The Army Recruiter’s Wife’s Weblog

One of the things you need to do when you arrive at your recruiting duty assignment is to make sure that your medical coverage carries over. If you are moving within the current tricare region you belong to you just need to make sure to update everything and see if you will be Tricare Prime or Tricare Prime Remote, or if you want to change to Tricare Standard. With Tricare Prime and Prime Remote you will be processed through the nearest MTF and then be able to pick a civilian doctor from the list they have. So, your PCM will be the civilian doctor that you pick. You can go to the tricare website for the region you’re in to look up the family practice doctors and pediatricians available. For specialist, you will have to first pick a PCM, and then get a referral through them to a specialist. Make sure the specialist is on the list of doctors that tricare has.

If you are transferring from one Tricare region to another, you are going to need to do PORT paperwork. This is the packet of paperwork you need to complete to transfer from one region to another. You can obtain the packet prior to leaving your post from your tricare office. Another important paper to ask for is the HIPPA release form for the region you are going to. You need to have one of these for each family member (active duty as well) and they have to be mailed or faxed in, they will not take them at the tricare office. Basically, the HIPPA form gives you permission to get info on your other family members, like claims processing. Make sure to date it for the end of your recruiting duty tour or it will only be good for a year.

Here are the tricare region websites:

TriCare West: http://www.triwest.com/

TriCare South: http://www.humana-military.com/

TriCare North: http://www.tricare.mil/tronorth/default.cfm

TriCare Pacific: http://www.tricare.mil/pacific/

TriCare Europe: http://www.europe.tricare.osd.mil/

TriCare Latin America & Canada: http://www.tricare.mil/tlac/