TriWest Now Administering PC3 and Veterans Choice Program in State of Colorado
Phoenix, Arizona (December 7, 2018) – In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), TriWest Healthcare Alliance this week begins administering the Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) and Veterans Choice Program (Choice) for Veterans in the state of Colorado. The continuation of these programs, previously administered for VA by another contractor – Health Net Federal Services – will allow Veterans to continue receiving health care in the community when VA is unable to care for them at its facilities. For five years, TriWest has administered the PC3 and Choice programs in all or parts of 28 states, as well as American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas, and now will be expanding services into the remaining states and territories to cover the entire country until the next generation of VA’s contracts – Community Care Network (CCN) – are awarded and implemented. Colorado is one of the first two states where TriWest will expand, with the rest of the country rolling out by the end of January 2019.
Under this public-private partnership, TriWest Healthcare Alliance is starting its network footprint in Colorado, developing “One Network” to support Veteran care in the community. TriWest is excited about being back in the state of Colorado, which the company knows well from its prior work at the side of the Department of Defense, where TriWest administered the TRICARE program for active duty military and their families for nearly 20 years. TriWest is grateful to all of the providers who are once again leaning forward to serve Veterans; we will be honoring their service by processing and paying their claims quickly. All providers in the “One Network” will meet or exceed quality standards and can expect their health care claims to be processed and paid within 10 days.
In the state of Colorado there are currently 174,519 unique Veterans enrolled for VA care, and the state’s provider network includes 10,785 community providers. TriWest is working alongside VA to ensure the right providers are available to help meet the special needs of Veterans when VA is unable to provide that care within its own four walls. One area of great focus in the state of Colorado is behavioral health, where 375 community providers have been approved by TriWest to provide care for those in need of such critical services. In addition to providing One Network in the state of Colorado, TriWest also will schedule Veteran appointments with those community providers, and pay providers’ health care claims.
The purpose of the PC3 program is to enhance access to health care services for Veterans by making a quality provider network available closer to a Veteran's home. Access to care through the PC3 program is available to eligible Veterans following a referral from a VA medical center. The Choice Program addresses the needs of Veterans who face wait times longer than 30 days for a specific service from a VA medical center, or when a VA medical facility is not easily accessible (greater than 40 miles) from the Veteran’s home.
“We are humbled to scale the cliff alongside VA in support of our nation’s heroes so that Veterans will not experience gaps in access to care as we launch our expansion of services nationwide – beginning in the state of Colorado,” said David J. McIntyre, Jr., President and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. “We are standing up community care programs in Colorado on Dec. 7 in honor of our nation’s World War II Veterans. We stand by VA’s commitment to provide access to community care when it is unable to provide care timely or conveniently, and we are grateful to the community providers who are partnering with our company to enhance access to care for Veterans throughout the state of Colorado.”
For further details on the company’s expansion, please read our Oct. 2, 2018, press release here.