Any Retired Military ? Tricare Question . . .

[zopi]

Any cruisers out there retired military have experience with tricare overseas?

[AnneP]

My husband is a disabled combat vet, trying to figure out how other vets have dealt with medical requirements. As well as benefits and yearly check ins. All that sort of stuff vets have to do every year to keep there benefits......while cruising out of the U.S


BTW....in most European countries with nationalized health care, tricare would work similarly to in the U.S. They will treat you, and attempt to bill your insurance company.
At least thats what they did for my husband when he had appendicitis while in Belgium.

[KDH]

Lived in Canada for many years and of course did not need my Tricare. That was a good thing as for most of that time the rules stated you could not use it outside the country or at least that is what I was told by Tricare. The rule has changed but of course, with all the budget crunching, it may well change back. Moved back to the US in 2007 and was told by Tricare that because my husband had insurance that covered me Tricare would not pay anything, even for something that wasn't covered by the other insurance. For that and other reasons, I've never been all that impressed with Tricare. Last time I called their 800 number though I got great help. Don't go to the local office for help (I was met with a very hostile reception)- I suggest you either use the website or call the 800 number. We're trying to figure out the same thing so if I find out anything will post it back to the thread.
Unless they've changed the rules about who pays for travel, I believe that outside a certain area, the government has to pay for travel for the annual checkup. Maybe that's why I've never been recalled for an exam but I don't use the VA for my healthcare provider even though I'm eligible. The compensation goes straight into the bank.

[SkiprJohn]

http://www.tricare.mil/contactus/ is a good place to find out such things. I've not tried mine overseas but it works good here in Hawaii on the outer islands.
kind regards,

[KDH]

In case anyone is still looking this page TRICARE Benefit At-a-Glance
has the descriptions for all the plans and a link at the bottom to a page to help determine which plan is best. Looks like good news/bad news... no premium but still paying a percentage of costs. Thanks to SkiprJohn, I started at your link.