Does TRICARE Cover Addiction Treatment?
TRICARE is a comprehensive health care program for service members, retirees, and their families around the world. TRICARE is part of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System and is managed by the Defense Health Agency. TRICARE combines the health care resources of the services with networks of civilian health care professionals, institutions, pharmacies, and suppliers to provide access to high-quality health care services while maintaining the capability to support military operations. The program offers various plans tailored to the needs of its diverse beneficiaries, including TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Select, TRICARE for Life, and more. It provides coverage for a wide range of medical services, ensuring that military personnel and their families receive necessary health support.
Two federal laws make coverage for substance use disorder treatment close to universal in the United States. The Affordable Care Act lists mental health and substance use disorder services among the ten essential health benefits that individual and small-group plans must include. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) goes further: when a plan covers behavioral health, it may not impose financial requirements or treatment limitations more restrictive than those applied to comparable medical and surgical care.
What differs from member to member is not usually whether treatment is covered but how much you pay and what approval is required — and both come down to your specific plan, network status and deductible. The fastest way to find out is a benefits check, which takes a few minutes and costs nothing.
17 centers in our directory are listed as accepting TRICARE. In-network status can change, so confirm it before admission.
