Tricare Help: Tricare acts as supplement to employer’s insurance plan - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

Tricare Help: Tricare acts as supplement to employer’s insurance plan

Answering your questions on Tricare.

Q. I have health insurance from my job. Do I have to give it up to join Tricare?

No. To the contrary, Tricare Standard will act as a free supplement to your employer’s health insurance plan.

However, Tricare Prime is not recommended for beneficiaries with other health insurance, since Prime’s rules make it difficult to coordinate with other plans.

After your employer’s plan has paid its maximum and sent you an explanation of benefits form, you may file a Tricare claim that includes copies of the bills, a copy of the other plan’s EOB that reports its processing of those charges and an official Tricare Claim Form DD 2642.

As second payer, Tricare will pay all or most of the other plan’s deductibles and co-payments. Contact your Tricare Office for claims-filing help, or click here for forms, instructions, addresses and other contact information.

To check your Tricare eligibility or update your record, call the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting Service support office at 800-538-9552.

Q. My husband and I have Tricare Prime, but he will soon receive Medicare and Tricare for Life. I want to know if I will ever get Tricare for Life because I will never get a Social Security check. I would have to work four more years. I will be 65 in four years.

When your husband becomes entitled to Medicare and becomes eligible for Tricare for Life, his Tricare Prime enrollment will be switched automatically to Tricare Standard.

That will have no effect on your Tricare Prime enrollment except to reduce your yearly cost for that program to $230 from the present $460. You can remain eligible for Prime until you get Medicare.

Tricare Help cannot answer questions about your Medicare entitlement. You will have to contact the Social Security Administration for that information.

To remain eligible for Tricare past age 64, however, you must apply for Medicare at least 90 days before the month when you will turn 65. If you become entitled to Medicare at age 65 and are enrolled in Part A and Part B, you will be eligible for Tricare for Life, just as your husband is.

If you are not eligible for Medicare, you will receive a Notice of Disallowance from Social Security. To retain your Tricare eligibility after age 64, that document must be filed with DEERS. It is likely that Social Security will do that on your behalf. That way, you will retain your Tricare eligibility until, and unless, you become entitled to Medicare at some later date.

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