Health Net Federal Services

I am SHOCKED at the poor service and even worse customer service!! I was being referred after having chest pains to see a specialist. After two weeks of NOT hearing something to set up an appointment I checked online to see if anything was approved. It had been, so I called the Dr. they set the referral up for and was told I was not in the system as nothing had been received. In other words, no follow up with the provider!

I called TRICARE HNFS and was told they fax to the number the provider gives and that's it. NOTHING more. No follow up, no contacting the customer (me) to let me know it was approved and to expect a call (email would be fine!), nothing. I stated that since this is for a cardiac issue it is important I am seen or you know, I could have a heart attack and die. The response was "Yeap". So I asked to speak with a supervisor who told me very clear and I repeated it back a FEW times to make sure I got it right that they send the fax and then they are done. I stated that they are concerned about approving and the paperwork NOT the patient and the reply was, "is there anything else I can help you with"!! I asked if this is how they want to support those who served their nation and I got the same reply.

In the end I had to print out the approval form, find a fax machine and make contact with the provider to get information on fax number THEN wait to make the appointment once they get the fax.

Looking for places to spread the word that they are terrible!!

I had to submit a Fraud grievance due to the excessive Co-Pay process they have in place. Hours on the phone with untrained or unqualified Customer No Service reps resolved nothing.

Going to the base hospital Commander this week to try and get some answers.

They have changed the process from a Evaluate and Treat referral to needing a referral for each step of the process when sent off base for simple procedures. After raising they Co-Pay from 12 to 30, this means a person could pay 90 for what used to cost 12. Almost 1,000% increase. Someone is churning Co-Pays from Veterans.

The Offutt AFB referral office said the new process was to reduce the cost to the Gov't. No, it just transfers the cost to Veterans trying to get medical care.

In addition, they try and say the Dr.

is a fault for not completing medical procedures under the office visit code, which I am sure would under pay the Dr. for medical procedures.

Out of the blue they changed my primary care manager to another, approximately 30 miles farther assay. My former PCM had signed the contract with the transition from United Healthcare to this Health Net Federal Services.

He was approved on May 17...and as of 12 June they still had not entered him in their "system". The result? The patient gets jerked around and given a long line of misinformation handed out by incompetent clerks, and apparently backed up by false information. I received the notice approximately 12 hours prior to having an appointment with my former PCM.

No wonder physicians won't take Tricare when they get treated like this.

The end results are the patients are jerked around, misled, and treated like second class citizens. As a military retired officer I am becoming aware that perhaps that is their plan.

Unfortunately, our new health care provider for us being retired military is now Health Net, and no longer United Health Care. I needed to obtain a referral for a colonoscopy since it is time for me to have one.

On the referral that I received it only showed a name of an office, 'Silver Summit Medical' in Tehachapi CA. NO PHONE NUMBER WAS LISTED on the letter. I did a search in the phone book and online since I could not find any information via Health Grades or other sites. I found a name for the office manager.

I cannot believe that there was no doctor listed for this. Additionally, I cannot believe that the person that mailed this out from Health Net, Lanesha Dominique, Customer Service Rep 1, would allow something like this to be mailed out.

No contact number for the business, and no doctor's name. I was a military scheduler for 20 years and this would not have happened for keeping my career.

HFS (AKA Tri Care North)--Inefficient. Ineffective.

Incompetent. Convoluted processes designed to save HFS money without regard for the lack of medical attention the service member/retiree is receiving.

Can't get an appointment b/c too many patients and too few doctors (even in the National Capital Region) , a referral requires waiting as much as a week, just to see if you can get a referral,-I have been required to wait (BY HFS) three weeks just to see if I can get an appointment--then when calling, the appointments turn out to be full for the next four weeks already---I'm supposed to be seen monthly....Have to wait 72 hours for my PCM to determine if I can be referred to another MTF in the area, then wait 72 more hours to see if an appointment can be made at that MTF. Then, if not, have to request a special board to review and determine if I should be referred to the outside--no doubt another 72 hour wait--works out to a couple more weeks of delay....if HFS was competing in the private world instead of bleeding the government---they'd be out of business.