Tricare Help: Does baby need father’s last name to get Tricare? - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

Tricare Help: Does baby need father’s last name to get Tricare?

Answering your questions on Tricare.

Q. I am pregnant. The baby’s father is in the military, but we are not together. Does the baby have to have the father’s last name in order to get Tricare coverage?

A. The child of an active-duty, retired or deceased member of the uniformed services is automatically eligible for Tricare, regardless of whether the parents are legally married, provided paternity can be established by court order.

If you are married to the father when the child is born, the father is responsible for contacting (in fact, is required to contact) his unit personnel section to register the child in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System and to complete administrative actions required for the child to use Tricare benefits.

If you are married to the father, you are also eligible for Tricare, provided you are enrolled in DEERS by your husband. He is required to enroll his family for all benefits, including Tricare.

If you are not married to the father, it is the father’s responsibility to contact the judge advocate general at his military facility to seek legal assistance for making the child eligible for Tricare.

For more information, call the DEERS support office at 800-538-9552.

Q. I plan to retire soon. I have more than 20 years of active-duty service and am divorced. If I remarry after I retire, will my spouse be eligible for Tricare?

A. Your new wife will become legally eligible for Tricare the moment you kiss the bride.

Before she can use Tricare, however, you have to contact your unit personnel section to get her registered in DEERS and have a military ID card issued to her.

I strongly suggest that you teach her the ropes about DEERS, ID cards and Tricare. Once you decide whether to enroll her in Tricare Standard or Tricare Prime, call your regional Tricare Service Center and request a free handbook for the plan. You can also download electronic copies free at www.tricare.mil. If she will be living with you near a military hospital, Tricare Prime is the recommended plan.

For answers to questions about Tricare eligibility, call the DEERS support office at 800-538-9552. DEERS can’t help you with information about programs or claims; it deals with eligibility issues only. For program or claims questions or problems, call your regional Tricare Service Center.

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