Extended Care Health Option

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Extended Health Care Options or ECHO are additional coverage programs offered by TRICARE to unqualified qualified service members from the United States.

Video Extended Care Health Option

Feasibility

ECHO benefits are available on qualification terms for TRICARE qualified children or partners of active uniformed service members.

The following are the qualifying conditions under ECHO:

• Medium or severe mental retardation
• Serious physical flaw
• Extraordinary physical or psychological condition of complexity in such a way that the recipient gets help at home

Registration/Registration ECHO

TRICARE ECHO requires all eligible recipients to do the following:

• Proof now that the sponsor is an active duty service member in one of the Service Uniforms.
• Enroll in the Extraordinary Family Membership Program (EFMP) available through their service branch.
• Submit required Registration Form: DD Form 2792 Medical Summary Extraordinary Family Member, DD Form 2792-1 Special Education of Extraordinary Family Members/Initial Intervention
• Sign up with their regional contractors to get ECHO benefit authorization.

For more information about EFMP, Defense Department recipients may visit the Military Home Website. US Coast Guard assistance recipients should contact their regional Work-Life office to inquire about the Coast Guard Special Needs Program.

Maps Extended Care Health Option

Coverage

In addition to the coverage received through the primary TRICARE package, the benefits of ECHO TRICARE may include:

• Medical and rehabilitation services
• Training for using assistive technology tools
• Special education
• Institutional maintenance when the living environment is needed
• Transport under certain circumstances
• Assertive services, such as services from qualified translators or translators, for beneficiaries whose visual or hearing impairments are eligible for ECHO benefits
• Durable equipment, including adaptation and maintenance
• In-house medical services through TRICARE ECHO Extension of Home Health Care (EHHC)
• Strong home care services (Note: Only one of the following robust care benefits can be used in a calendar month.)
  • Tough ECHO treatment -16 hours per month when receiving other official ECHO benefits
  • Tough EHHC treatment up to 40 hours per week (eight hours per day, five days per week) if staying at home

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Limited coverage

ECHO benefits provide a $ 2,500 monthly government cost-sharing limit, per eligible family member. In addition to other ECHO TRICARE benefits, home-stay beneficiaries may be eligible to extend home care services. The $ 2,500 charge does not apply to ECHO Home Health Care (EHHC) because there is a benefit limit.

For certain benefits, ECHO requires the recipient to use the funds and public facilities in advance as far as is available and adequate.

Under the ECHO, sponsors must pay a portion of the monthly official expenses for their family members, based on their salary value, ranging from $ 25 to $ 75 per month for all enlisted and mostly officers.

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Program authority and rules

This program was initially ratified in Section 701 (g) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107-107) and codified in the law in 10 USC 1079 (d) to (g). The Defense Department's regulation for the ECHO program was found at 32 CFR 199.5 after being published on August 20, 2004 Federal Register (69 FR 51559).

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References

• 32 CFR 199,5

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External links

• Official ECHO TRICARE information website
• The Military.com ECHO page

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