TRICARE Dental - MilitarySpot.com

TRICARE currently
offers two dental programs to meet the needs of its beneficiary
population:

The TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) is offered by the Department
of Defense (DoD) through the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA).
United Concordia Companies, Inc., administers and underwrites
the TDP for the TMA. The TDP is a high-quality, cost-effective
dental care benefit for eligible family members of all active
duty uniformed services personnel; as well members of the
Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and their
eligible family members.

Eligibility

Family members of all active duty uniformed services
members
Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) members
and their families sponsors must have at least 12 months
remaining of their service commitments at the time they
or their families enroll.
Reservists and National Guard who are ordered to active
duty for more than 30 consecutive days have the same benefits
as active duty service members. Included are the Active
Guard/Reserve (AGR) and reservists who are on active duty
for special work or training.

Who Is Not Eligible to Use the TRICARE Dental Program?

Active duty service members are not eligible; they get
their dental care from their service branches.
Also not eligible are former spouses, parents, parents-in-law,
disabled veterans, foreign military personnel, and uniformed
services retirees and their families.

Note: Retirees and their families may enroll in the TRICARE
Retiree Dental Plan, which is separate from the TDP. For
more information on this plan, call the contractor, Delta
Dental, at 1-888-838-8737

Enrollment

If you want to enroll in the TDP, you can get an enrollment
application by calling UCCI at 1-888-622-2256. Or, you can
contact your nearest TRICARE Service Centers, a military dental
treatment facility, or a uniformed services personnel office.
Enrollment applications are also available on-line, at UCCI’s
web site.

You and your family’s various enrollment options (sponsor
only, family only, single family member, etc.) are also explained
on the UCCI Web site.

Your enrollment application must be received by UCCI not
later than the 20th day of the month, for coverage to begin
on the first day of the next month. If UCCI receives your
application after the 20th day of the month, your coverage
may not begin until the month following the next month. Since
these are guidelines and not a guarantee of coverage, it is
strongly recommended that sponsors call UCCI to confirm the
effective date of enrollment before receiving dental services
under TDP.

Once enrolled, you or your family members must stay in the
TDP for at least 12 months (with certain exceptions, such
as loss of TRICARE eligibility because of divorce, marriage
of a child, etc.). After that, you may continue enrollment
on a month-to-month basis.

You must send one month’s premium payment in with your enrollment.
The premium amount is shown on the enrollment form. After
the first month, premiums will be automatically deducted from
the sponsor’s military payroll account, or in some cases be
billed directly.

Program Highlights

The mandatory enrollment period has been reduced to 12
months. This enrollment "lock-in" may be waived
in certain very specific circumstances, such as loss of
TRICARE eligibility because of divorce, marriage of a child,
etc. The lock-in period may also be waived in the event
that
Selected Reserve or IRR members are activated under a
contingency. To be eligible for this waiver, the sponsor
must apply to TDP within 30 days of activation.
The maximum benefit coverage has been increased to $1,200
annually.
Certain diagnostic and preventive procedures now do not
count toward the annual maximum benefit. The lifetime maximum
benefit for orthodontic care increased to $1,500.
The cost share structure has been "tiered" to
reduce cost shares for certain procedures for enlisted members
in pay grades E-1 through E-4.
Children are automatically enrolled at age 4 if the family
is enrolled.
However, sponsors may enroll their children at age 1.
Diagnostic and preventive care for younger children is strongly
encouraged.
Survivor benefits have been extended to three years for
those persons enrolled in TDP at the time of the sponsor’s
death.
TDP benefits, limitations, and exclusions are the same for
both CONUS (Continental United States) and OCONUS (Outside
the Continental United States) service areas. In certain
circumstances, some covered services may be unavailable
from OCONUS host nation dentists.

Other details of TDP benefits, requirements, and restrictions
can be found at the UCCI
website.

For
more information view the Tricare Dental Fact Sheet

Click
Here to view the TDP Benefit Booklet

TRICARE Retiree Dental Program

The TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP) is offered by the
Department of Defense (DoD) through the TRICARE Management
Activity (TMA). The Federal Services division of Delta Dental
Plan of California, located in Sacramento, California, administers
and underwrites the TRDP for the TMA. The TRDP offers comprehensive,
cost-effective dental coverage for uniformed services retirees
and their eligible family members.

TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP)

Eligibility

The TRDP provides dental care for uniformed service members
who are entitled to retired pay, members of the Retired Reserve
under the age of 60, persons who have received the Congressional
Medal of Honor, un-remarried surviving spouses, and certain
other eligible family members. By law, former spouses are
not eligible for TRDP coverage. Enrollment in TRDP is voluntary
and is administered by the Delta Dental Plan (DDP) of California.
The TRDP is funded solely by enrollees and receives no government
subsidy. It was implemented under different legislation and
different rules from those applicable to active duty family
members and Reserve and National Guard members. More than
700,000 retirees and their eligible family members are enrolled.

Enrollment

Uniformed service retirees and their family members are offered
dental benefits through voluntary enrollment in the TRICARE
Retiree Dental Program (TRDP). They do not have dental benefits
under the TDP for active duty family members and eligible
Reserve component personnel, which was implemented February
1, 2001.

There are three ways to enroll in the TRDP:
1. Complete and return an enrollment application with your
check, money order or credit card payment information to Delta
at: Delta Dental Plan of California, Federal Services, P.O.
Box 537008, Sacramento, CA 95853-7008.

2. Enroll online with acceptable credit cards at www.trdp.org.

3. Call toll-free at 1-(888) 838-8737 between 6 a.m. and
6 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday and enroll over
the phone using acceptable credit cards.

Additional information about the TRDP including enrollment
forms is available at the DDP web site. DDP representatives
are also available as follows: