Defense officials are expected to announce soon that military retirees and their dependents living more than 40 miles from a military treatment facility or base closure site will lose access to TRICARE Prime.These beneficiaries would be expected to shift to TRICARE Standard, their fee-for-service insurance option, which would mean a large increase in out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries who are frequent users of health services.The new contracts were drafted during the Bush administration and are intended to be more comprehensive and efficient. A total of 171,000 retirees and dependents are expected to have to shift coverage when remote Prime networks go away.Tentative plans are for this to occur April 1 in the West Region. We veterans sacrificed too much, for too long to deserve this.



