Title 10Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§1095b TRICARE program: contractor payment of certain claims

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 55— - MEDICAL AND DENTAL CARE › § 1095b

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

DoD may let TRICARE contractors pay a provider’s claim before asking another insurer to repay the cost when the claim is for a covered beneficiary and the contractor thinks a third party may be responsible. The United States has the same right to collect those amounts as under section 1095. "Third‑party payer" means the term in section 1095(h) but does not include primary medical insurers.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1095b

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary of Defense may authorize a contractor under the TRICARE program to pay a claim described in paragraph (2) before seeking to recover from a third-party payer the costs incurred by the contractor to provide health care services that are the basis of the claim to a beneficiary under such program.
(2)A claim under this paragraph is a claim—
(A)that is submitted to the contractor by a provider under the TRICARE program for payment for services for health care provided to a covered beneficiary; and
(B)that is identified by the contractor as a claim for which a third-party payer may be liable.
(b)The United States shall have the same right to collect charges related to claims described in subsection (a) as charges for claims under section 1095 of this title.
(c)In this section, the term “third-party payer” has the meaning given that term in section 1095(h) of this title, except that such term excludes primary medical insurers.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1999—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–65 substituted “The United States shall have the same right to collect charges related to claims described in subsection (a) as charges for claims under section 1095 of this title.” for “A contractor for the provision of health care services under the TRICARE program that pays a claim described in subsection (a)(2) shall have the right to collect from the third-party payer the costs incurred by such contractor on behalf of the covered beneficiary. The contractor shall have the same right to collect such costs under this subsection as the right of the United States to collect costs under section 1095 of this title.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1095b

Title 10Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73