OCTOBER 22, 2024 – The Defense Health Agency today announced an upcoming global enrollment freeze affecting the TRICARE Beneficiary Web Enrollment portal and Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS, due to preparations for the new TRICARE contract transition.
The freeze will occur October 25–27, 2024.
During the freeze:
- DEERS Online Enrollment System and Beneficiary Web Enrollment won’t be available.
- Providers and pharmacies can’t look up eligibility.
- Beneficiaries won’t be able to enroll in or switch plans.
Additionally, the Beneficiary Web Enrollment portal will remain unavailable through December 31st.
During this time, beneficiaries within the United States will need to call their regional contractor to update their information or make health plan changes. They won’t be able to make any updates online in milConnect.
Beneficiaries living overseas are not affected and can keep using milConnect as normal between Oct. 28–Dec. 31.
It’s almost time for TRICARE Open Season, which begins Nov. 11. That means it’s also time to check your information in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System and make sure it’s current. You should do this as soon as possible.
There will be limitations for beneficiaries from Oct. 25 to Dec. 31. The first impact will be Oct. 25–27, when there will be a global enrollment freeze on any TRICARE health plan enrollment changes. This means you won’t be able to update your information or make any changes to your plan. This freeze includes overseas and dental enrollments.
“This is a scheduled outage,” explained Jim Frank, Health Plan Operations Support Branch DEERS Integration Manager, TRICARE Health Plan, at the Defense Health Agency. “The DHA and its partners will use this time to transfer beneficiary enrollment information to the regional contractors.”
Following that, between Oct. 28 and Dec. 31, if you live in the U.S. and need to make health plan changes, you’ll need to call your regional contractor. You won’t be able to make any health plan updates online in milConnect via Beneficiary Web Enrollment. This limitation to the BWE self-service portal will allow the DHA and regional contractors to transfer beneficiary enrollment information in DEERS. This will happen ahead of the start of health care delivery under TRICARE’s new regional contracts, which begin Jan. 1, 2025.
Do you live overseas? You can keep using milConnect as normal between Oct. 28 and Dec. 31, unless you’re transferring from the U.S. to an overseas location. To transfer from the U.S., you’ll need to contact International SOS.
But if you live in the U.S., you’ll need to call your regional contractor if you want to:
- Change your primary care manager;
- Change your plan due to a Qualifying Life Event; or
- Change your plan during TRICARE Open Season.
You’ll still be able to update your address and contact information in milConnect, but you may get a message that you need to call your regional contractor. This will also be the case if you go to a local Uniformed Services ID card office or if you call DMDC to update your information.
For more information about these changes, visit the TRICARE newsroom.
The Defense Health Agency provides health services to 9.5 million beneficiaries, including uniformed service members, military retirees, and their families. The DHA operates one of the nation’s largest health plans, the TRICARE Health Plan, and manages a global network of more than 700 military hospitals, clinics, and dental facilities.
Defense Health Agency health.mil/About-MHS/OASDHA/Defense-Health-Agency
Sign up for Military Health System e-mail updates at health.mil/subscriptions
Join the Defense Health Agency online community
DHA on X at twitter.com/DoD_DHA
DHA on Facebook at facebook.com/DefenseHealthAgency
DHA on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-health-agency
Courtesy Story
Defense Health Agency