TRICARE PATIENTS MUST BE ALERT AT THE END OF 2007!.
Wednesday, November 21 2007 @ 09:02 AM EST
Contributed by: nadinekellys

By Nadine S. Kellys de Cruz for Panama-Guide.com - Attention retirees and family members, the cycle of deductibles being taken from your doctors has begun.  I am writing this article to inform you on procedures to follow if your doctor notifies you that your deductible was taken from him or her.
This week, to be specific on Wednesday 14 November 2007, I received the first Explanation of Benefits from TRICARE, where the deductible of two separate patient's had been taken from the attending physician.  I immediately proceeded to call the patients.  One of the patient's informed me that they had a receipt for the "deposit" they paid at a local hospital. (more)

Here are the possible courses of action you could take.

1.      Go by the doctor's office and pay them out of your pocket again! You will pay the amount that was applied to your to your deductible.

2.      Take a copy of the Explanation of Benefits to the PLACE WHERE YOU PAYED your "DEPOSIT" show them that your deductible was taken from someone else, and then ask for a refund so you can pay the doctor.

3.      Remember if you wish to avoid these issues, just pay for your care as you receive it, send the claims to TRICARE as soon as possible, until your deductible is fully met.  Then TRICARE will begin paying your claims at the 75%.

4.      Always notify your physician that your deductible has not been met, also advise them to promptly notify you if their honoraries were attributed to your deductible.

5.      We must continue to safeguard our benefits.  We want the physicians to continue to accept TRICARE, recurrent incidents like these could potentially result in physicians not accepting TRICARE.

6.      If you need further assistance you can check http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/home/Medical/Costs , if not feel free to contact me at 507-223-1418 and I will attempt to point you in the direction of the published TRICARE information you are looking for on the WEB.

Nadine S. Kellys de Cruz, USAF Retired, Health Care finder and Medical Billing Services, M.A. Health Services Administration
MEDSERV PANAMA, S.A., Email: [email protected]

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