Champus Use

[frankafey]

I was wondering if anyone (retired US military) have used Champus while living in Chiang Mai or any city in Thailand and what your experience with it has been.

[newcomer01]

Try putting this request on the Isaan forum as there are a lot of ex US miltary living in Ubon/Udon.

They may be able to put you on the right track

[Phil B]

I was wondering if anyone (retired US military) have used Champus while living in Chiang Mai or any city in Thailand and what your experience with it has been.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you know what medical facilities in Thailand accept CHAMPUS? If not I can get you the number to call.

[frankafey]

No, I don't have a phone number, that would be great.

Thanks

[sriracha john]

I would suppose that none of the hospitals accept Champus... but if you do find an answer, I'd be happy to know.

[Phil B]

I was wondering if anyone (retired US military) have used Champus while living in Chiang Mai or any city in Thailand and what your experience with it has been.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chiangmai Ram Hospital

8 Boonruengrit Road,

Sriphoom,

Amphur Muang,

Chiangmai 50200

Telephone: 66 (0) 53 224861

They accept CHAMPUS but being retired you might have a deductable and a co-pay with all of your visits. I think the main office you need to call to find any more hospitals is in Singapore at 011-656-388-9277 or if you can call 1-888-777-8343. Here is the web site http://www.internationalsos.com/private/tr...cific/index.cfm I havent looked at this site very much. I am not sure how you would make a claim. Hope this helps.

[sriracha john]

The above link the entire TriCare Prime program is specifically designed only for enrollment by active duties and their families who are permanently assigned to remote Pacific locations...

"The TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) delivers the Prime and Standard benefits to ADSM (Active Duty Service Members) and eligible family members stationed overseas."

[Phil B]

The above link the entire TriCare Prime program is specifically designed only for enrollment by active duties and their families who are permanently assigned to remote Pacific locations...

"The TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) delivers the Prime and Standard benefits to ADSM (Active Duty Service Members) and eligible family members stationed overseas."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am a retired uniformed service member, am I eligible to enroll in TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) Prime Plan?

No, you and your family members are not eligible to enroll in TOP Prime Plan. However you an your family may use TRICARE Standard overseas. The TRICARE Standard overseas option is identical to the CONUS TRICARE Standard option. Please contact an overseas TRICARE Service Center for more information.

TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) Standard

TOP Standard is essentially the same as the stateside Standard program, including deductibles and cost shares.

Active duty: AD family members living overseas with their sponsors, or those who have relocated with service sponsored/funded orders, may choose between TOP Prime and TOP Standard.

Retiree: Retirees and their family members who reside overseas are not eligible to enroll in TOP Prime and are covered only by TOP Standard.

Medicare eligible: For retirees 65 and older, or for those who are otherwise eligible for Medicare, please note that Medicare does not pay for health care overseas.

Reserve Component: Family members living overseas with Reserve Component members, who are living overseas while on active duty for more than 30 consecutive days, are eligible for either TOP Prime or Standard.

How to get health care under TOP Standard

Routine: You may receive care from any qualified host nation provider without a referral. It is highly recommended that you contact the staff of a nearby military treatment facility (MTF) or TRICARE Service Center(TSC) or the nearest American embassy health unit (TRICARE POC) for assistance in locating a host nation provider.

Specialty: Standard, generally, does not require the beneficiary to seek a referral for specialty care. However some specialty procedures may require pre-authorization, which is true in the U.S. as well as overseas. Check with your TSC for detailed information about treatments, services and procedures that may require pre-authorization.

Inpatient/hospitalization: All beneficiaries who live near an MTF must obtain a non-availability statement (NAS) from the MTF before receiving inpatient care at a host nation hospital.

Costs and fees under TOP Standard

TOP Standard beneficiaries are responsible for paying annual deductibles and cost shares, just as they are in the U.S. Additionally, however, you may be required to pay up front for care (possibly in host nation currency). Then you will file claims with Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS)—the TRICARE overseas claims processor.

Note: Despite Standard's greater out-of-pocket costs when compared to Prime, TOP Standard may be the better choice for some beneficiaries (who have the option to choose), especially those who prefer to receive care from a host nation provider

So far that is all I have found. There are some phone numbers in the web sit in an earlier post that might answer your questions.

[sriracha john]

I am a retired uniformed service member, am I eligible to enroll in TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) Prime Plan?

However you an your family may use TRICARE Standard overseas.

So Prime is out, and it's up to Standard, but the website doesn't list any hospitals in the Pacific that accept Standard.

If anyone finds the answer, I'd be happy to know. Or what the amounts of the copay and deductibles are.

[JimGant]

My understanding of Tricare, as it pertains to retired military overseas, is that you pay for services at any Thai hospital up front, then file with Tricare. There is an address on the Tricare website, as I recall, that has the particular address in the States where you send your claims for overseas medical bills.

Under age 65, this would officially be handled under the rules of Tricare Standard ($150 deductible, 25% copay). After age 65, when Tricare For Life takes over, nothing really changes overseas, as it functions same as Tricare Standard, since Medicare doesn't apply overseas they just apply the rules of Tricare Standard. But, you need to be enrolled in Medicare 'B' for this to work.

I haven't needed to do this yet, but I suspect the real trick is having the Thai medical bill sufficiently clear as to what procedure was accomplished (doubt Thai hospitals use Stateside procedure codes, so definitive wording would seem in order). Lacking this, the EOB from Tricare would probably indicate "more info needed," or some such refusal language. Hopefully, the larger institutions -- Bumnumgrad (sp?) probably for sure -- where foreigners are routine customers, have their stuff together.

I believe there's a retiree working out of Jusmaag that specializes in areas like this. Have his name -- in my *other* desk 12 time zones away, however.

Oh, Tricare is pretty cheap on maximums they pay for procedures, at least per my Stateside experience. But I would imagine, since most medical procedures in Thailand are considerably cheaper than Stateside, that this Tricare cap would not apply, at least in most cases.