Low Back Pain Physical Therapy Demonstration – Resource Toolkit

Thursday, January 28, 2021

In late December, Health Net Federal Services, LLC (HNFS) shared that as of January 1, 2021, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has authorized a new pilot titled, "Low Back Pain Physical Therapy Demonstration." In case you missed it, the demonstration waives cost-sharing for up to three physical therapy (PT) visits for patients with low back pain (LBP) and is limited to beneficiaries in 10 states, including the following states in the West region: Arizona, California and Colorado. This demonstration applies to new PT episodes of care only. The purpose of this demonstration is to evaluate whether waiving the cost sharing responsibility increases beneficiary participation in PT; decreases low-value care; and/or decreases the overall cost of care for treating patients with LBP.  A network provider must provide the PT services.

Recently, the DHA developed a Resource Toolkit to give you graphics you can use locally on your digital and social media platforms. The materials are intended to help you educate and empower eligible beneficiaries to participate in TRICARE’s low back pain and physical therapy demonstration. Visit health.mil to access DHA's TRICARE Low Back Pain and Physical Therapy Demonstration Toolkit. 

To learn more about TRICARE’s physical therapy benefit, visit the Physical Therapy section on Benefits A–Z. To review the initial announcement sent in late December about the Low Back Pain Physical Therapy Demonstration, please visit our News Archive.