Directories of Tricare Prime providers are often not accurate, according to the coalition. Some providers are located in unsafe parts of town. The problem stems from the fact that most Tricare managed care support contractors have negotiated physician reimbursement rates that are even lower than those paid by Medicare. Unhappy with their fees, some major health care provider groups have simply dropped out of the system. Last year, a 250-doctor group in Colorado and the entire provider network of the Medical University of South Carolina walked away from Tricare Prime business, for example.
Tricare contractors admit that physician recruitment poses a challenge.
As of early this year, TriWest was still 27 providers short of a complete network in its covered area, for instance. Thus the complaint of retired USAF Lt. Col. Richard N. Doolittle of Littleton, Colo., is a too common one. My family physician states he was offered an opportunity to participate at 14 percent lower than Medicare rates and he could not afford to do that. Defense Department health officials say that any institutional change as massive as Tricare implementation will have its problems.