{"id":79716,"date":"2025-03-10T18:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T18:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/03\/10\/marine-retiree-shares-a-warning-about-this-tricare-payment-problem\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:30:27","slug":"marine-retiree-shares-a-warning-about-this-tricare-payment-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2025\/03\/10\/marine-retiree-shares-a-warning-about-this-tricare-payment-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine retiree shares a warning about this Tricare payment problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A retired Marine staff sergeant recently took steps to ensure he and his wife don\u2019t lose their health care coverage after his allotment for Tricare payments was mistakenly stopped during the military\u2019s transition to the new contracts<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russ Clark is worried that other people have been affected, too, and could unknowingly be at risk of losing their coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s concerned that other beneficiaries aren\u2019t checking their pay statements from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service or their bank statements and could lose coverage if their allotment has also been discontinued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOthers may not have noticed the allotment being stopped, as it was at the same time we got our [Cost of Living Adjustment] pay increase, so someone may be thinking that the increase in the monthly paycheck was just the COLA increase,\u201d Clark told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certain beneficiaries pay for Tricare Prime, Tricare Select, Tricare Young Adult, Tricare Reserve Select and Tricare Retired Reserve plans. Clark pays for Tricare Prime coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem came about during the Jan. 1 transition of Tricare West Region beneficiaries from the previous contractor, Health Net Federal Services, to the new one, TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Tricare officials repeatedly assured West Region beneficiaries who make recurring payments by allotment that their information would be transferred automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That wasn\u2019t true for Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark\u2019s December pay statement showed his allotment to Tricare was stopped. During calls to Tricare and DFAS, they \u201cassured me that I didn\u2019t have anything to worry about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of March 7, the allotment has yet to be restarted. He has been making payments online to ensure he maintains coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will pay month to month until I feel certain that DFAS won\u2019t start this allotment again,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a few months, he plans to set up auto pay using a credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\t