TRICARE Temporarily Suspends Physician Referrals for Prime Beneficiaries in 20 Georgia and South Carolina Counties due to Hurricane

TRICARE Temporarily Suspends Physician Referrals for Prime Beneficiaries in 20 Georgia and South Carolina Counties due to Hurricane

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia - The Defense Health Agency today announced TRICARE Prime beneficiaries in 20 Georgia and South Carolina counties may see any provider without a referral from their primary care manager due to the impact of Hurricane Helene.

The Georgia counties impacted are Burke, Columbia, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Taliaferro, Warren, Washington, and Wilkes.

The South Carolina counties impacted are Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Edgefield, Greenwood, McCormick, and Saluda.

Under the waiver, TRICARE Prime beneficiaries who have or may need to evacuate are not required to get a referral from their PCM to receive care in the community where they've relocated.

Beneficiaries are advised to seek care from a TRICARE network provider, whenever possible. Network and non-network rules still apply.

This PCM referral waiver is retroactive from Sept. 30, 2024, through Oct. 15, 2024.

Additionally, beneficiaries in these states may temporarily receive emergency prescriptions refills:

• Georgia
• South Carolina

For more disaster information, visit the TRICARE Newsroom.

Media with additional questions should contact DHA Media Relations.

What DHS and FEMA are doing

• https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-helenegoes to FEMA
• Spanish: https://www.fema.gov/es/disaster/current/hurricane-helenegoes to FEMA (en Espanol)

What the U.S. government is doing

• https://usa.gov/hurricane-helenegoes to USA.gov
• Spanish: https://usa.gov/es/huracan-helenegoes to USA.gov (en Espanol)