TRICARE Prime Enrollment Cards with New Look

Beginning in summer 2001, certain TRICARE Prime enrollees will start receiving the next generation of the TRICARE Prime enrollment card. The new TRICARE Prime card has a standardized look around the globe and will be printed centrally by the Defense Manpower Data Center, the agency that maintains the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), where eligibility reporting currently is done. The redesigned card provides beneficiaries with essential health care contact information.

TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Senior Prime and TRICARE Prime Remote new enrollees, as well as those who move to a different TRICARE region, will begin receiving the redesigned card this summer. Replacement cards for these programs also will be in the new format. Beneficiaries who enroll in the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (USFHP) will continue to receive a separate beneficiary card provided through the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care.

The new Prime enrollment card is filled with essential contact information to help enrollees access health care. The contact information is based upon the beneficiary's type of Prime enrollment (TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Senior Prime or TRICARE Prime Remote) and location (CONUS or overseas). The detailed contact information includes: whom to contact after receiving emergency treatment and when to call; the phone number for retail pharmacy questions; the TRICARE claims telephone numbers; where to call to obtain authorization for non-emergency care; and a number for health care information. The card also has spaces for writing in the primary care manager name and phone number. The beneficiary's name, sponsor's social security number and status appear on all cards.

The new TRICARE Prime enrollment card does not replace any aspect of the current enrollment process that beneficiaries use to enroll in TRICARE Prime or when they move to another region. The only changes for beneficiaries are to the look and content of the Prime enrollment card.

Beneficiaries currently enrolled in TRICARE Prime and who have a Prime card do not need to obtain a new card. Their Prime cards are valid until they move or change status. Medicare-eligible beneficiaries age 65 and over who will begin using TRICARE For Life on Oct. 1 do not need a TRICARE enrollment card. For more information on the new Prime cards, beneficiaries may call 1-888-DoD-CARE (1-888-363-2273).