TRICARE Begins West Region Transition

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NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 470-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2004
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

DoD Begins New Tricare West Region Transition


The Department of Defense (DoD) announced that on June 1, 2004,
beneficiaries in the military healthcare plan, Tricare, in Oregon, Washington and
northern Idaho will transition to the new Tricare West region and will receive
health services and support through its new regional contractor, TriWest Healthcare
Alliance Corp. These states constitute the current Tricare Region 11 area. This
transition is part of DoD’s next generation of healthcare contracts in which three
new regional contractors will provide improved customer service, easier access to
care and a reduced need for transferring Prime beneficiaries’ enrollments when
moving.



“I am very pleased that the transition to TriWest is proceeding as
scheduled,” said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for
health affairs. “While our military treatment facilities remain the core of the
military health system, our regional contractors are important partners, providing
additional providers and facilities for our beneficiaries through a civilian
network.”



The second of the three-phase West Region transition will take place on
July 1, when beneficiaries in California, Hawaii and Alaska will become part of
Tricare West. The final phase of this new expanded West Region will take place on
Oct. 1 and will include the beneficiaries located in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa,
Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico,
Nevada, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Central Texas. The West Region makes up
the current Tricare Regions 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.



“We are committed to providing our beneficiaries with continuous,
uninterrupted access to the high quality of care that they expect from the Tricare
benefit,” said Winkenwerder; “their health and their satisfaction with their health
plan are very important to us.”



This transition to new contractors will not change Tricare benefits and
costs. Beneficiaries in the West region, who are not enrolled in Tricare Prime,
will have the opportunity to enroll and all beneficiaries will receive TriWest
enrollment information before each of the current regions transition.
Beneficiaries also will receive information on network providers, procedures for
filing claims and points of contact for Tricare assistance.



The military health system has a team that will monitor the transition
to ensure it proceeds smoothly and that contractors meet required performance
standards. Procedures are in place to ensure that claims sent to the former
contractor by beneficiary providers, after the start of the new contract, will be
automatically forwarded to the new West region claims contractor.

The national healthcare information line will not be available under
the new regional Tricare contracts. Local healthcare information lines will be
available in some locations. Beneficiaries seeking local healthcare information
should contact their Tricare primary care manager or local military treatment
facility for assistance. Additionally, beneficiaries in the West Region may access
health information by calling (888) TRIWEST, (888) 874-9378. The number offers
options for accessing information about the Tricare benefit, as well as healthcare
information, including an audio health library. For information 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, beneficiaries may access the following Web sites. Tricare
online at http://www.tricareonline.com [http://www.tricareonline.com/] for
healthcare information or the Tricare Web site at http://www.tricare.osd.mil
[http://www.tricare.osd.mil/] for benefit information.

The next generation of Tricare contracts consists of a suite of
services that were competitively procured and awarded to provide beneficiaries with
the highest quality of care, a higher level of customer service and added value in
all aspects of the world-class Tricare benefit. The new contracts will make a
strong program better, building on the best aspects of the current system and
providing a system of incentives for improvements in quality care, access and
claims payments for the 8.9 million Tricare beneficiaries. In addition to three
regional contracts for health services and support, specific contracts were awarded
for: mail order pharmacy, retiree dental, the uniformed services family health
plan, Tricare global remote overseas, Tricare healthcare for Puerto Rico, marketing
and education, information services, retail pharmacy, national quality monitoring,
and claims processing for Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. Coming soon will be the
new Tricare dental program for active duty families.
For more information on the contracts and the transition schedule,
visit the Tricare Web site at
http://www.tricare.osd.mil/contractsimplementation/default.cfm
[http://www.tricare.osd.mil/contractsimplementation/default.cfm] .