Image above:
Somewhere in the Grays Harbor area. Photo is unaltered except for removal of registration number.
Welcome Home Troops
Not here to say that military benefits are inadequate.
Elected officials: Stop with your salute the troops nonsense on Armistice Day if you are not willing to take action to fix the process described below.
Tortuous web protocols at TRICARE contribute to the number of people who want to call and speak to a human at the understaffed call center.
Jan 22, 2025:
Military.com | By Patricia Kime
If you did your homework back in May of 2024, you remember:
“We are committed to keeping all of our military families informed about your health plan, your choices, and ensuring a seamless transition to new contractors,” said Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, director of the DHA.
Source:
TRICARE Newsroom May 15, 2024
Q&A: What To Know as New TRICARE Contracts Begin in 2025
By TRICARE Communications
Original deadline:
The Defense Health Agency (DHA) and the two regional contractors in the East Region and West Region are currently transitioning to these new contracts to ensure health care delivery is ready for all beneficiaries on Jan. 1, 2025.
Imagine your USMC Platoon Commander giving you an assignment that needed to be completed by Jan 1st, 2025.
Below is how you handled it.
A Jan 7 Progress Report:
Military Times Jan 7, 2025
Military’s Tricare transition to TriWest a ‘fiasco,’ some say
By Karen Jowers
“A number of beneficiaries in the Tricare West Region are off to a rocky start with the new contractor, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, citing problems with its website and customer service lines as they try to verify health care coverage and provide payment information.”
Trying to speak to a human:
“Retired Marine Paul King called the transition a “fiasco,” citing problems with TriWest’s website and the inability to get through to a customer service representative.”
“We are left being unsure if we have coverage after the end of January,” King said.
Be sure to care for your emotional and mental health:
“However, an unknown number of beneficiaries have reported problems with setting up payments. Frustrated with the website, they’ve tried calling the customer service lines, with some telling Military Times they’ve spent hours on the phone trying to get through.”
Military Times does not allow comments on their site.
Military.com Jan 7, 2025
Tricare West Region Woes: Reserve Members Mistakenly Told They Owe Up to $1,200 More Each Month
By Patricia Kime
“Beneficiaries who contacted Military.com said they had tried to update their payment information with TriWest before receiving the letters but couldn’t access the portal to fix their issues.”
Welcome Home Troops
“For those on Tricare Reserve Select, TriWest enrolled us in Tricare Retired Reserve, upping the monthly payment by over $1,200. … Over the past few days, my wife, who is the beneficiary, has been on hold with their phone trees for over 4 hours now and so far [is] unable to talk to anyone,” retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff Schneider said in an email.
“The error follows a series of challenges facing roughly 4.5 million patients in the 26-state Tricare West Region following a changeover in regional contract managers on Jan. 1.”
“Then, as the deadline approached for beneficiaries to update their payment information to TriWest, many encountered website outages and long hold times on the phone.”
Ask a recruiter:
“TriWest has made the new contract extremely challenging for clinicians, making it hard for military members to continue seeing their provider,”Ashley Comegys, a licensed clinical social worker, said in a Facebook reel.
Military.com does not allow comments on their site.
A Jan 9 Progress Report:
Federal contractor cries uncle. Things have not gone well. The system is not functioning. Original deadline now extended to Jan 30th, 2025.
Wondering if the contract includes penalties for not being up & running on time.
Real newspeople might ask questions on this.
KXRM News
Payment deadlines extended for TRICARE West Region
“The new deadlines were announced on Wednesday, Jan. 8 by the DHA, which added that if people don’t set up payment before the new deadlines, they’ll be disenrolled from their health plan, retroactive to Jan. 1.”
FOX 21 News
“Comments are turned off.”
A Jan 21 Progress Report:
Navy Times
Tricare West Region beneficiaries get second payment update extension
Story by Karen Jowers
“The latest deadline extension comes as a number of beneficiaries and health care providers have reported difficulty with the TriWest online portal, including long wait times to reach TriWest’s call center. TriWest has told Military Times it has been increasing call center staff.”
One retired soldier told Military Times, “Everything I’ve read has said that we have to set up automatic payments by Jan. 30 or we will lose our enrollment.”
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he hasn’t been able to set up payments through the TriWest online portal, getting a constant “error” message. When he reached someone Friday after more than an hour on hold, he said, “They said their system was down and they couldn’t verify any payments or details and to call back next week.”
A Jan 22 Progress Report:
No confidence in providing all services by Jan 30th. System now to be up and running by Feb. 28, 2025.
“As a result of problems with TriWest’s online portal and phone system, the deadline was extended…”
Military.com | By Patricia Kime
Jan 22, 2025
Tricare West Region Beneficiaries Get Another Chance to Update Payment Information
“The Defense Health Agency announced Tuesday that beneficiaries who are enrolled in Tricare Prime and Tricare Select, as well as programs that include Tricare Young Adult, Tricare Reserve Select and Tricare Retire Reserve, now have until Feb. 28 to update their payment information.”
“The original deadline for those who pay for Tricare with a bank electronic funds transfer, credit card or debit card was Dec. 31, 2024. As a result of problems with TriWest’s online portal and phone system, the deadline was extended to Jan. 15 for those on Tricare Young Adult and Tricare Reserve plans and Jan. 31 for beneficiaries on the Prime or Select programs.”
“The spouse of a retired Marine Corps officer told Military.com she waited more than three hours on three separate occasions to speak to someone about her information and referrals.”
“She waited on hold, only to not have her questions answered because none of her medical information was available to the call center staff, she added.”
“While polite, the TriWest phone answerers seem completely incompetent,” she said.
Tell your USMC Platoon Commander you need an additional two full months to handle that project he gave you back in May of 2024.
My wish for TRICARE:
Make it easy to pay the annual fee.
Allow people to opt in for a mailed statement if requested.
Make a TRICARE account just as easy to use as my local PUD account.
I have been paying bills for decades. Used to mail in a check, now it is mostly done with online banking.
I always want the option to see a written statement.
No money should change hands/go to TRICARE without a written or emailed invoice.
TRICARE does not send out a bill. TRICARE wants you to set up an automatic payroll allotment. No, thank you.
I have never used a payroll allotment or a credit card subscription to pay recurring bills-still don’t want to. This ongoing clusterfuck with TRICARE is a very good example of why.
My local PUD mails out a statement each month. I could call them if I need to, but I never have a need. The PUD offers multiple payment options. Pick whatever one is best for you.
The PUD does not care about my user name and password. I need none of that to happily use their services for years on end.
TRICARE:
Want to see an updated statement of your payment history?
TRICARE has a customer portal page on the web. Tried to use this in the past. It is a tortuous process. Tricky to set up and update passwords over and again. They will treat you like a hacker, even if you have done nothing wrong. Super complicated.
TRICARE requires you to create a user name and password. Whatever password you like will only be temporary, because it must be changed on schedule and it is required to be complicated.
Did you forget your password? No problem, just provide answers to a few simple questions:
What was the house number across the street from where your best childhood friend grew up?
Way too complicated. Why should this be any more tricky to use than an Amazon account?
As a last resort, you call to speak to a human at the understaffed call center. Broken web protocols at TRICARE drive up the number of people who want to call and speak to a human. You may be passed around to several different call operators.
Back in early December, I was passed along to a total of four humans.
All layers of questions to verify every possible means to ID customer are repeated again prior to speaking to each human.
Add in some call wait times too.
Pick a decade anytime after the war in Vietnam. No matter what political party or personality is in the White House, Uncle Sam struggles to get veterans health care to work properly. Moms, Dads, Grandparents, and young people have access to this info.
Recruiting crisis for Uncle Sam? Elected officials and top Pentagon Generals earned it.
From a Jan 14th blog:
Elected officials:
Stop kissing veteran ass on Armistice Day and every other chance you get. Stop with the “Thanks for your service” nonsense.
People volunteered to go to far away places and maybe never come back again.
Go to work to smooth out the process they face when they need to call and manage whatever benefits they earned.
Older veterans have influence with kids, grandkids and younger members of the community. Do right by them if you ever hope to dig out of your US Armed Forces recruiting crisis.
This whole thing should be no more tricky to use than an Amazon account.
Maybe the new administration will get this all cleared up soon, but we’re not there yet.
7 Years Back – Ask A Recruiter
Possibly of interest:
New Orleans – Armed Forces Recruiting Crisis
Most And Least Meaningful Federal Holidays
Busiest Air Travel Day – Security Theater