ABC reports the guardsmen shot in DC gave a thumbs up to questions. It was reported he is stable condition in a local hospital under heavy guard
I thought all active military servicemen use a base hospital? Does that include active National Guard?
He wouldn’t need armed guards on a secure military base.
Such hospitals probably dont have a trauma team on standby (and if they do they probably dont have as much recent experience as the public hospitals)
I worked for a TRICARE call center for a few years, over a decade ago, and a lot has changed, but…
Even then there was a shift in emphasis from having all military (including active duty National Guard) get on-base care, to opening up outside options. That let a lot of bases economize on services offered, made things slightly easier for getting an off base specialist in the most optimistic views…
It didn’t work out that way though. Very few specialists wanted to have negotiated rates with Tricare, and fewer still wanted any NEW clients. So we were referring service members and their dependents ever further to find any scheduled care, at the time I left, I think it was up to 75 miles!
In general, like a lot of insurance, emergency care was normally covered, but there could be substantial copays or additional costs to the servicemember above what was usual and customary. I surprises me not at all that there wouldn’t be an equipped full service ICU anywhere close to DC.
Emergency Care
In an emergency, you may seek care at a network provider.
- Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
- You may need to pay up front and file a claim for reimbursement.
- Keep all receipts and file claims in the region where you live, not where you get the care.
- Call your PCM or military hospital or clinic within 24 hours of getting care or the next business day.
Note that second bullet, because that can get crazy expensive even if Tricare eventually pays the majority.
Well the Miltary personel would have TRI-CARE. It’s insurance. I’m sure it would behoove the person or their family to notify his command to get it covered.
They were rushed to the nearest trauma center, of course.
They may be transferred later to a Military base.
I didn’t think about a Trauma center. That was certainly needed for both guardsmen. The woman died from her wounds.
Thank you for the information about changes with Tricare.
My son was injured as an active Reservist.
He was at a trauma center here in state. But when it was seen he needed specialized surgery and care they transferred him to Tennessee (not that far away, but far enough and during the Pandemic)
His rehab was in Tennessee after a brief visit home. That was hard. But no place here would do it.
Tricare was sloooooooowly paying. He was getting all sorts of ‘gonna turn it over to collections’ letters. On the phone everyday. It finally got paid enough they quit dunning him.
Yeah, just another symptom of the healthcare crisis. For our Vets and active military. The worst! IMO
Yeah, in a situation like that, the victim is rushed to the nearest available trauma center, and everyone works out the details of payment, etc., later. Federal law makes all emergency care “in network”. Until he’s stabilized, he should stay put. Then they will probably move him to a military hospital, if one with the necessary facilities is available.
Remember, he was shot on a DC street, not at a base. Most likely it was DC Fire/EMS who transported him. Civilian EMS must transport you to the closest appropriate facility, so they could bypass a ‘regular’ hospital for a trauma center but they couldn’t take him to a military hospital (Walter Reed) unless they have a trauma center & we’re not meaningfully further away than whatever hospital they took them to. Once stable enough then they can think about transferring him to a military hospital for the remainder of his time in the hospital.
Its not that simple. Actually it’s pretty darn complicated. Things changed quite a bit after 9-11. I don’t think things have changed in the 9 years since I retired.
After my active duty stint I was in the Guard for 23 years. I never had Tricare. For most of that time Tricare was not available for Guard and Reserve unless you were federally activated for a certain amount of time. Sometime after 9-11 Tricare Reserve became available. They realized if they wanted a pool of soldiers that were healthy enough to activate when needed, it makes sense to get them insurance. It isn’t free and you are not obligated to take it. I liked the insurance I got from my employer so I never tried to change. When I was activated it mattered more for my family back home. As a deployed soldier I was only seen by military medical personnel and there is no bill for that. I needed a minor surgical procedure while deployed and received it at a Navy hospital. Of course being in an American city away from a base is different. Leaving out traumatic injury I have no idea what the sick call procedures are.
It gets very complicated when in the Guard if you are talking about state or federal activation. Just because the president says he wants them doesn’t mean they are activated federally. I suspect non-DC soldiers are under state orders. It mostly means which pot of money they get paid from but it also means differences in benefits.
I won’t hijack the thread by complaining about how awful healthcare is for “grey area” retirees. Let’s just say I’m glad my insurance from work continued after I retired.
You’re right it is not simple.
For emergency services, active military service members can use any hospital, anywhere in the world. For other care, it takes referrals and authorizations like any insurance would, but it’s extremely common soldiers to be getting treatment or evaluations at regular hospitals, clinics, etc. Same for medicine and immunizations. As we all have a deadline to get our flu vaccine, many Soldiers just go to CVS or Wal-Mart out of convenience, instead of the base clinic. There is no cost.
I broke my leg skydiving in Germany. The ambulance came and took me to the closest trauma center. It was pretty far away, yet still remote. A Catholic hospital ran by nuns. While being prepped for surgery, I called my Tricare patient liaison (keep that number saved!) and handed the phone to a nurse. It’s that simple. I stayed there overnight Friday and the next night. I demanded to be released the next day, but it was Easter Sunday and no doctor was available to discharge me. I told them I would be leaving no matter what, so they called a doctor in to handle it. After that, I had a year of follow-up care and one more surgery–all of which was handled off-base hospitals.