Tricare - Help needed to protect our benefits for WLS!!

 My husband counted on Tricare for Life like he was promised.  He will need care for a long time for a mechanical back injury, we're looking at insurance plans for when he retires because even if he gets a good job, has insurance with that job it will be a pre exsisting condition and may not be covered.  Talk about getting screwed.  Injured in the line of duty?  Sorry.  

Tricare for Life is for people on Medicare either by disability or age 65 and always pays secondary to Medicare, it is automatically a covered benefit when the active duty member retires. Upon retirement, as a retiree you automatically have Tricare standard coverage and may purchase Prime (depending on where you live). If he was injured in the line of duty it is fully covered by the VA as well and if you seperate from the military before your 20 yrs. Care can be provided after separation as well, it is called "line of duty" care but it only covers what is related to the injury. Also, with the Letter of Credible Coverage, insurance companies are not allowed to count it as a pre existing illness/injury. Tricare should mail you the letter when he seperates. If he retires, he is covered under Tricare so if he doesn't show eligible, I would check with DEERS to see what the problem is. Hope this helps.

Thank you for taking the time that you did to lend your support.  I am most grateful...

Another point for you is that the reimbursement that Tricare pays is extremely low for the WLS. It is also very low for the panni. The panni is only approved when medically necessary with lots of documentation and pictures.

The cost of treating problems related to obesity are much more than what Tricare is actually paying for the surgery....and they only pay for the surgery once. The average reimbursement to the surgeon is about $1700 and about $3000 to the hospital for the lap gastric bypass. The total charge may be $18,000 but this is all they get.

This website will give you the reimbursement amounts, you enter zip code and procedure code.
http://www.tricare.mil/CMAC/default.aspx

A lot of these are done at a military hospital. When you hear someone also had a breast lift, lipo, tummy tuck all for free....it was done at a military hospital. They take a select few for training purposes to keep their skills up.

Great information!!  Thank you for taking the time to respond.  I cannot begin to tell you how very grateful I am... 

retirees are required to use tricare and cannot utilize mtf anymore, and the interviewer needs to understand that tricare is a employer /employee benefit like the private sector has just like he enjoys with his employers, and all government workers in the civilian side.
  It also is the most restrictive pay or of all government plans, it forbids the ds flat out.  i lost on a congressional appeal. 

Thanks for the input, seriously.

Sorry you lost the appeal, but really do hope you take pride in the fact that you stood up and really tried to make a change...