Beneficiaries in the Tricare West Region who failed to provide TriWest Healthcare Alliance with their billing information by Jan. 1 have a little more time to update their payment plan.
The Pentagon’s health program issued a notice Friday saying that beneficiaries in the expanded West Region who use Tricare Prime and Tricare Select have until Jan. 30 to update their payment information with TriWest before losing their health benefits.
Meanwhile, those with Tricare Young Adult, Tricare Reserve Select or Tricare Retired Reserve have until Jan. 15 to provide their payment information to TriWest or they will be disenrolled retroactive to Jan. 1, according to the Defense Health Agency.
Read Next: Green Beret Who Detonated Cybertruck Left Note Calling Attack a ‘Wake-Up Call’
The deadline extension follows a last-minute flurry of notifications to Tricare West Region patients encouraging them to update payment information if they use a credit card or bank transfer to pay their Tricare enrollment fees.
As of Dec. 26, just 40% of those who needed to update their information had done so, according to the Defense Health Agency.
By Jan. 2, the percentage had increased to 54%, according to a DHA statement provided to Military.com on Monday.
“TriWest is increasing that percentage daily, and DHA is monitoring that progress,” the statement read.
The Defense Department awarded the new Tricare contract for the West Region to TriWest in December 2022, and after a series of bid protests and a lawsuit, the company retained the contract effective Jan. 1.
The change affects 4.5 million Tricare beneficiaries, including nearly all beneficiaries in six states including Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin that shifted to the West Region.
It does not apply to those who pay for health benefits by military allotment. It also does not apply to those who will remain in the East Region, have Tricare for Life, the U.S. Family Health Plan or an overseas Tricare plan.
Customers can set up their payment information online by going to the TriWest portal and choosing the “New User, Sign Up Now” option. Once they provide an email address, a verification code will be sent to that email to be used to complete the process.
In a Jan. 3 news release, Tricare officials urged beneficiaries to be sure to enter their benefits number from their Uniformed Services ID card without dashes to ensure that all accounts are linked correctly.
Beneficiaries can also mail an automatic payment authorization form to TriWest and call TriWest at 1-888-874-9378 if they have any issues.
“Call volume is heavy now, so please be patient,” officials wrote in the news release.
Beneficiaries on social media including Facebook and Reddit have reported problems with the online registration system and setting up monthly or even annual payments with TriWest.
TriWest is a consortium of nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and university hospital systems. It managed the Tricare West Region from 1996 to 2013 and currently manages the Department of Veterans Affairs Community Care Network in the western U.S. and Hawaii.
Related: Tricare Patients Fear Losing Preferred Health Care Providers Amid Contract Transition