I love the Emergency Room!
January 27, 2007|
Okay, maybe "love" is not the appropriate word, but an absolute miracle occurred today when I had to visit the ER.
Actually, my 3-year-old daughter was the patient and my DH was the one who took her. DH had taken our two kids sledding and my daughter now has a VERY swollen nose and under-eye area. She is doing fine - her face found a sled just a bit too close for comfort! DH said she rolled off her sled and turned around to get back on just as another kid (not my son, thankfully) rolled off his sled and the sled found its way to my daughter's face. In the meantime, I was out shopping while waiting for the oil change in my car... then I got "the call" from DH and high-tailed it to the ER.
Now... here's the miracle:
From the time my daughter was checked in to the ER until the time we walked out, only THIRTY minutes passed!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that??????? I do have to mention that we were not in a military hospital - we live 3 hours from the nearest one. And besides, has anyone ever been to a military hospital ER and actually gotten in and out in a half hour? Not in this lifetime (unless you are one of the unheard of lucky few...).
And speaking of the ER, this leads me to a strange TRICARE situation. I went to the ER in December and made the appropriate phone calls afterward for TRICARE to approve the visit. The other day I got a letter that said the ER visit was not approved because the "sponsor was not enrolled in DEERS at the time of service." Ummmmm... last I checked, a dependent can not be enrolled in DEERS, and therefore TRICARE, UNLESS the sponsor is enrolled (with maybe the exception of the sponsor being deceased). Am I wrong here? Also, my husband went to Walter Reed the next day for some follow-up appnts. and TRICARE seems to be okay with that! I am so confused... I just have to face the fact that I will never understand TRICARE :)
And I am grateful that my daughter's accident was not any worse. She's still as fiery and feisty as always!
tricare is a mystery unto itself....but getting into the ER in 30 minutes is a miracle!
I was told I need to get pre approved for physical therapy, but when I called, they said no. But the doctor's office says yes, so does the PT... so I'll call on Monday, and probably get ANOTHER answer.
Glad the kiddo is ok. sledding is not for the weak!
LAW
Posted by: LAW | 01/27/2007 at 17:45
This is what I put out to my military families when I was the FRG Leader.
Have you taken the time to visit your nearest military installation and have your picture taken? Did you know that since your soldier being mobilized, you will not be able to apply for or receive any benefits you may be entitled to without an ID card?
All spouses and children 10 and over are required to have a military dependent ID card. All children and spouses must be entered into the DEERS system, thus allowing them to tap into any benefits. Benefits include but are not limited to medical and dental care, travel, vacation planning, shopping at the PX or commissary, and more. Did you also know that with your ID card you could take a weekend away at a local hotel, and could receive a military discount?
After your soldier is mobilized and your soldier is away for more than 30 days, you may be eligible for medical and/or dental care at a local installation, or eligible to enroll in Tri-care (military member’s medical insurance plan). However, you must be enrolled in DEERS or have a military ID card.
Dependents need driver's license, social security card, marriage license and birth certificate if applicable, also Form 1172 with the soldiers information, and a copy of your Soldiers Deployment Orders. Without this information, your enrollment into DEERS cannot be processed!
To find a list of military ID card facilities available in your area go to:
http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/owa/home Please call ahead for times and what information you need to bring with you.
Posted by: Tracy | 01/27/2007 at 21:00
There is also information for Newborns that is helpful;
As a parent of a newborn infant, one of the first decisions you probably made, was deciding on a name for your newborn son or daughter. As a beneficiary of the Department of Defense Military Health System, the second and most important decision you can make is to enroll your newborn infant in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) as soon as possible after birth.
To establish TRICARE eligibility for a newborn in DEERS, parents or legal guardians must submit a certificate of “live birth” from a hospital or TRICARE approved birthing center. They must also provide a copy of a verified and approved DD Form 1172 “Application for Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card” signed by the sponsor. For additional information on enrolling a newborn baby in DEERS, parents or guardians may contact or visit the nearest military personnel office, identification (ID) card issuing facility, or contact the Defense Manpower Data Center Support Office (DSO) telephone center at (800) 538-9552. A list of military ID card facilities is available at
http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/. Additional information on DEERS eligibility is available on the TRICARE Web site at www.tricare.osd.mil/deers/default.cfm.
Posted by: Tracy | 01/27/2007 at 21:04
LAW, Are you near a military hospital or do you receive care in a civilian hospital? Since we live more than 50 miles from a military hospital we are under Tricare Prime Remote - if you have Remote you can make your own referrals to PT and other services outside of you PCM. Worse case, tell Tricare to give you an approval so your doctor or the PT will give you services. Communication amongst providers is not exactly their top priority (unfortunately)!
Posted by: Joan D'Arc | 01/27/2007 at 21:09
Tracy, thanks for the valuable information you posted. I am sure other military spouses could use the information!
Posted by: Joan D'Arc | 01/27/2007 at 21:10
Just some more information... for those that are wondering where to get a 1172 Form if their spouse is currently deployed overseas; You can contact your spouse's Rear Detachment Officer or the Unit Administration for their Company and request for them to generate a 1172 for you so you can get your stuff squared away. Technically this is suppose to be done before they are deployed and FRG Leaders & Family Readiness Liasons of the unit should make sure this accomplished before they shipped out. But we know the stories from this... :)
Posted by: Tracy | 01/27/2007 at 21:44
I'm on Prime remote.. but they have a problem, periodically. We don't have any new orders for the extension, so everyone is scrambling! Tricare has been known to give me approval for something, then not pay it... and we go round and round
ah well. I remember CHAMPUS... and the only thing that changed, was the name!
LAW
Posted by: LAW | 01/27/2007 at 21:50
Funny thing about that not being on DEERS thing.. I had the exact same thing happen from an appointment I went to in November.. It's because the doctors office put my social security number in rather than my husbands!
Posted by: Deployed Recruiters wife | 01/27/2007 at 22:37
Hey hope this helps you but something similiar happened when we took my Daughter to Children's hospital for a scheduled appointment that I had a refferal for. The wrong SS# was entered. Check the Hospital may have entered your daughters number instead of the sponsors. Just a possibility. While we all have problems with tri-care sometimes it actually isn't thier fault. Who would have thunk it. LOL.
Posted by: Megan | 01/28/2007 at 11:14
One of the problems we had at a military hospital was that the women taking our info wanted photo IDs of the kids. All 3 of my kids are under the age of 10 and we are new to this whole military thing so we thought we had overlooked the fact our kids needed IDs. The women kept telling me they couldn't see the kids and our IDs weren't good enough she needed to see one on them. She finally walked off becuase she didn't know what to do with us when another lady in the waiting room told us that women didn't know what she was talking about and that the kids don't get military photo IDs. The whole time that women is saying they can't see the kids without an ID my kids are puking all the floor in front of her and she still wouldn't budge. 11 and a half hours later after getting no sleep and missing 2 meals me and my now grumpy husband left the hospital with 3 kids still puking everywhere. We even met someone in the parking lot coming back to work the next day that remebered us from the night before and they couldn't believe we were still there.
Posted by: angela | 01/29/2007 at 09:23
hi...ive been hearing that active duty military and there spouses are eligible for free cosmetic and plastic surgery through a military hospital and surgeon....does anyone have any info on this....like were to go to get it done....who to call.....what doctor....what camp....how to go about it....my email is oxstien8@hotmail.com...please i could really use some help.
Posted by: sarah | 06/21/2007 at 00:51
i also have been trying to find the answer to my plastic surgery question. aobut breast augmentation but cant find out if spouse can go through the military my email is masterk017@yahoo.com if you can help me
Posted by: kristy | 08/18/2007 at 16:44
I took my 16 year old son to the doctor yesterday. The same doctor we've been going to for the past 20 years. The same doctor that took TriCare when my husband was in Bosnia and in Iraq 2003-2004. My son proudly handed the receptionist his military id card and TriCare id card from his wallet. The lady sort of laughed and handed it back to him as she said, "we don't accept it." My son who is already confused about life in general and his Dad missing his 17th birthday as well as his graduation from high school with honors next year, looks at me bewildered. I made other arrangements for payment with her and attempted to explain to my son not to worry. He was very embarassed in a waiting room full of people that his Dad's insurance coverage on him wasn't sufficient. After his exam, I had my son to go back to the waiting room and I addressed the physician. I told Dr. Smith that I personally found it very unpatriotic as well as unprofessional and irresponsible to NOT cover active duty military personnel. He explained that TriCare doesn't pay enough towards treatment and that his employees had to file it several times to even get what they do pay. He's ex-military himself and said he was very aggravated that TriCare makes it difficult for him to take care of our service members. He was very apologetic, but I'm upset as I'm sure many people are. I call the Jacksonville Air Force Base and I get, "Oh we don't make appointments for Veterans and dependents but you can come sit up here all day for a couple of days and maybe we can fit you in..." What? I work! If I had a couple of days to sit around in a waiting room to receive treatment, I would be on Medicare or some other government subsidized freebie and could go to ANY doctor that I wanted to, but NO, I work and my husband is in a war zone for the THIRD time and I have to pay...What about military families that the spouse is unable to work and they don't have $63.00 for an office visit? If I were in this country illegally, I could drive without a license, take my entire paycheck home and not have to pay taxes, my kids would get free lunches at school, go to college for free AND go to the doctor for nothing. Something is NOT right here. 27 years of National Guard, 3 Tours of Duty, we both work and pay taxes and we can't get our kids into the doctor without cash b/c TriCare is so difficult to get payment from that even ex-military physicians refuse to deal with them...what to do, what to do?
Aggravated in Arkansas
Posted by: Stacy | 08/23/2007 at 19:32
Hi, My husband is in the Army and I'm 9 months pregnant. We recently were married in July of 07. We have been together for 2 years. During this time him and I met while both going through a divorce. (We both met after we separated from our ex's) My divorce was final about 3 months after we started dating and his continued on. He finally got divorced in June 2007 and we were married in July while I was 5 months pregnant. I am now 9 months pregnant and he has been trying to get me enrolled into Tricare, but DEERS will not enroll me until he obtains his divorce decree, even though we have a marriage certificate...will Tricare cover my birth and my son after he is born if the military is failing to enroll me until the divorce decree comes?
Posted by: Tara | 10/05/2007 at 11:28
I am intested in the plastic surgery for spouse. Does anyone have any information? If so please email me at afranklin@ec.rr.com
Posted by: TARA | 01/04/2008 at 20:20
I am interested in finding out any information about if I am able to go through the military for plastic surgery. I heard it might be possible. If anyone has any info on this could you please email me at aandsthomas@yahoo.com
Posted by: shannon | 01/19/2008 at 22:43
I am interested in finding out any information about if I am able to go through the military for plastic surgery. If anyone has any info on this could you please email me at wildrose1@hotmail.com
Posted by: Linda | 03/06/2008 at 04:36
I have a question if someone can help, my son-in-law is done with his time in the army this June, my daughter is 10 weeks pregnant and he said they will not have insurance unless they pay for it when his time is done? Is he right? Or is there anything my daughter can do to check?
Posted by: chcgobetty | 03/13/2008 at 18:08
Just wanted to make a comment on the cosmetic surgery questions. Yes, it is possible for tricare to cover certain cosmetic surgeries, but it is not simply by request. I have known two women who recieved breast augmentations at tricare's expense. Both were related basically to depression cause by breast size. One was active duty at the time and the other was a dependent. I hope this is helpful.
Posted by: Matt | 06/17/2008 at 08:08
To answer the question about losing insurance after the sponsor leaves the service, unfortunately that is true. Tricare Prime only covers active duty members. They will cover any appointments or needs of the spouse until the date of seperation, but nothing afterward.
Posted by: Matt | 06/17/2008 at 08:10