Dear Tricare, Here's the deal.....

Dear Tricare,

Here's the deal. I am angry at you. I, like many other military families, rely on you to help us with the on going medical expenses for our special needs children.Now, I know in the past we have had our differences over what should be covered and what isn't. But I am getting to the point now, that I don't think you are really out to help us out.

You may not know, but a couple of months ago, after you messed around with our ABA coverage, my youngest son, who is autistic, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Fragile X. I get that most of the general population have no clue as to what that is, or how that effects the people who have it. It became quite clear, that the person I talked to, who handles all the calls from pissed off service members, who's benefits you have been messing around with, had no clue what it was I was talking about, when I stated you  had refused to cover the most important part of my son's medical, Genetic Counselling.

Here's my beef. If you have a patient that clearly has a confirmed diagnosis that has to do with genetics or any other field, why on earth would you refuse to cover something that is part of this person's medical life? That is like saying to person with thyroid issues, "Hey, Guess what? That appointment with the endocrinologist you have, yeah we aren't going to cover that, even though, we know you have to have visits with that person"

Now I know what you are thinking.

"Well, Mrs. Thomason, there are somethings we need to save money on"

 The fact of the matter is this, You have messed around with the service member's medical services, that we are all beginning to wonder just why you still continue to provide us with medical necessities.  I am not going to call them benefits. As these are things that our military members have essentially and literally fought for and that a lot of these services are a necessity.

My son is just a speck among the thousands of people you don't cover services for. I get that. But when I look at the grand scheme of things, I know he is not the only one out there that needs services from the Genetic area of medicine. And trick of it is, these are the services that this person will need for the rest of his life.Why? Because he has a genetic disorder that isn't going to go away. Its a genetic disorder that his siblings will have to worry about when they start having their own children.

Its not ok for you to say to me,

"Mrs. Thomason, its just a couple of hundred dollars, why are you so angry about this?"

Its simple. Not everyone can afford just a couple of hundred dollars. And in time that adds up. Depending on how long we have to meet with this particular Doctor. A math equation that a third grade common core student could figure out.

This is just one of the many reasons why you are failing your clients. I get that you are an insurance company. And that we are nothing but dollar signs in your eyes. But if you are going to have the audacity to sit there on your earnings and then turn around and tell us you can't cover something that is crucial to person's well being whether it be ABA therapy or a consult to a Doctor, then be prepared for a lot more letters like this one.

I am but one out of thousands of military members and their families, that have spoken out concerning the lack of coverage for those who have proudly served their country. So while our service members out fighting foreign wars, we the family members are fighting our own fight. The fight for decent medical coverage for both the military member and their families.


Very Respectfully,

A Speck among thousands of annoyed Military Families.