04 Sep Changes in the Health Benefits of TRICARE Program When You Retire
Once you retire, the health benefits of your TRICARE program changes. Here are some of the changes you should expect:
Once you retire, the health benefits of your TRICARE program changes. Here are some of the changes you should expect:
Options for Health Care
When you’re on active duty, you need to enroll in the Prime option of the TRICARE program. Once you enroll in it, you and your family members can choose from the below mentioned options:
- TRICARE Prime (You need to re-enroll yourself and pay the enrollment fee as well)
- TRICARE Standard and Extra
- US Family Health Plan (only available in some parts of U.S.)
- TRICARE For Life (including Medicare Part A and B coverage)
- TRICARE Standard Overseas
Covered Services
The coverage of the TRICARE program will continue for you as well as your family members and will also include coverage for prescription drugs. However, there are some services that are not covered. These include:
- Eye exams (these visits will only be covered when you re-enroll yourself in the TRICARE Prime)
- Hearing aids
- Extended Care Health Option of the TRICARE for the family members
- Chiropractic care
- Dental care (this is only available under the TRICARE Dental Program for the Retiree)
- Additional costs
When you were on active duty, you never had to pay for anything out-of-pocket, and the costs for the family were also minimal. However, when you retire, the costs will increase.
Some care costs that you may see an increase in include:
- Enrollment fees for TRICARE ($230 for an individual and $460 for a family)
- Network Co-payments of the TRICARE Prime program
- A 5% increase in the cost of TRICARE Extra and Standard programs
- The annual cap on Catastrophic categorized injuries or illnesses increases from $1000 to $3000 for a family
- The family members who are eligible for Medicare also need to covered under Part B of the Medicare program in order to be eligible for Medicare upon retirement
Note: Prescription costs will remain the same
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