Understanding TRICARE Tenant Assets and MTF Care

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## Quick answer In the context of the military health system, **Tenant Assets** refer to medical units, clinics, or personnel that operate within a military installation or hospital but belong to a different command or branch of service than the "host" facility. For TRICARE beneficiaries, this means you might receive care at an Army hospital from an Air Force specialty clinic, and your referrals or records must be coordinated between these distinct administrative entities.

## In detail Understanding Tenant Assets is essential for navigating the Integrated Readiness and Readiness Training (IRRT) environment. While a specific base falls under a "Host Command" (e.g., a Naval Air Station), many of the medical services provided there are "Tenant Commands."

### Why it matters for TRICARE When a medical unit is a tenant asset, its funding, staffing, and administrative reporting lines are separate from the host base. This can impact the TRICARE beneficiary experience in three ways:

1. **Referral Management:** If you are enrolled in TRICARE Prime at a host facility but need a specialist who is part of a tenant asset, the referral process may require coordination between two different service branches’ administrative systems. 2. **Resource Sharing:** Tenant assets often provide high-demand specialty care (like cardiology or neurology) that the host facility cannot support on its own. 3. **The T-5 Contract Environment:** As of 2026, with TriWest Healthcare Alliance managing the West Region and Humana Military managing the East, these contractors must interface with both host and tenant medical assets to ensure "leakage" (patients going off-base for care) is minimized when military capacity exists.

### DHA Direct Management Under the Defense Health Agency (DHA), the distinction between host and tenant assets has become more centralized. Most military medical assets are now managed by the DHA to standardize care across the Army, Navy, and Air Force. However, local administrative "tenant" relationships still exist regarding facility space and logistical support.

## Who this applies to * **TRICARE Prime Enrollees:** Beneficiaries assigned to a Military Command Center (MTF) who may be referred to a tenant clinic within the same building for specialty care. * **Active Duty Service Members (ADSMs):** Those stationed at "Joint Bases" (like Joint Base San Antonio or Joint Base Lewis-McChord) where medical assets are a mix of different service branch units. * **TRICARE for Life (TFL) Users:** Retirees seeking space-available care at MTFs where specialty clinics might be tenant assets with different priority-of-care rules.

Common scenarios

### Scenario 1: The Joint Base Specialist Senior Chief Miller is enrolled in TRICARE Prime at a Navy-hosted clinic. He requires orthopedic surgery. The orthopedic clinic at the installation is an **Army Tenant Asset**. Although they are on the same base, Miller’s Navy PCM must coordinate the "right of first refusal" through the Army-managed specialty clinic before Humana Military (East Region) can authorize him to see a civilian doctor in the 2026 network.

### Scenario 2: Specialized Research Units A family member at an Air Force base needs advanced genomic testing. The testing lab on-site is a **DHA Tenant Asset** dedicated to research. Because the lab is a tenant and not part of the primary care MTF, the referral requires specific coding to ensure Express Scripts and the regional contractor (TriWest) recognize it as an "internal" military referral rather than a private-sector cost.

## Related terms * **MTF (Military Medical Treatment Facility):** A military hospital or clinic located on a base. * **Right of First Refusal:** The requirement that TRICARE contractors check if an MTF (host or tenant) can see a patient before authorizing civilian care. * **Direct Care System:** Care provided within military facilities by military or govt-contracted staff. * **Defense Health Agency (DHA):** The joint-service agency that now manages all military hospitals and clinics. * **Referral Management Center (RMC):** The office at an MTF that determines if a patient should be seen by a host asset, a tenant asset, or a civilian provider.

## Sources * **TRICARE.mil - MTF Locator:** https://www.tricare.mil/mtf * **Defense Health Agency (DHA):** https://health.mil/About-MHS/O-DHA * **Humana Military (East Region):** https://www.humanamilitary.com/ * **TriWest Healthcare Alliance (West Region):** https://www.triwest.com/health-care-providers/management-and-compliance/T5/