I’ve been a military spouse for 12 years and just recently bought and read this book. I wish I had sooner. Instead I’ve spent hours researching to find the answers I could have gotten just by reading this great book! I didn’t have health issues until recently and unfortunately, the military never lays out your options for you. I didn’t know there was supplement plans or vision plans available. The book is easy to understand and I will recommend to all military members!

My grandparents in the Philippines have been Tricare beneficiaries for a long time but gave up learning how to file and utilize their medical benefits due to the fast advancement of technology. With the help of my mom, I started to learn the complicated and head-spinning process of Tricare; going over websites, comparing historical information, until I found John’s group “TRICARE Around the World”. The information in this group was simplified so that I was able to understand how Tricare works. With the information from this group, I was able to reassure my grandparents and get them the medical care they need using Tricare. Our grandparents cannot comprehend technology quite as well anymore, but with a little bit of effort the group has pretty much all the information you need.

As a medical retiree from the Navy, I have been able to get all of my own needs taken care of by the Veterans Administration (VA) clinic in Manila but have been paying for my wife's expenses out of pocket for over 7 years. Fortunately, medical costs in the Philippines are relatively low, so it hasn't been a major problem. On 19 December 2020, that all changed drastically. We rushed my wife to the emergency room when she was having difficulty breathing. I was able to find two TRICARE certified hospitals near us in Manila, so we took her to the one we were most familiar with. The second day in the hospital she suffered a heart attack. I was required to put up an initial $4000 deposit followed by an additional $2000 after one week. When she was released two weeks later, they weren't going to release her until I paid the remaining balance of over $3000. I got them to accept our car as collateral with a promise to pay the balance at the beginning of February, which I did, but only after all of her doctors agreed to waive their payments for 30 days. Luckily, people loaned me the money I needed to pay the hospital. Getting the money would have been no problem with a bit of time, but the fact that they were demanding it right away was the main issue. Once my wife was home, I shifted my focus on how to pay back the people I had borrowed money from. The most obvious solution was filing a claim with Tricare Overseas. Given my past experience, I had very low expectations. Total cost for my wife's hospitalization was around $17K. My knowledge of Tricare was limited, and I had heard I would be responsible for 25%. I anticipated the same significant delay with Tricare that I always had with VA. I was prepared for a long battle; my worst-case scenario was eating the entire cost.

Just as I prepared to work on my Tricare claim, I heard of the Facebook groups “TRICARE Around the World” and “TRICARE in the Philippines” so I quickly joined. It wasn't long before I could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. As I navigated the many posts and especially the comments from the admin, John Letaw, I gained new hope that I could get my claim filed. I learned that I could file online, there was a cap in the amount I would have to pay, and that the claim could be processed quicker than I thought. I filed the claim on 22 February and by 15 March, I received two direct deposits in the amount of $14.3K. I was ecstatic. Thank you, John!

My family and I have been navigating TRICARE Overseas since 2007. You would think we’d know everything by now, but I was so happy to find a group like this. This network of people and knowledge is priceless when you feel like “the little guy” navigating through it all. I recently had major surgery in Germany, and John suggested I contact TRICARE for a “Benefit Review” to ensure the proposed procedures would be covered. Before spending €75,000 ($89,000), it was well worth the reassurance to have TRICARE’s eyes on the situation before spending the money, especially since the clinic would only take prepayment (by me). I thought I was pretty well versed in managing my claims, but John and his group have proven to be an indispensable asset that I wish I had from the beginning. If you are just beginning your journey, you will be glad to have this community on your side.

"The Facebook group "TRICARE Around the World" has become so useful that I consistently recommend it to new military families in our remote area. The ability to exhaustively search the group's questions and answers, or ask new questions, is a terrific learning tool on how to navigate the nuances of TRICARE Overseas. More importantly, the tutorials that John has setup for the group have saved active duty and retiree families literally thousands of hours working through claims that before seemed almost impossibly complicated. I would bet that there are a lot of TRICARE beneficiaries who have gotten reimbursed due to John’s site who otherwise would have just given up, or even avoided necessary healthcare for FEAR of not getting reimbursed.

As a military officer assigned to remote areas for 15 years who should know the TRICARE Overseas ecosystem very well already, I can say that I personally have benefited significantly from his site. I previously would go to great lengths to avoid any sort of reimbursement claims, whereas now I am very comfortable with the process. I plan to retire overseas after my active duty career, and I feel much more confident after seeing the success of other retirees on the site."

As a recent retiree living and working in Germany, the one thing we worried about was getting the medical care we need and how to navigate the TRICARE Overseas Program. When someone in our family was diagnosed with cancer, we were lost on how to proceed with the medical treatment plan here in Germany. However, a friend of mine referred me to your Facebook group that provided information on how to use TRICARE Overseas. Without this amazing group, we would have been lost and we were considering resigning my government position to go back to the U.S. Once I started to look into the site, it opened my eyes on how easy it was to understand how TRICARE Overseas program works. I was able to connect with current members and they all provided excellent advice. This helped us make our decision to stay in Germany and fight the cancer that we were facing as a family. I can truly say that this group has helped us tremendously in navigating the TRICARE system to support our family in Germany."