TRICARE covers services that are medically necessary. This includes restoring function, correcting a serious birth defect, restoring body shape after a serious injury, improving appearance after severe disfiguration after cancer surgery, or for breast reconstruction after cancer surgery. However, TRICARE does not cover elective cosmetic surgery, such as nose jobs, facelifts, breast augmentations, or liposuction. The TRICARE pharmacy benefit also gives patients access to free one-step emergency contraception from Plan B and generic versions of the antihistamines Zyrtec and Claritin, omeprazole (the generic drug Prilosec for heartburn), insulin and diabetes supplies, and stop products from smoking at lower prices.
Military personnel and family members have access to fertility treatments for a fee at a limited number of military treatment centers. TRICARE covers some care (treatment of a disease or injury to the patient's reproductive system, hormone and semen testing, and functional testing), but they do not cover advanced reproductive therapies, such as in vitro fertilization, artificial or intrauterine fertilization, or the intrafalopy transfer of embryos, gametes or zygotes. Tricare also doesn't cover other types of plastic surgery that aren't medically necessary, such as abdominoplasty or the removal of excess skin due to weight loss. However, these surgeries are sometimes offered at military treatment centers to ensure that surgeons maintain the skills needed to help wounded or disfigured combatants in combat or training.
According to Tricare, the only time they cover plastic surgery after weight loss is when it meets a number of conditions. Self-esteem is not one of them.
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