Hey this may be slightly off-topic but I am Tricare Retired Reserve. It has been a bumpy first few months...
First thing I discovered is that much like Fight Club, there is no such thing as Tricare Retired Reserve. What I mean is that when you go in to a clinic you give them your DoD Benefits number and tell the desk clerk to click "Tricare Select" in the drop-down box. The clerk has no option to click 'Tricare Retired Reserve' as an insurance provider. This has lead to all kinds of letters from facilities weeks/months after the fact saying 'you have no insurance' or 'you no longer have Anthem BCBS Insurance'...Yes, I know I no longer have my former employer's insurance. That's why I handed you my Tricare card and watched you type in my information when I visited your Facility.
The second thing I had to figure out on my own is that the letter/TRICARE printed card is worthless. All they want to see is the back of your ID card with the DOD benefits number.... so make sure you and each of your dependents has a current ID card with DOD benefits number printed on the back.
It felt like I was alone in figuring this TRR stuff out- Like I was the first guy running in to the jungle with a machete in his teeth.
...and it turns out I pretty much AM alone.
After doing some research, I found that of approximately 10M Tricare participants nationwide,
there are only 11 THOUSAND participants in Tricare Retired Reserve. I suspect the cause of this is the ACA-Obamacare option for Gray-Area retirees... but in my family's case TRR is a lower-cost option than ACA-Obamacare, and WAY less expensive than my former employer's COBRA offer. But 11 Thousand participants nationwide is a tiny number. So tiny that there's no way you can expect a clinic to be familiar with your TRR insurance rules when you walk in.
I can elaborate on TRR further if anyone is interested, or make it a future blog post if anyone wants to follow my journey down the Tricare Retired Reserve rabbit hole.
www.militarytimes.com
