Tricare Information

TRICARE is a health-care benefits company that provides health-care benefits to United States military personnel, retired military personnel and their dependents. It was formerly known as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services.

History

• In 1956, the U.S. Congress enabled the Secretary of Defense to contract with civilian health-care providers because care at military facilities became unavailable.

Function

• TRICARE is managed by TRICARE Management Activity, which is under the direction of the Assistant Director of Defense for Health Affairs.

Identification

• TRICARE works with subcontractors in different parts of the country to process health-care claims. These subcontractors include Palmetto Government Benefits Administration, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield in the northern and southern parts of the country, and Wisconsin Physicians Service in the western part of the country and overseas.

Features

• TRICARE offers a variety of health-care plans including the TRICARE Standard, the TRICARE Extra, the TRICARE Prime, the U.S. Family Health and the TRICARE Reserve Select plans.

Significance

• TRICARE provides coverage to approximately 9.5 million beneficiaries.