps every 3 months (it's so lovely, but cervical cancer runs in my family and I am very high risk), I still don't pay that much at all.

6. My father's kidney ruptured on my 17th birthday. He never knew he had a enlarged kidney or that was causing his horrible back pain. He had complete coverage from the Army for his entire life, from birth until current, and no one caught this problem. Rather traumatizing to walk into the hospital room after your father has had to have emergency surgery removing said kidney.

I am very lucky when it comes to health care because my Mom works at a hospital directly outside a large Army post, so she is always up to date on TriCare issues. I am also spoiled because the Doctors knew who my Mother was and I admit I got special treatment. Now I am no longer in that area I expect the same level of care and have yet to find that with Prime, though I did give it a try at Jackson. I quickly transferred back to Standard and found my own OB for my pregnancy.

We all have our own opinions but you have to make what is best for you and your family. I choose to stay Standard and give my child the best possible treatment.

And NEVER let a resident treat you without seeing an Attending. You should always see a Major or higher in Military Treatment Facilities.