Contact center supports Tricare enrollment Published Oct. 25, 2005 By Joe Herbertson and Tech. Sgt. Rob Mims Headquarters Air Reserve Personnel Center DENVER -- The Air Force Reserve Contact Center here is the sole point of contact for Air Force reservists to enroll in Tricare Reserve Select. This is the first time the Air Reserve Personnel Center has been able to provide a service to all reservists under the Air Force Personnel Service Delivery Transformation Shared Services Organization model, a centralized personnel service. The Fiscal 2005 National Defense Authorization Act established Tricare Reserve Select for reservists who served on active duty in support of a contingency anytime since Sept. 11, 2001. TRS is a premium-based health care plan. It offers a bridge for reservists leaving active duty who are not covered by a civilian employer or other health insurance plans. The plan is available for reservists and their families. Coverage is similar to Tricare Standard and comparable to the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Plan for federal employees. For each active-duty service period of 90 consecutive days, a reservist earns one year of Tricare coverage if committed to serve in the Selected Reserve – Air Force Reserve Command Unit Program or Individual Mobilization Augmentee Program – for the same period. Reservists must commit to serve by Oct. 28 and be serving in the Selected Reserve before TRS starts. Coverage begins on the date of the agreement to serve in the Selected Reserve, the expiration of transitional Tricare benefits, or April 26, whichever is later. The decision to enroll in TRS is a one-time choice and the earliest effective date of coverage is April 26. Tricare coverage ends when the service agreement ends. It stops sooner if the reservist separates from the Selected Reserve, voluntarily withdraws from the program or fails to pay the monthly premiums. Monthly premiums are $75 for an individual reservist and $233 for a reservist and family. Mobilized reservists released from active duty after April 26 will be advised of their eligibility as part of their demobilization process. Reservists serving on voluntary active-duty, man-day tours who do not go through out-processing, as well as mobilized members must call the Air Force Reserve Contact Center at 1-800-525-0102 to start the enrollment process. People serving on voluntary man-day tours in an active-duty or Air National Guard organization in support of a contingency must ensure ARPC/XPC has a copy of their active-duty orders so the proper coding for the contingency tour can be entered in the personnel system. Without this order, eligibility cannot be confirmed. Reservists who withdraw from the program or who are no longer qualified may not re-enroll unless recalled to active duty and a new qualification period is earned. Active-duty health care benefits for recalled reservists supersede TRS coverage. Upon release from active duty, TRS coverage resumes after transitional benefits expire. Reservists can enroll before their orders expire by going on line to www.tricare.osd.mil and following the instructions for the TRS program. After they complete the Defense Department Form 2895, reservists fax it to (478) 327-2215/DSN 497-2215 or mail it to the AF Reserve Contact Center, HQ ARPC/PSDC1, 6760 E. Irvington Place #4010, Denver, CO 80280-4010. The contact center will verify/approve the member’s coverage and forward the completed form for filing. Questions can be directed to the Air Force Reserve Contact Center at 1-800-525-0102. On the restricted Web, they can go to arpc.afrc.af.mil/customer_support_on.htm and click “New Request.” The Tricare Web site – http://www.tricare.osd.mil/tricaresubscriptions– has further details. To get updates by e-mail, reservists and their families can subscribe to www.tricare.osd.mil/tricaresubscriptions/