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| September 2004 |
P.O. Box 712, Dover, NH 03820 |
Volume 25, No. 3
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DoD New Release No. 846-04 dated 08/31/04 The
Department of Defense (DoD) announced
that on
Sept. 1, 2004, eligible military healthcare plan beneficiaries in
Maine,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New
York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia,
Northern Virginia and eastern West Virginia transition to the TRICARE
Northern
Region. This transition completes the new North Region that
began June 1 with the states of Illinois, Indiana, portions of Iowa
(Rock
Island Arsenal area), Kentucky, Michigan, portions of Missouri (St.
Louis
area), North Carolina, Ohio, portions of Tennessee (Ft. Campbell area),
southern Virginia, western West Virginia and Wisconsin.
“The completion of the Tricare North Region transition marks an important milestone in our transformation of military healthcare services,” said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. “This new structure not only enhances our customer service efforts, increases benefit portability and improves access to care, but it also is designed to make our beneficiaries partners in managing the spectrum of their own health needs.” Health Net Federal Services Inc.
(Health Net), a government operations
division of Health Net Inc., based in Sacramento, Calif., will provide
healthcare services and support to the 2.85 million beneficiaries in
the
North Region, who may access healthcare information by contacting
Health
Net at (877) Tricare, (877) 874-2273, or http://www.healthnetfederalservices.com.
North Region |
eligible beneficiaries,
who are not in Tricare Prime, will have the opportunity to
enroll.
Health Net also provides beneficiaries with: information on enrollment
and network providers; procedures for filing claims; contacts for
Tricare
assistance; view claim processing status and patient claims history;
and
locate a Tricare service center (TSC) or visit the virtual TSC, as well
as access various programs that allow beneficiaries to manage their own
health care.
Military treatment facilities (MTFs) in all regions remain at the core of the military health system and its Tricare Online Web site, http://www.tricareonline.com provides beneficiaries additional interactive tools and up-to-date, accurate information on a variety of health matters, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tricare Online also includes a medical dictionary, the new “Rx Checker,” to find drug-and-drug or drug-and-food interactions, an online health journal and more. For information on the Tricare benefit, beneficiaries may visit http://www.tricare.osd.mil or consult their service and/or local MTF. The new contracts build on the
best aspects of the Tricare system, which
has been developed over the last 10 years, making a strong program even
better by providing incentives for improvements in quality care, access
and claims payments. DoD has also awarded additional specific
contracts
for mail order pharmacy, retail pharmacy, retiree dental care, the
Uniformed
Services Family Health Plan, Tricare Global Remote Overseas, Tricare
health
care for Puerto Rico, marketing and education programs, information
services,
national-quality monitoring, and claims processing for
Medicare-eligible
beneficiaries. For more information on the contracts and the
transition
schedule, visit the Tricare Web site at: |
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