Retiree dental program contract extended. The Defense Department recently announced that they have extended the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP) contract through Dec. 31, 2013.Authorized by Congress in the fiscal 1997 National Defense Authorization Act, the current TRDP contract was scheduled to run from Oct. 1, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2013. The contract extension will bring it in-sync with the other healthcare contracts on a calendar year versus fiscal year basis.The contract extension brings no change in premiums or scope of benefits. However, the annual maximum for enrollees in the Enhanced program will be increased to $1,500 for this period. Those in the Basic program will see their maximum increase to $1,250.These changes were implemented April 1. If beneficiaries have already reached the maximum for the year, they should have their dental provider resubmit any claims that were not made due to exceeding the maximum.Delta Dental also will serve as administrator of the new five-year TRDP contract, which will begin Jan. 1, 2014.House passes TRICARE Prime legislation. Legislation (H.R. 1971) that would require the Defense Department to offer the TRICARE Prime managed health care option in places where the department plans to discontinue the program was passed by the House as part of the Defense Authorization Bill.Due to a policy change, more than 170,000 veterans across the country who live outside 100 miles of a military treatment facility will lose access to TRICARE Prime on Oct. 1, 2013.Introduced by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the legislation would afford every affected veteran the opportunity to continue their enrollment in TRICARE Prime or move to TRICARE Standard, depending upon which plan best fits their needs.Since there is no similar provision in the Senate’s version of the authorization bill, whether or not it is included in the final bill will have to be negotiated in the House-Senate conference committee.