Attention Military Families: Don’t Forget to Complete These 4 TRICARE Health Tasks by March 31

ATTENTION MILITARY FAMILIES: DON’T FORGET TO COMPLETE THESE 4 TRICARE HEALTH TASKS BY MARCH 31

By Allison Kirschbaum

Military families should pay attention to the upcoming deadline for tasks related to TRICARE Health Services. Families have until March 31, 2025 to complete the following four essential tasks regarding their health care:

Download health records from the Tricare Online Patient Portal
Enroll in a health care flexible spending account
Set up payment with TriWest if you are a Tricare West Region beneficiary
Use Tricare Prime referrals for specialty care (as the referral wavier period ends soon)

Learn more about each task below, and find out what steps you need to take.

1. Download Your Health Records

On April 1, 2025, the TOL patient portal will not be accessible to military families. As the Department of Defense prescribes, the former online platform used by military families will replace the MHS Genesis as new electronic health records.

For the beneficiaries to access their medical history, downloading it on the TRICARE Online medical platforms will be less likely to be complicated for future purposes in their healthcare.

Although the MHS Genesis might also have medical history records of the beneficiaries, its confidentiality has been kept, and only the medical professionals have access to it.

Nonetheless, beneficiaries can always request medical records from clinics or military hospitals after the deadlines are given. The only downside with this is the process would take longer as there are many processes compared to the use of TOL that are accessible and portable on the TOL patient portal.

2. Enroll in a Healthcare Flexible Spending Plan

According to the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program, or FSAFEDS, by contributing to the FSA program, the taxable income decreases by the contribution amount and savings of 30% on other expenses not covered entirely by health insurance.

The FSA or flexible spending account is a savings account that you can use for emergency purposes or healthcare to pay for medications not covered by dental or health insurance.

Flexible spending is a process where your salary is deducted to give way for medical expenses. That said, the tax would lessen from the total of your earnings as a military professional.

Enrolling in a flexible spending account is advisable to maximize the lower tax expenses and financially help active duty service members in their healthcare treatment.

3. Set Up Your Payment Method in TriWest Healthcare Alliance

Military families who pay using electronic transfer, credit or debit card for their TRICARE Health Services must update their payment process to align with the new TRICARE West Region contractor, the TriWest Healthcare Alliance.

The extended deadline would be on March 31 due to issues encountered by the beneficiaries regarding difficulty accessing the TriWest page.

Beneficiaries such as those enrolled in TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Young Adult, TRICARE Select, TRICARE Reserve Select, and TRICARE Retired Reserve will also have been affected by the shifting into the new TRICARE West region platform.

All west regions were also affected by updating the beneficiaries' payment requirements. They must update their payment information to continue their coverage on the new platform.

Without proper knowledge of updated payment methods, military families will be financially at risk regarding their health insurance coverage.

4. Maximize Specialty Care of TRICARE Prime Referrals

The officials temporarily suspended the TriWest Health Alliance due to difficulty accessing the platform of many beneficiaries in the western region. Since the website is having an issue, a temporary waiver allowing the beneficiaries to access medical assistance without the TriWest Health Alliance's approval was considered.

Technically, approval from the TriWest Health Alliance is needed before you can access specialty care. However, the Defense Health Agency temporarily approved the waiver for the beneficiaries to allow them to have special care without the TriWest approval.

The waiver's validity is from January 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025. After the deadline, it will be back and needs approval from the TriWest Health Alliance before having a doctor's consultation or special care treatment from TRICARE Health Services.

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