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Military Families
Jlroberts57
member
Don't even know where I'll be delivering!
Jlroberts57
member
ok to try making a long story short, we are waiting for my husband to be medically discharged from the army. and of course, we were supposed to be out over 6 months ago and still playing the waiting game. (imagine that!) my dilemma is, i am due in october and they have promised us a release date before then, or at least by december. at this point, i have completely given up on that idea, and sucked up the notion that i will have to raise my baby on-post and not the beautiful new home that we bought near our families 2 1/2 hrs away. this fact doesnt bother me that much, but honestly i want to give birth back home where our families can be there.
we asked tricare about it, and they said if i choose any other hospital, they will lock me out of tricare for a year, and not pay for my medical bills whatsoever. Anyone heard of this?? this is something they told us way back in february or march. maybe its something new? since i know some wives choose to live near their families while husbands are deployed or serving, surely they have had babies in a non-military hospital and had everything covered? having us apart is not an option, and i cant handle both our families trying to "help" me with the baby, without my husband by my side! anyways, we have been thinking about the options and will either suck it up, and deliver on post, or we have thought of going home near my due date and just going into the ER claiming, emergency! (im not too crazy about this one though) in the case that tricare will not accept this and make us pay....it may not be worth the risk.
sorry this is sooo long, and im rambling but ugh...i am just so torn, and i would like to have some kind of plan for my own sanity. any advice, tips, etc would be wonderful 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Don't even know where I'll be delivering!
I just went to the TriCare office on base to talk about this same exact thing (what if I am pregnant and have to deliver back home while my husband is deployed).. I was told this:
If there is a military base near your home you stay on TriCare Prime, and you go to that hospital to deliver and you see a doctor there.
If there is no base within 30 mins from your home, you HAVE to switch to TriCare Standard (which is a bit of an out of pocket cost). If you choose an in-network provider (civilian obviously) TriCare Standard will pay most of the cost, if you choose an out of network provider, they will pay a little less than most. Either way you are still covered, and you have to pay a bit out of pocket. There are lots of women on TriCare Standard delivering away from their bases, why would they ever tell you that you couldn't.. Crazy!
Good Luck..
ETA: You can switch to TriCare Standard whenever you want to, and you can cancel it whenever you want and go back to TriCare Prime...but if you cancel Standard, you cannot re-enroll for a year.
Is the insurance different because he is retiring? That would be the only thing I could think of as why they told you about the lock out. The only lock out is if you switch from Prime to Standard you are locked out for a year from switching back. Unless your husband is an E4 (maybe E5) or below. If that is the case you can switch back without waiting a year.
Standard pays regular maternity cost 100%. If you have anything done outside of the norm you will have to pay a percentage. It is not much at all. My whole pregnancy maybe cost me $50 at the most. Our hospital bill was $63.
I dropped Prime like a bad habit and love love love Standard.