Are you a military spouse who recently discovered you are pregnant and you are trying to determine whether Tricare Select is the best insurance option for you during your pregnancy? This is the #1 crucial benefit of Tricare Select pregnancy coverage you need to know about.
As a military spouse, finding out that you are pregnant is extremely exciting. If you’re anything like me, once the initial excitement has settled down you are beginning to do all of your research on Tricare. Specifically, Tricare Select pregnancy coverage to ensure you are prepared.
As a military spouse myself, I am giving you the #1 crucial benefit to Tricare Select while pregnant. This crucial benefit provided me with the best pregnancy and delivery experience.
You will learn all about the flexibility, cost, support, and more that Tricare Select pregnancy coverage provides military spouses.
After learning about this crucial benefit of Tricare Select, you will be equipped to make the right decision for yourself and your family.
This post is all about the #1 Crucial Benefit of Tricare Select While Pregnant
*** The information provided in this post is being shared from my personal experience and should be used as a reference when assessing your Tricare insurance options. This post should not replace speaking with an actual Tricare insurance representative. ***
#1 Crucial Benefit of Tricare Select While Pregnant
Freedom of Choice During Your Pregnancy
The #1 key benefit of Tricare Select pregnancy coverage is the freedom of choice you have during your pregnancy. Tricare Select enables you to make the best decision on the type of birthing experience you would like to have. Unlike Tricare Prime, Tricare Select mirrors many traditional insurance companies and plans where you can select the medical office, and doctor, and specify the type of medical experience that works best for you and your health.
Why Is This Important?
We all know that while pregnancy is a beautiful life-changing experience, it comes with a lot of risk and danger. According to the CDC, a little over 1,200 women die each year during childbirth in America. This statistic alone is why Tricare Select pregnancy coverage is, in my opinion, the best insurance option for military spouses.
Tricare Prime vs Tricare Select
The Tricare insurance that most military spouses have probably heard of is Tricare Prime. Tricare Prime is what you could consider the long-established insurance option that Tricare offers to military spouses and families. If you are insured under Tricare Prime, most of your medical needs are taken care of at a military medical facility. Whether it’s your annual physical or your OBGYN needs, under Tricare Prime those medical needs would be handled at a military base. When it comes to pregnancy care, under Tricare Prime you are required to receive care at a military medical facility. If during your pregnancy you have a unique medical need or if your pregnancy is considered high risk, you will likely be referred off base. However, if your pregnancy is not considered high risk you are required to give birth in a military medical facility.
In comparison, with Tricare Select, you do not receive medical care from a military medical facility. Tricare select pregnancy coverage allows you to schedule and make appointments with a local doctor’s office in the general public. When it comes to Tricare Select pregnancy coverage, you can assess which doctor suits the needs of your pregnancy the best. Tricare Select also allows you to utilize the services of a midwife. Tricare Prime does allow for the use of a midwife, but it depends on whether the base facility you will be giving birth at has midwives on staff.
My Personal Experience
Finding Out I Was Pregnant and Being Insured Under Tricare Prime
When I found out I was pregnant in 2020, I was extremely excited. I immediately started planning for our child’s arrival. Given the scary maternal mortality statistics in the United States of America and knowing that those statistics are worse for black women, it was crucial that I was able to have an empowered voice in my pregnancy journey. At the time I discovered I was pregnant, I had Tricare Prime as my insurance coverage. After talking to several different Tricare representatives, I discovered that despite my request to receive medical care off base, because I was insured under Tricare Prime, I had to give birth at a Naval Hospital.
To keep an open mind, I went ahead and made my first ultrasound appointment with the Naval Hospital. Although I was able to see a midwife, my first appointment made me even more nervous about receiving care at a military facility. During my first appointment, I was eager to understand what I could expect during my pregnancy care. I came into the appointment with a lot of questions. Unfortunately, this did not sit well with the midwife I was working with. In the middle of me asking my questions, the midwife shut me down. I felt like to her, I was just another patient and she did not feel the need to spend the time answering any of my questions. Immediately after this initial appointment, I knew I had to switch to Tricare Select coverage for my pregnancy.
Switching to Tricare Select During Pregnancy
When I decided to switch from Tricare Prime to Tricare Select it was August of 2020. Typically open season usually takes place from mid-November to mid-December. So from August to November, I continued receiving maternity care at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. Once the open season started, I called the benefits hotline and requested to switch to Tricare Select. During that call, I was informed that my Tricare Select coverage would be effective starting in the New Year. I officially stopped receiving maternity care with the Naval Hospital in December 2020. I began receiving maternity care at a private doctor’s office in January 2021.
Tricare Select Pregnancy Cost
Unlike Tricare Prime, you are required to pay for your medical care if you are insured under Tricare Select. When visiting my doctor’s office for standard maternity care I usually paid a co-pay which was no more than $30/appointment. When I gave birth I had a C-section due to my
daughter being breached. Once I received all of my medical bills following my c-section and our two-night stay at the hospital, my husband and I paid no more than $400 for everything. (give or take this happened a couple of years ago so I can’t remember the exact number but I do know it was under $500 and we felt comfortable paying off our medical bills quickly)
This post was about breaking down the #1 key benefit of Tricare Select pregnancy coverage as a military spouse.