Tricare, Doulas and Lactation Support. What's happening right now.
Last year the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included a five year pilot program to cover doulas and lactation support for military families at no cost. This lead to the establishment of the TRICARE Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration Project. More information about this can be found by reading the Federal Register.
Along with these announcements have come many questions and like many, are waiting for further instruction.
With that said, to the best of our knowledge, this is the most current information available on the internet.
Tricare West, Health Net Federal Services
For doulas and those providing lactation support. Tricare West (Healthnet) has started accepting applications. Please follow the links below for further guidance.
Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration
Tricare East, Humana
Tricare East Humana application.
Where to find a provider
How to locate doula and lactation support.
We are getting questions about finding Tricare approved providers. Tricare West has guidance out and states they will be updating their Network Provider Directory and Non-Network Directory to include these provider types. Beneficiaries and providers can contact them should anyone have questions about how to locate participating providers.
We can only assume that this will be the same for Tricare East.
In the meantime here at MBRN, we will be updating listings on our website as we are notified by our members if they are approved to accept Tricare.
Find a Birth Professional through the Military Birth Resource Network.
For those inquiring about how to get certified, we encourage you to read what the requirements are through the Federal Register, on the Tricare West Fact Sheet, or call Tricare directly. This will provide further details on requirements.
While this process may seem daunting, it is possible to complete. A handful of our MBRN Members have started the process to provide these services.
Health Net Federal Services - 1-844-866-9378
Humana - 1-800-444-5445