So I have a good news story today.  My primary care Dr. is in a US Army Hospital where I get really great care under TRICARE.  But for obvious reasons, I have been doing all my trans stuff, psychologist and endo, on my own and out of pocket. 

My endo told me I had to get a full physical either with them or with my primary care Dr.  I chose my regular Dr for that since it is at no cost.

So today I went in and before the physical told her my full trans history and treatment to date.  That went surprisingly easy and low stress.  I was surprised how easily I can discuss this now.  What did not surprise me though is that I am the first one around here so I am becoming a test case on what can be done with the changing TRICARE rules. 

My Dr. was extremely helpful and told me to move my prescriptions to the Army pharmacy where I don't have to pay anything.  She is writing me a referral to my endo so if that goes through those costs will be significantly reduced.  She told me to bring my endo ordered blood tests to the Army hospital so that will be at no cost.  And she wrote me a referral to mental health here in this hospital so I should get an appointment there within a week or two.  I had stopped any counseling previously due to out of pocket costs.

So even though I am the first here, things are looking very good.   Yaaaaay

I'll post some updates later on what happens.

YAYS!    Boldly going where no patient has gone before!   

Hugs, Devlyn

Well, it only took 48 hours and the mental health department called me to set up an appointment.  I'll be seeing them on the 10th.  Since this is my second therapist I expect it all to be low stress, but I am interested in what they will have to say about it all.  It is nice though that as new as all this is, the Army is being very proactive, as they are with everything else.

Wow, that's great news!  Looks like you are in the front lines again, though.  I hope all goes well for you.

I probably should change the title to say Great Experience with Army Hospital rather than with TRICARE.

TRICARE denied my endo referral.  That's not really surprising though since my endo isn't in the TRICARE network in any way.   I also am pretty sure that TRICARE is not covering gender stuff for retirees yet.  That should come pretty soon though.

Still, if the Army hospital will do the blood work and send it to the endo as my Dr said, my costs are dramatically reduced.  I'll be testing this out in a couple of weeks as I got my endo to fax me the blood test requests.  If that fails I'll ask my Dr if she'll order the tests.  Then I could just hand carry them to the endo.

TRICARE is already covering the meds.  I guess because they are non specific to the issue?

Congratulations Deborah. Sounds like you have made some great progress on several fronts lately.

With warmth,

Joanna

Today was a pretty good day.  Apart from having my mental health appointment at the Army Hospital, I was gendered correctly coming through the gate this morning and again at Walmart at the end of the day despite being dressed for work in my male clothes.  Yaaaay

As I was expecting, the people in the Hospital are not prepared to deal with this.  However, the lady I spoke to was extremely friendly and very helpful and was very proactive in getting a referral so I can see an outside psychologist under my insurance.  Unfortunately, the one I went to on my own before is not in the network and cannot be covered.  She did research some within the network and emailed me their information within about 30 minutes of the appointment ending.  So, I'll call around to them and see what happens.  I should have the approved referral within a week.

So, say what you want about the Army, but when it comes to healthcare they are really good.  Plus our hospital is brand new and very nice.

I'm thinking too that it's about time I speak to someone again.  HRT is doing very well but I'm beginning to feel stalled in the whole process and fear the badness of the dysphoria might be starting to creep back in.

Thank you for this! I've been scouring the web for ANY information regarding how to begin while in the military. I can only do so much on my own. I tried speaking with Military One Source and they couldn't help me with it because they said that counseling is only meant for short-term issues (e.g., stress-related, familial, marital, etc.). What you said gave me some hope. The military won't actually start supporting transition-related stuff for us until 1 October.

Much love! 

Well, it took a few days to get my endo to fax my blood test request to the hospital but I kept bothering them until they did it this morning.  :-). The hospital did do all my blood work so that will save me a lot of money not paying the outside lab for it.

As of now my only cost is for two office visits per year.  Last year I paid about $2500 for all of this.  Now I can get that down to whatever two office visits cost, maybe around $300.

I finally got a therapist.  Actually, I got my referral two weeks ago.  But after I submitted my new patient paperwork to the Dr here (with the reasons for my visit) she refused to return my calls.  The whole office refused to return my calls.  Grrrrrrr

So I called Humana yesterday and they asked me to tell them who I wanted to see.  I didn't have any idea.  So I got busy on the internet and found an office that does a lot of trans counseling in Montgomery, Alabama of all places (about 80 miles away).  They just called me back and we talked for a few min and I told them what's going on.   I have an appointment for next Wed and a referral for 40 visits.  Yaaaay

So, it begins again.

That is super Deborah. I hope it all goes smoothly.

With warmth,

Joanna

Just in case anyone is interested, I had no problem at all getting my prescription for estradiol and spiro filled at the military hospital.

Unfortunately, they don't stock prometrium so I'll have to get that filled at Walmart with a TRICARE $10 copay.

Finally got an appointment with my PCM in October. Of course, my wife helped motivate me to take the first step and use the new MiCare system to talk with the PCM, directly. If all goes well, I'll still be good to go on my deployment in January. Crossing fingers.