Tricare beneficiaries in the West Region have been given another extension for the deadline to update their payment information with new regional contractor TriWest.
The Defense Health Agency announced Tuesday that beneficiaries who are enrolled in Tricare Prime and Tricare Select, as well as programs that include Tricare Young Adult, Tricare Reserve Select and Tricare Retire Reserve, now have until Feb. 28 to update their payment information.
The original deadline for those who pay for Tricare with a bank electronic funds transfer, credit card or debit card was Dec. 31, 2024. As a result of problems with TriWest’s online portal and phone system, the deadline was extended to Jan. 15 for those on Tricare Young Adult and Tricare Reserve plans and Jan. 31 for beneficiaries on the Prime or Select programs.
Should beneficiaries not update their payment methods, they will be disenrolled from Tricare retroactive to Jan. 1.
“While the deadline has been extended, you shouldn’t wait to take action,” Malcolm Jones, an enrollment specialist for Tricare at the Defense Health Agency, said in a statement. “To keep your coverage, use the TriWest secure portal, mail in the payment request form, or call them to set up your payments.”
Those who pay for their health program by military allotment do not have to update their information; the requirement also doesn’t apply to active-duty members and their families or those who use Tricare for Life or the U.S. Family Health Plan.
According to TriWest, 70% of those who needed to update their payment information had done so by the second week of January.
TriWest has encouraged beneficiaries to enroll online, but many patients and providers have reported difficulties with TriWest’s website, and when they try to call in their payment information, have faced hourslong wait times to reach a person who can help them.
The spouse of a retired Marine Corps officer told Military.com she waited more than three hours on three separate occasions to speak to someone about her information and referrals.
She waited on hold, only to not have her questions answered because none of her medical information was available to the call center staff, she added.
“While polite, the TriWest phone answerers seem completely incompetent,” she said.
TriWest was awarded the new Tricare contract, which took effect Jan. 1, in December 2022.
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, as well as several unique ZIP codes in some locations.
In a statement to Military.com, TriWest officials said the Defense Health Agency and TriWest have made “every effort to notify beneficiaries with pending deadlines to update their recurring payment information.”
“This sense of urgency has generated a higher volume of calls to the call center for payments. TriWest is closely monitoring its customer service lines and has implemented a plan to adjust staffing levels quickly to address increases in call volumes. As a result, call hold times are being addressed, and we continue to see them decrease each day,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Related: Tricare West Region Beneficiaries and Providers Are Flooding Former Contractor with Calls