Anyone with Tricare use a private surgeon when a military hospital was nearby?

I have been placed on the waiting list at Madigan Army Treatment Facility in Tacoma, WA, but the wait is 1 1/2 to 2 years long. I would like to know if anyone in this situation has gone to a private surgeon and been approved by Tricare. I have heard that it is possible, but the surgeon at Madigan said that you must have a "life-threatening" illness in immediate need of surgery to be approved. Anyone have any advice?

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