Scheduling Medical Appointments

Kind of a lot to cover here, especially because you're dually insured. First thing: if you want free, use your Tricare, if you want good and still pretty cheap, use Blue Cross.

Primary care refers to your general appointments, like check-ups. Generally, if you want to see any sort of specialist, you'll need to get a referral through your primary care physician. In order to make these kinds of appointments, you need to find a provider that accepts your insurance. This can be done through the TriCare website. Your plan is Tricare Prime (NOT the young adult one). Once you locate a provider, you'll call and make an appointment. They will usually use either your or dad's ssn to verify insurance (or the DoD number ig). Most of the time, Tricare covers everything at 100%. Tricare providers can sometimes be hard to find so don't be afraid to use moms insurance. I've never had any crazy out of pocket costs when using it.

I personally love the provider that I go through because it's convenient. I use Circle Medical. You download the app and go from there (using mom's insurance). Most appointments are done remotely (they have a ton of days/times available) and, if needed, the physical clinic is in SF. If you need to see a specialist, they'll refer you to one in SJ so you don't have to trek all the way back out to the city. The most I've ever paid for an appointment was $15 and I love being able to do the appointments from my room lol. If you ever need any medicine or antibiotics, you can do a virtual appointment and they'll prescribe the medicine you need for a pharmacy near you, it's awesome.

It's very much the same process for dental care, you can use the Tricare website to find a provider and make an appointment. If you're just doing cleanings, you probably won't pay anything but for anything else, there are higher copays than medical appointments, at least in my experience.