Originally Posted by
Humboldt
I'd agree with slinky. Be careful and check out on the Tricare website if there are providers in the area you plan on living. As a reservist, I live 60 minutes from the closest base. In my neck of the woods (population 120,000) there are only 2 providers that take Tricare. What a pain to have to pay up front and then submit to Tricare for payback.
We tried Tricare here but the two doctors in my town that took Tricare were creeps and had shady backgrounds. No fun for my wife. I'd much rather pay NWA for their health care plan than deal with that.
I hadn't thought about the fact that it's pre-tax money either.
Tricare is great when you live next to a military hospital but elsewhere, no thanks.
Humboldt
Make sure you really check for Tricare Providers. There's a difference between Tricare and Tricare Prime providers. If they take Medicare then they take Tricare. But they may not be a Tricare Prime provider. Make sure you don't rely just on the Tricare website. Ask the doc you want to use if they will accept Tricare. They may and not be on the website. I use Tricare Standard in the MSP area and use the same doc/clinic I used with NWA Medica. It is way cheaper than NWA's plan. You can also pay your deductable costs with FlexSaver account dollars and they becomes pretax dollars.