Tricare Help: Services determine eligibility for transitional program - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

Tricare Help: Services determine eligibility for transitional program

Q. My husband is being administratively separated with a general discharge under honorable conditions. Does he, our son or I qualify for the Tricare Transitional Assistance Management Program, which covers us for 180 days?

A. The criteria for TAMP eligibility states that active-duty members are eligible if they are involuntarily discharged under honorable conditions. A “general (under honorable conditions)” discharge is usually categorized as a form of honorable discharge.

However, eligibility for TAMP is determined by the military services, not by Tricare. Your husband needs to check with his service’s personnel office to verify whether he is eligible for TAMP.

You can find more information on TAMP eligibility at www.tricare.mil/TAMP.

Q. My wife and I are Tricare for Life beneficiaries. We are traveling to Europe this summer and realize that while our Medicare will not cover us overseas, Tricare will provide a degree of coverage. We purchased trip insurance, which includes a medical portion. The trip insurance says it is the second payer, although I have heard that Tricare is always the second payer by federal law. Which will actually pay first?

A. You correctly note that by law, Tricare must be last payer to all other health insurance. But there is one exception to that rule: Tricare is first payer to supplemental insurance coverage, a category into which your short-term travel policy falls. Supplemental insurance pays after Tricare pays its portion of the bill, reimbursing beneficiaries for out-of-pocket medical expenses that you paid to civilian providers based on the plan’s policies. All supplemental insurance policies have fine print, so you should read your travel insurance policy carefully to make sure you know what it will cover.

As your primary coverage while overseas will be the Tricare Standard portion of your Tricare for Life benefit, be prepared to pay upfront for urgent or emergency care. You will then have to submit a claim for reimbursement when you return home. Save all medical bills and receipts to submit with your reimbursement claim. You would file claims through International SOS, the contractor for the Tricare Overseas Program (www.tricare-overseas.com).

Write to Tricare Help, Times News Service, 6883 Commercial Drive, Springfield, VA 22159; or tricarehelp@militarytimes.com. In email, include the word “Tricare” in the subject line and do not attach files. Get Tricare advice anytime at www.militarytimes.com/tricarehelp.