Regence partners with TriWest Healthcare Alliance on contract to administer TRICARE West Region Contract for the Department of Defense

(NewMediaWire) – December 26, 2022 – Portland, OR – Regence health plans are pleased to announce that it will support the contract awarded to TriWest Healthcare Alliance to administer the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) next generation TRICARE program, known as “T-5,” for its 26-state West Region territory. TRICARE is the uniformed services health care program for active duty service members, active duty family members, National Guard and Reserve members and their family members, retirees and retiree family members, survivors, and certain former spouses.

TriWest previously held TRICARE contracts with the DoD from 1996 through 2013, also in the Western United States. Regence provided a network of medical professionals in support of that contract and is pleased to work alongside TriWest to serve the TRICARE-eligible population in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Regence is proud to return to this work and provide a network of approximately 146,000 medical professionals who will provide care in our communities for this important population.

“It is our privilege to be a part of the team alongside TriWest that will support the Department of Defense in providing health care services for our nation’s heroes,” said Jared Short, President of Regence Insurance Holding Corporation. “We are honored to be part of the TriWest team that is focused on this critical work and look forward to doing our part to ensure our nation’s active-duty service members, National Guard and reservists, retirees and their family members have access to quality health care in their community through our provider network.”  

Regence has teamed with TriWest to help execute the next generation of TRICARE contracts and achieve excellence in network performance in support of DoD’s mission. Under the T-5 contract, the total geographic area of responsibility in the TRICARE West Region includes 26 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

TriWest also holds the federal contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to administer its Community Care Network for Veterans. Under both the VA and DoD contracts, TriWest will help active-duty service members through their full cycle of access to community health care, through time of service and later transitions to VA eligibility. Regence will provide a local network for both contracts.

“At TriWest, it has been our privilege to serve the health care needs of the Veteran and military communities for nearly three decades,” said David J. McIntyre, Jr., President and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. “We are humbled to have the opportunity through this contract to return to our work alongside DoD, and continue our work alongside VA, through which to date the 740,000 medical professionals in the community have provided Veterans with 50 million total appointments, and to partner with Regence to serve our nation’s heroes under the T-5 contract.”

To learn more about T-5 and TRICARE, visit www.tricare.mil 

To read the U.S. Department of Defense press release, visit www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/3254039/

About Regence

Regence serves more than 3.4 million people through its Regence health plans in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Each Regence health plan is a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Regence is part of a family of companies dedicated to transforming health care by delivering innovative products and services that change the way consumers nationwide experience health care. For more information, please visit regence.com.