Tricare Prime: Comprehensive Care for Military Members and their Families

Tricare Prime offers outstanding benefits for current and former military members at some of the most affordable rates in the industry. Tricare’s plans include major medical, preventive care, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage, all designed to provide the best possible service to its members. Services covered by the Tricare plans include all medically necessary and proven treatments. This includes maternity care, birth control, infertility treatments, and sterilization as well as many other treatments; Tricare aims to provide comprehensive care for active duty and retired military members and their families. Tricare members are assigned a primary care manager who serves as their main source of medical treatment; in order to obtain care from a specialist, a referral is generally needed in advance.

For active duty military service members and their immediate families, the Tricare Prime plans require no annual enrollment fee and no deductible. Clinical health services including preventive care, emergency room visits, outpatient and inpatient surgery, and hospital stays are all covered at no cost to the member. Behavioral health services on an inpatient or outpatient services are also covered at 100% of costs. For retired military servicemen and women, a minimal annual enrollment fee is assessed. No deductible is required, but copayments for most services are assessed; typically these copayments are far less than for comparable non-military plans. Point of service coverage is also available to retired members and their families for out-of-network care; this covers most services at a 50% coinsurance rate. Point of service benefits are subject to an annual deductible.

Tricare Prime can be combined with dental insurance for more comprehensive coverage. The Tricare Dental Insurance program covers most basic preventive care with no copayment required; other procedures may require copayments of up to 50% of costs. Tricare vision and prescription drug benefits are also available and cover some or all of the cost of these treatments including eyeglasses and contacts; Tricare prescription coverage for retired military members works with Medicare Part D to provide comprehensive coverage for most medications. Tricare offers comprehensive coverage at little or no cost for active duty and retired military and their families.