Health Care

The 86th Medical Group maintains a clinic on the south side of Ramstein Air Base. Although many specialties are available at Ramstein, all inpatient care is provided at nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, less than 15 minutes away.

You and your family should enroll in TRICARE Prime at no cost and be assigned a primary care manager for all of your health care needs. Authorized Department of Defense civilian employees and their family members may also receive medical care at one of the Kaiserslautern Military Community treatment facilities on a Space-Available basis. DOD civilian employees, including DOD Dependent Schools staff and their families must pay a fee for service for medical care received in these facilities. A cost schedule is available at the facilities or civilian personnel offices. The fees can be reimbursed by submitting a claim to your private medical insurance.

The 86^th Medical Group’s DSN telephone exchange is 479. To dial a 479 number from off base, dial 06371-46; dial 011-49-6371-46-XXXX from the United States. To dial a 480 number from off base, dial
06371-47-XXXX. To dial a 486 number from off base, dial 06371-86-XXXX. 

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is about eight miles from Ramstein Air Base and is the only U.S. medical center in Europe. The hospital has a 230-bed capacity and multiple specialty clinics in addition to primary care. LRMC operates the only U.S. emergency room in the KMC, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ER is for medical emergencies where life, limb and/or eyesight are at risk. For acute medical care needs needing medical intervention within 24 hours, contact your PCM or the TRICARE Nurse Advice Line toll-free from Germany, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, at 00800-4759-2330.

Military medical care

Active-duty members are required to maintain individual medical readiness at all times, which includes annual preventive health assessment, an annual dental examination and current immunizations. Military medical care can be scheduled by contacting the clinic appointment line at 314-479-2273 or 06371-46-2273.

86th Medical Group, Ramstein Clinic

While LRMC is the primary referral and inpatient medical facility in the area, the Ramstein Clinic also offers some specialty services, including flight medicine, family practice, pediatrics, optometry, radiology services, pharmacy, an immunization clinic, environmental health, physical therapy, laboratory, mental health, pediatric behavioral medicine and family guidance.

Your PCM’s team will assist you with your appointment needs at any time during clinic operating hours. After-hours care is available by contacting the TRICARE Eurasia-Africa Nurse Advice line at
00800-4759-2330.  The Nurse Advice Line will assist you with after-hours health care issues and provide you with an appointment with your PCM, if needed. The Nurse Advice Line also has the ability to contact the PCM on call for patients determined to speak with their provider after duty hours.

The Ramstein Clinic is open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The clinic is closed on all federal holidays, goal/family days and the morning of the first Thursday of each month.

Go online to make an appointment.

Accessing services

The 86th Medical Group Clinic is managed and operated within the family health concept, which means you and your family members are assigned to a PCM. Each PCM team is composed of a physician or physician's assistant, a registered nurse and two medical technicians. Your PCM team should be your initial point of contact for all medical problems.

The service member's organization determines to which family practice team they're assigned. You and your family will obtain the best care by seeing the same PCM team each time you receive health care.

Important phone numbers

• Ramstein central appointments: 314-479-2273
• Emergency on base: 112
• Emergency off base: 112 
• Landstuhl Regional Medical Center appointment desk at 314-590-5762 or 06371-9464-5762

Medical records

Air crew members and special operations duty persons (such as air traffic controllers and weapons controllers) are required to hand carry their medical records to the flight surgeon's office, located in Building 2121 on the second floor, immediately upon in-processing.

Other active-duty members will turn in any hand-carried medical and dental records for their family at the military personnel flight during in-processing.

While the water supply on base is fluoridated to optimum levels, off-base levels in water vary by area, but are generally very low. If you live off base, check with the dental clinic during your annual exam to see if your children would benefit from fluoride supplements.

Dental clinic

The goal of the dental clinic is to maintain the oral health of all family members who present to our clinic. Family members are strongly encouraged to check with the dental clinic upon arrival. Much of your routine dental care may be provided by the Ramstein Dental Clinic, but services are offered on a Space-Available basis. When you arrive, we can inform you of your on- and off-base dental care options.

Preventive dental services such as cleanings, sealants and fluoride treatments are available by appointment after the annual dental examination. Other routine dental care such as dental fillings, periodontal maintenance care and endodontics are available on a limited, scheduled basis.

We advise family members to have their dental care, especially complex dentistry, completed before moving overseas to ensure that you arrive overseas in good dental health. Time intensive, complex dentistry is not always available because of space, facilities and the needs of the active-duty population. Though all specialties are present at Ramstein, services are limited. Family members should ensure that all their dental needs are taken care of prior to their permanent change of station move.

Dental emergency care for trauma, treatment of infection or alleviation of pain is available to all authorized beneficiaries. Sick call by appointment can be scheduled by calling the Ramstein clinic. The ability to initiate orthodontic treatments is very limited and selection is made based upon Air Force regulation. Referral to the Orthodontic Department is in accordance with the following criteria:

1. Active-duty personnel and family members who transfer in with active orthodontic appliances in place have first priority.
2. To be eligible, the non-active-duty patient must have been fully banded prior to the sponsor's notification of assignment. Banding before assignment notification is a firm criteria whether the dentist in the Continental United States supported the orthodontic care or not. Depending on workload, some transfer cases may have to seek civilian orthodontic care.
3. Orthodontic care cannot be done for cosmetic reasons only.
4. Due to the large active-duty population, other elective dental specialty care (prosthodontics, periodontics and oral surgery) for family members is extremely limited and only those cases that are related to a medical condition or are necessary to maintain professional credentialing requirements can be treated.

A list of civilian dentists is available at the Ramstein and Landstuhl dental clinics.

Family Member Dental Plan

For more information on this subject, visit United Concordia's Overseas Dental Unit online.

Orthodontic information

If orthodontic care is initiated after the sponsor receives their assignment notification, the family member will be by regulation at the very lowest priority and rarely accepted for military orthodontic care at the gaining base. Further orthodontic care will have to be continued with civilian orthodontists at their own expense.

TRICARE Dental Program

The TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) is a voluntary dental insurance for family members of active duty, reservists and their family members. The contractor is United Concordia Companies Inc. Under this plan, routine dental care is paid by the insurance and government cost share with no charge to the sponsor, except monthly premiums. Cost shares may differ from the stateside plan. Sponsors are responsible for 50% co-payment for orthodontics and prosthodontics. There is an annual cap for insurance coverage and equals $1,200 per family member for dental care exclusive of orthodontics. The lifetime cap for orthodontics is $1,500 per family member. The program billing cycle runs Feb. 1-Jan. 31.

Family members are encouraged to remain enrolled in the stateside TDP. Because military orthodontic care is limited, those sponsors who are interested in pursuing orthodontic treatment for their children may benefit from the TDP. Also, patients who need extensive prosthodontic care (crowns and bridges) may want to look into the insurance program. You must first access care through a military dental treatment facility. The military clinic will provide care if it is required and available regardless of your insurance status. If treatment is not available or if access is excessive (an appointment is not available in 21 days or fewer), your members can request a referral to a participating host nation dentist. You will receive a non-availability form that outlines your dental care needs; without this referral form, insurance will not be paid.

We recommend that sponsors maintain good dental health for family members stateside, have any remaining family member dental needs determined once they arrive overseas, determine what treatment is available at the military clinic and then decide about the TDP.

When you move, TRICARE moves with you. No matter where you go in the world, TRICARE is there before, during and when you get to your next duty station.

There are steps you need to take to make sure changes to your TRICARE coverage go smoothly. Understand that when you move, you may have to use a different TRICARE option. Visit TRICARE Moving to learn more.

Before you move, you should take care of any routine medical needs, including immunizations, and fill your prescriptions so you have enough while traveling. If you need care during your move, visit TRICARE Getting Care When Traveling to learn what to do.

Filling prescriptions while traveling

You should refill prescriptions before traveling. But if you run out of a prescription drug while traveling, visit TRICARE Filling Prescriptions When Traveling.

Getting dental care while traveling

Getting dental care while traveling depends on your location and whether you are a service member or family member.

• If you are an active-duty service member within the United States or in U.S. territories, and near a military installation, you may be able to get emergency dental care at the dental treatment facility, or DTF, if available. If not, contact the TRICARE Active Duty Dental Care Program before you see a dentist and tell the contractor about your move. You will need to get an authorization before you see a dentist. The Active Duty Dental Care Program will work with you, so you can get care from a local network dentist.
• If you are an active-duty service member at an overseas location, call the TRICARE overseas regional call center to get authorization before you see a civilian dentist.
• If you are an active-duty family member within the United States, in U.S. territories or at an overseas location, you can find out if any nearby military dental treatment facility treats active-duty family members. If you're enrolled in the TRICARE dental program, call the TRICARE dental program contractor or visit their website to find a provider. You will need to get an authorization before you see the dentist.

With permanent change of station orders, ask for a copy of your medical and dental records from your military treatment facility and the dental treatment facility. Do this at least one month before your PCS date. The MTF should also transfer a copy of your record and any family records to your new duty station or you may be able to hand carry them to your new duty station.

If you want someone else to be able to get medical or dental information on you or your family while you are moving, you need to complete a DD Form 2870, "Authorization for Disclosure of Medical or Dental Information."

For more information on getting copies of medical records, visit TRICARE Request Copies of Medical Records.