I’m skeptical of the “voucher” option. We have tricare prime as my husband is active duty and tricare pays out so little that more and more providers have stopped treating tricare patients. It’s changed so much that even care at the AFB hospital many times won’t provide service based on what tricare won’t pay FOR CARE ON BASE. It never used to be this way.
Luckily, we are all very healthy in my family. I couldn’t even get my sons’ sports physicals done on time on base because when I called to make the appointment, the clerk tells me “tricare won’t pay for the physical until it’s been a year since the last one”. So I waited a few weeks and when I called back, they had no openings with the one pediatrician they have left and said I wouldn’t get in for something like that for months. So I just went and paid for it myself.
I’ve never worked for a VA hospital but I can tell you about the kinds of things that happened at the civilian hospital I worked at when it came to VA patients. We would have to fight and fight the VA to get basic things covered. Right next to the room of a VA patient who we can’t even get discharged because we can’t get him the meds he needs, were illegals that got everything, no questions asked because they fall under a different system which is basically the federal govt reimbursing the hospital for care provided to the illegals.
So this “voucher” might not adequately cover the cost of care, in which case many providers will not accept the VA patient. The only ones that will are the ones that are so bad, that they need to take VA patients just to have some patients. This is already happening with Tricare. The only physicians that are being left that will take us are those you wouldn’t want touching your dog. And my husband is active duty. He still can get care on base without a hassle but I sure hope he never becomes disabled in the line of duty because I already know the hell we’ll face if he does.
“I’m skeptical of the “voucher” option.”
During my two active years in the Navy (Reserve), I was single and never went for any sort of medical care. But I assumed that the military physicians and hospitals just provided full care as needed for active duty personnel and their families.
I’ve since heard about some problems, but active duty families shouldn’t have to put up with the all the hoops and loopholes you describe. It does seem that anyone purportedly receiving medical care reimbursed by the government is subject to getting less care than needed. They should definitely correct the problems faced by active duty families.
The illegal alien thing is beyond unjust. There are so many insanities surrounding our gov’t dealing with illegal aliens, that it would be entirely just if all the presidents and members of Congress who’ve allowed this to develop spent several years in prison. And I’m not joking, but of course they make sure they have immunity for any and everything.