My husband deployed earlier this year, and until the day he deployed we had the insurance through his work as our Primary and Tricare as our secondary. Well the day he deployed we switched over to just Tricare because we couldnt afford the out of pocket at that point to keep the other insurance. We found out I was pregnant in late September, and we officially got me in the DEERS system in late November.
My question is, will Tricare cover all of my pregnancy expenses or will we be stuck with a huge bill? My husband is in the Army Reserve so the only time we have tricare is when he deploys and since this is his first deployment we just are not sure how all this works. And the closests office to talk to anyone about tricare is over 2 hours away and since im on travel restriction due to swelling and bp issues its impossible for me to travel there to ask them questions, and they dont like answer them over the phone for security reasons.
So would any of you ladies know if tricare will cover the expenses we have from this pregnancy or will we be stuck with a huge out of pocket on all of this?
Re: Tricare Prime Remote...
CJ 05/29/2013
My OB does accept tricare and we have had them listed there at the clinic since November, but they dont bill till the end of your pregnancy because theirs are packages which seems strange to me but thats just how this OB's office does it.
But thats a big help because I know non military insurances see pregnancy as a prexisting condition so its really good to know tricare does not! :-)
CJ 05/29/2013
I switched to Tricare Prime about 7 months into my current pregnancy. The nearest base actually doesn't have a maternity ward, so I am going to an off-post OB and will be delivering here locally as well. My DH is ARNG Reserve as well, and we have had no problems w/ the switch since he's active now, and as far as cost, it's the same as any other active duty soldier, so no real deductible worries for us.
Only thing I would check on is if you need a referral (I switched doctors, because I did need a referral to an approved OB, and my previous OB did not accept tricare as a form of insurance--would have had to pay out of pocket). You can set up an online login for Tricare's website and ask questions there as well--it may be easier to get a full response, as it's a secure site that you have to login to rather than the phone. Hope this helps!