health care for american veteran.

what is the best hospital for using tricare

There is no 'best' hospital for using tricare. All of the local hospitals require payment up front....and you file the claim yourself afterwards. Just be sure you get an itemized report and the doctor's report in English. Panyavetej and AEK both deal with veterans and know what paperwork you need....but it'll save you time if you double check it before you leave the hospital. Once you file the claim with Tricare, you can expect to wait about 60-70 days for your check to arrive.

Claims may now be filed electronically at TRICARE Overseas site, have to register first:

http://www.tricare-overseas.com/Beneficiaries.htm

The following link is an online tutorial that walks the user through the process:

http://www.tricare-overseas.com/OS_bene ... mit_rv.htm

Under tricare prime, you can only make doctor appointments and such through Tricare hospitals. So if you get a rash and you want to make a doctor appointment at a local hospital, you'd be paying out of pocket.

Tracechain wrote:Do you convert Baht to USD on the submission form? Never done this before. If so, do you show a link to a day you converted?

Not required, Tricare does the conversion. On box 13 of DD form 2642 is a Yes/No question for "PAYMENT IN LOCAL CURRENCY".

Unfortunately, filing your Tricare claim electronically does not really speed things up very much. However, it does save a trip to the post office. If you intend to file electronically please remember to scan/photograph the documenst in BLACK & WHITE as Tricare will nearly always reject color submissiuons. In addition to the doctors report and bill you'll need a copy of the prescription if you receive medication.

I had tri-care in the States (for the 3 months after I finished my MC contract and lived State-side) How do I get it here? Where do I start?

Live
Tricare is automatically available to anyone on active duty or retired from the US military. If you fit one of these two catagories then you need to be enrolled in the DEERS program. This can normally done at any military facility. In Thailand it's done at the JUSMAG compound in BKK. However their computers are currently not working so they are unable to issue new ID cards and enroll people in the DEERS program.

fdimike wrote:their computers are currently not working so they are unable to issue new ID cards and enroll people in the DEERS program.

Really? I was their on October 25 and was told the system was down (and not coming back up anytime soon).
I'm surprised it hasn't been fixed in nearly three months!

I just contacted JUSMAG. The DEERS system is up and fully functional again.

Jello

Thanks for the update. I was told that the RAO at JUSMAG would send out an email when it was up and running again. I guess it just slipped their mind.