{"id":22452,"date":"2017-12-22T16:44:21","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T16:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/22\/tricare-addressing-isolated-problems-with-retiree-allotments\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:11:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:11:42","slug":"tricare-addressing-isolated-problems-with-retiree-allotments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/health-care-benefits\/2017\/12\/22\/tricare-addressing-isolated-problems-with-retiree-allotments\/","title":{"rendered":"Tricare addressing \u2018isolated\u2019 problems with retiree allotments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Allotments for Tricare payments in Tricare West have not been stopped, according to Tricare officials, in response to a report from a retiree in New Mexico whose retirement pay said otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had isolated cases of beneficiaries receiving incorrect notifications that are being resolved, but have had no reports of widespread issues,\u201d a Tricare official said. \u201cWe\u2019re working to prevent any additional incidents of misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel in New Mexico said he checked his retiree account statement Wednesday and discovered his retirement pay didn\u2019t include the usual allotment to pay for his Tricare Prime coverage. That deduction from his retired pay \u201chas shown for the last 14 years that I\u2019ve been retired,\u201d he said in an email to Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made calls to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and to the current contractor, UnitedHealthcare<\/a>. UnitedHealthcare officials told him, he said, that they stopped his allotment after the payment on Dec. 1, which paid for his Tricare Prime coverage for December, and that he would have to call the new Tricare West contractor, Health Net Federal Services<\/a>, to make arrangements for payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Net takes over the contract on Jan. 1 and doesn\u2019t have the authority to make changes to allotments until that time, he was told. So he would have to make alternative arrangements for his January payment, such as paying by check or credit card, before restarting his allotment for the February payment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There would be a 30-day grace period, he was told, but coverage could be cancelled after that grace period, if the premium were not paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He received no notification of the allotment being cancelled for January, he said, finding out only because he checked his retirement statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf someone were not aware of their responsibility, and failed to make payment [before] January 30, their coverage is cancelled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comes less than three weeks after letters were mistakenly sent<\/a> to an unknown number of military retirees in the current Tricare North region about paying their Tricare Prime premiums electronically from their bank account or credit card, even though many of those retirees were paying by allotment from their retirement pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter warned the beneficiaries of a possible \u201cinterruption\u201d in their health care benefits if the information wasn\u2019t received. The mistake came from Humana Military, the contractor that takes over Tricare East on Jan. 1. On that date, Tricare North and South regions combine into Tricare East<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t