Insurance

[BBrock]

Any of you old timers have to work through the Military's Tricare Insurance?  I am a reservist completing an active duty assignment and recently diagnosed with a AN. 

[lori67]

Yes!  But, hey - who said I was old?   

Anyway, I have Tricare Prime Remote and they paid for everything.  (Thank GOD!).  The only thing I had to pay out of pocket for was the catastrophic co-pay because my surgeon was not in network, but I figured $1000 was a bargain for brain surgery and they let me pay it a little at a time.

With Standard, you will probably have to pay the regular co-pay - I'm not sure how it works with Reservists - my husband is active duty.  I've found their website it not very helpful, but if you have a service office near you, they're pretty good in person.  Usually.  I've also found that the insurance people in the medical offices are pretty darn good about knowing what's covered and what's not and how to get things covered.  At least I've been fortunate enough to experience that.

You can send me a PM if you want any specifics or if there's anything I can help you with (or ask my husband to check out for you - his access via internet from his work computer is better than what I can access).  What part of the country are you in?

Lori

[BBrock]

I am hoping since I am on Active duty they will cover all costs.  I am in the Coast
Guard and living in Seattle.  It has been a challenge to find doctors since there do not seem to be any in the Triwest network. 

[lori67]

Yeah, we had a little problem here in Nashville too (not much Navy around here - as there's not much water!).  We do have an Army base not far from here, so there are a few doctors that take our insurance, but it usually takes a few phone calls to find them.

I know there's an army base near Olympia because I have a friend stationed there and there's a Navy base near Seattle somewhere (I'm terrible with geography), so I would imagine there would be a Tricare service center somewhere in the area.  If you can call Fleet and Family Services on the Navy Base, they'd have a phone number and address for you.  Once you get a hold of Tricare, they'd be able to give you a list of providers.  There's got to be someone crazy enough to want to accept our insurance - they're not the easiest company to deal with.

And I'd definitely get the ball rolling while you're still AD so they'll pay for it.

Lori

[leapyrtwins]

And I'd definitely get the ball rolling while you're still AD so they'll pay for it.

Lori

I'm not military, but Lori has an excellent point.

AN treatment - whether radiation or surgery - ain't cheap, so take advantage of your insurance benefits.

How large is your AN?

Jan