Tricare/Military healthcare

Under the Tricare medical system, families have the option of choosing their type of coverage which includes Tricare Prime, Tricare Extra, and Tricare Standard. Many families take advantage of Tricare Prime, which is managed entirely by the military at the Naval hospital at NAS Jacksonville. Under this plan, the patient is assigned to a primary doctor (who may be military or civilian) who is known as the primary care manager or PCM. All active duty personnel are enrolled in Tricare Prime, although their family members may elect to enroll in Tricare Standard, a plan where the government pays a share of the cost of visits to authorized civilian medical doctors once deductibles are met. It is very important that the family member who uses Tricare Standard ensure the providers they use out in town are certified or authorized by Tricare; otherwise, the member will be responsible for the total cost of treatment. Personal assistance with Tricare enrollment is available to families by NAS Jax’s Health Benefits Advisors who are located on the second floor of the main hospital building. Their phone number is 904-542-9164 and is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

Before using any of the military medical facilities at NAS Jax, all family members must be registered through the Navy’s DEER computer system. The DEERS Beneficiary Telephone Center is available to answers and may be reached at 800-538-9552 6 a.m. to 3:30 pm Pacific Standard Time Monday through Friday. Please note the only allowable changes that can be made over the phone are for address changes. Other changes such as birth, death, marriage or adoption must be made in person at the Personnel Support Detachment, phone 904-542-3728. 

The naval hospital located at NAS Jax is the largest Family physician training program and is fully accredited. It is an eight-story building located at the corner of Mustin Road and Child Street. It is equipped with an emergency room open 24/7 complete with Triage system that sees injuries/illnesses based on severity rather than first-come, first-served basis. Complete information for naval hospital Jax can be seen on its website located at http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhjax/Pages/default.aspx.