Therapy with TRICARE in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama

Which TRICARE region you’re in

All four states are in the TRICARE East Region. Humana Military runs the region under contracts that began January 1, 2025. Its East Region line is 1-800-444-5445, and its site is tricare-east.com.

That covers families near Fort Campbell on the Kentucky and Tennessee line, Fort Knox in Kentucky, Redstone Arsenal and Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, along with everyone else in these states.

What TRICARE covers

TRICARE covers outpatient mental health care for a diagnosed condition, including:

• individual, group and family therapy
• psychiatric evaluations
• medication management
• partial hospitalization and residential treatment, with approval

You need to see a TRICARE-authorized provider. A network provider has a contract with TRICARE and usually costs you less. A non-network authorized provider can still be covered, but you’ll usually pay more and may need to file the claim yourself.

Do you need a referral?

It depends on who you are.

Active duty service members need a referral and pre-authorization for mental health care in the TRICARE network. No referral is needed for outpatient mental health care at a military hospital or clinic.

Everyone else may or may not need a referral, depending on the plan. TRICARE’s own page says that, based on your plan, you may need a referral or pre-authorization for outpatient mental health care, including therapy. Ask Humana Military before your first visit.

Psychoanalysis, and care from an institutional provider outside a military hospital or clinic, always need pre-authorization.

What therapy costs in 2026

These are TRICARE’s 2026 costs for an outpatient mental health visit. “Group A” means the sponsor first joined before January 1, 2018. “Group B” means on or after that date.

A few more things to know:

• TRICARE Prime with a non-network provider usually costs more under point-of-service fees, unless you have a referral.
• TRICARE Select has a yearly deductible. For active duty families it’s $50 to $198 per person, depending on pay grade and group. Cost-shares that are percentages apply after the deductible.
• The catastrophic cap limits what a family pays in a year. For active duty families in Group A, it’s $1,000.

TRICARE posts these on its costs page, which it last updated on November 3, 2026. Costs usually change each January.

If you also have Medicare (TRICARE For Life)

If you’re a retiree with Medicare Part A and Part B, TRICARE For Life works with Medicare. For therapy that both cover, Medicare pays first and TRICARE pays what’s left, so you usually pay nothing. TRICARE also pays your Medicare deductibles for services both cover.

Your therapist needs to accept Medicare. Our Medicare therapy guide explains what that means.

Which therapists TRICARE covers

TRICARE covers several kinds of mental health professionals, with different rules:

• Psychiatrists are medical doctors and can prescribe medication.
• Clinical psychologists provide therapy and testing.
• Certified clinical social workers provide therapy without a doctor’s referral or supervision, if they meet TRICARE’s licensing and training rules.
• TRICARE certified mental health counselors provide counseling without a doctor’s referral or supervision.
• Supervised mental health counselors and pastoral counselors need a doctor’s referral, and a doctor has to oversee the care, even in the network.
• Marriage and family therapists are also TRICARE-authorized provider types.

Counselors and social workers can’t prescribe. If you may need medication, you’ll also need a psychiatrist or another provider who can prescribe.

Ask any counselor: “Are you a TRICARE certified mental health counselor, or do I need a doctor’s referral to see you?”

If you’re moving (PCS)

A permanent change of station often means finding a new therapist. A few things help:

• Ask your current therapist whether they can keep seeing you by telehealth. That only works if they’re licensed in the state you’re moving to.
• Update your address with TRICARE as soon as you move, because your region, primary care manager and network can change.
• Ask for a short summary of your treatment to share with your next therapist, so you don’t start from scratch.
• Moving within our four states keeps you in the East Region, but your primary care manager and nearby network will change.

Telehealth

TRICARE covers telehealth for mental health care, including therapy by telehealth. Ask a network therapist whether they offer it.

The therapist has to be licensed in the state where you are during the session. That matters around Fort Campbell, where families often live on one side of the state line and work on the other.

Free counseling outside TRICARE

Two programs offer free, confidential counseling that doesn’t go through your health plan.

Military OneSource offers short-term, non-medical counseling: up to 12 sessions per issue for each eligible service member and family member. You can do it in person, by telehealth or by online chat. Call 800-342-9647, or start at MilitaryOneSource.mil. These sessions aren’t reported to your command.

Military and Family Life Counselors work on and near installations and offer the same kind of short-term, confidential support.

Non-medical counseling is for things like stress, relationships, parenting, grief and deployment. It isn’t for PTSD, addiction, conditions that need medication, or a crisis. For those, use your TRICARE benefit.

If you’re in crisis

Call 988 and press 1 for the Military and Veterans Crisis Line, or text 838255. In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. You don’t need a referral or pre-authorization for emergency care. If you’re admitted, let your primary care manager or Humana Military know within 24 hours or the next business day.

How to find a TRICARE therapist

1. Start with Humana Military’s provider directory at tricare-east.com, and filter for behavioral health network providers near you.
2. Ask your military clinic. If you have TRICARE Prime, your primary care manager can refer you, and active duty members can be seen at the clinic without a referral.
3. Then search LunahUP near your installation. No profile lists TRICARE yet, so ask each practice whether it’s a TRICARE network provider or only TRICARE-authorized.
4. Confirm before you book. Ask whether the therapist is a TRICARE network provider or only TRICARE-authorized, and whether you need a referral.

Questions to ask

Ask Humana Military:

• “Do I need a referral or pre-authorization for outpatient therapy under my plan?”
• “Is [therapist’s name] a network provider?”
• “What will I pay per session?”

Ask the therapist:

• “Are you a TRICARE network provider, or TRICARE-authorized?”
• “Do you offer telehealth, and are you licensed in the state where I’ll be?”
• “Will you file the claim with TRICARE?”

The short version

• TRICARE covers outpatient therapy for a mental health condition.
• All four states are in the East Region, run by Humana Military (1-800-444-5445).
• Active duty members need a referral for network care outside a military clinic.
• In 2026, active duty family members on Prime pay $0 for network therapy.
• Retirees pay $39 per visit on Prime and $52 on Select.
• Military OneSource offers up to 12 free, confidential non-medical counseling sessions per issue.
• For a crisis, dial 988 and press 1.