As of December 3, 2007, TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) enrollees who reside in OCONUS areas must be Command Sponsored in order to receive OCONUS TDP cost-share benefits. If a TDP enrollee is not Command Sponsored, his/her claims will be paid under the CONUS cost-share structure.

Prior to this announcement, payment of cost-shares and other out-of-pocket expenses for many TDP dental services performed OCONUS were paid by the Government for all OCONUS TDP enrollees. Paying for OCONUS TDP cost-share benefits for Non-Command Sponsored family members was inconsistent with other TRICARE programs and DoD TRICARE policy. Therefore, the Government has directed United Concordia to process TDP claims based upon DoD TRICARE policy. As such, non-Command Sponsored TDP enrollees who receive dental care in OCONUS areas are now responsible for these cost-shares as well as any difference between the dentist's charge and United Concordia's allowances for treatment.

For purposes of the TDP, determination of a TDP enrollee's Command Sponsored status is based on their enrollment in either the TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) Prime or TRICARE Global Remote Overseas (TGRO) program as reflected in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS).

For questions regarding this OCONUS policy, please contact United Concordia at 1-888-418-0466 or email oconus@ucci.com.

A letter regarding this policy is being mailed to all sponsors with OCONUS Non-Command Sponsored family members.