JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Like the private health care industry, the cost of providing health care services to the Department of Defense's active-duty personnel, their dependents, retirees and survivors and their dependents, has increased dramatically and will continue to rise. To defray costs, in 1986 Congress created the Third Party Collection Program requiring all military treatment facilities to recover some of these costs by third-party civilian insurance carriers.
A third party insurance carrier provides health insurance policies other than TRICARE, TRICARE Supplemental plans, Medicare, Medicaid and certain government sponsored programs, that beneficiaries may carry through an employer or private insurance company.
Any third party health insurance in addition to TRICARE coverage is considered to be the primary health insurance.
Under federal law, MTFs are authorized to collect from third-party payers the reasonable charges for medical services provided to uniform services beneficiaries, excluding active duty.
All DOD beneficiaries, excluding active duty, are required to fill out the DD Form 2569 annually to verify the presence or absence of third party insurance. This includes but is not limited to active-duty family members, retirees and family members of retirees. The information provided on the DD Form 2569 is used to properly route a healthcare claim to the DOD beneficiary's private insurance carrier.
The DD 2569 Compliance Card is Naval Health Clinic Charleston's way of easily ensuring that the DD Form 2569 has been completed within the last year. The Compliance Card must be presented at the time of check-in at each patient intake area where a patient seeks health care services. The card is valid for one year if the information on it remains the same. A new DD Form 2569 must be completed when the expiration date is reached.
Beneficiaries who receive care at a Military Treatment Facility will not be billed except for subsistence costs of an inpatient stay. The third party insurer may deduct payment for any copay or cost share amounts, but a beneficiary will not be billed for any amounts that cannot be collected from the third party insurance.
At NHCC, we understand that health care is an earned service benefit. Billing third party insurance carriers will help us offset the costs of care and allow for improvements to the quality of care beneficiaries receive at NHCC.
For more information, contact Mary Beauchaine, NHCC Uniform Business office at 794-6088 or Mary.Beauchaine@med.navy.mil.