The Military's health Plan is not what it was 10 years ago. Depending on what base you are at, there are no more on base emergency facilities. the base hospital is now a clinic that outsources the doctors from the local area.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to get an appointment. If you are sick RIGHT now, you can call and see if they have an appointment soon, which they NEVER DO and they expect you to come in in 3 weeks, go to after hours sick call where you will sit for 4 or more hours only to get rushed through and mis-diagnosed, or go to the local emergency room and sit for hours until someone sees you.
Wow, what branch are you? I have a completely different perspective....
So far, 4 bases and I can't complain about Tricare at all. In fact, it has been better than any coverage I had before I came into the military. It does have a lot to do with the base, but as far as I'm concerned, it is a decent system. Not perfect, but then it sounds like they recently screw you pretty bad.
The thing that you may not be recognizing here, is that the military system and Tricare are two different entities. Tricare is the insurance that provides coverage. Military care facilities are the actual doctors. Tricare is just like any other health insurance, it is just that your first choice must be military. Same as civilian, only your PCM is military. Other than that, one MAJOR MAJOR difference that you may also be overlooking....
Normal doctors don't deploy.
At every base that I've been at, the lack of appointments and difficulty with scheduling is based almost solely on the high ops tempo. the clinics and hospital (more on that in a few) are manned to cover the AD and Retired community of the area, but when we deploy over 30% of the docs, techs, nurses, and admins at any given time, what do you expect? It is the same as my career field. We can't maintain our base, because we are too heavily deployed and not funded enough.
It is true that most bases do not have emergency facilities and that many don't even have a full hospital. That is based on population, square footage and surrounding community. Patrick, for example, doesn't have an emergency room because our Active Duty population can't support the cost to keep the ER doctors employed. Plus, not enough of us live on base to make it worthwhile. On top of that, We have 3 major respectable hospitals surrounding the base that you can go to for Emergency any time and never wonder if your bill will be paid (same as a civilian).
If anything, we should be THRILLED that we limit the size and scope of facilities on base - who do you think would fund an emergency room that sits largely empty? TAXPAYERS. Instead, we pay the same that civilian insurance pays, to a local hospital who already has the facilities and can afford more advanced care.
The hospitals and major facilities that we do have are MOSTLY good. Wilford hall and Wright-Patt Medical Center are for the most part, cutting edge in many cases. At least for the Air Force....I can't speak for Army or Navy.
That is the other difference, in the Air Force, our medical care is VERY good. The referral system works great once you know the process, the sick calls function efficiently and well, and their deployment processes are good. Comparing to Army and Navy is a different story though, because they have different standards for all levels of care, not just medical.
I guess bottom line is - I'm sorry that you had a bad experience....but Tricare is not all bad. It has its issues, but I'm willing to bet that it is better than MOST civilian insurance.
