Tricare Help: Can daughter be put on family plan? - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

Tricare Help: Can daughter be put on family plan?

Q. Under the national health care reform law, unmarried children can be covered under their parents’ policy until age 26. My daughter, 22, just graduated from college and is looking for a job. I have the family plan with Tricare that costs $450 to $500 per year. Can my daughter still be covered under this family plan? I spoke with one office and was told that I would have to buy young adult insurance for a fee that is double what the family plan now costs me. Which is correct?

A. Because your daughter has reached her 21st birthday but is no longer enrolled as a full-time student, her only option for Tricare eligibility is under the Tricare Young Adult Plan.

If she were to enroll again as a full-time student, her Tricare eligibility could be restored for as long as she was enrolled, but only until she turned 23. Then, as now, she could be eligible only under the Young Adult Plan until reaching age 26.

You can read more about the plan by clicking here.

Q. I am retired military and I will turn 65 in December and go on Medicare. Do I need a card to show that I have Tricare coverage?

A. To continue to be eligible for Tricare after Dec. 1, federal law requires you to be enrolled in both Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B. If you are enrolled in both parts, and if your Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System record is up-to-date and shows that you are enrolled in Medicare Part B, you will automatically be eligible for the Tricare plan called Tricare for Life.

Under Tricare for Life, you must get all your civilian medical care from Medicare providers only.

The Medicare provider will file a Medicare claim for all the services he provides to you. He will ask whether you have a Medicare supplement or other health insurance. All you need to do is say that you have Tricare and show your military ID card as proof of your Tricare coverage.

That information is on the back of the card. There is a statement about your eligibility for civilian medical care. Your card should have the word “yes” typed in that space to show you are eligible for Tricare.

Write to Tricare Help, Times News Service, 6883 Commercial Drive, Springfield, VA 22159; or click here to email us. In email, include the word “Tricare” in the subject line and do not attach files. Get Tricare advice anytime on our blog.