Tricare Help: Making the transition from VA care to Tricare - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

Tricare Help: Making the transition from VA care to Tricare

Q. I turned 60 two years ago and got Tricare, which I have never used. There is a Veterans Affairs Department hospital eight miles from where I live, and I went there once for medical care. Now I have a chance to buy a small property, but it is 70 miles from the VA center. What do I have to do to use Tricare instead of VA?

A. The first thing you must do — the first thing anyone with Tricare eligibility questions should do — is call the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System support office, at 800-538-9552. DEERS is a Defense Department agency, and your privacy is assured by law.

Check to make sure your DEERS registration information is accurate and current. Then ask for, and make a record of, the phone number of your Regional Tricare Service Center.

Next, go to www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/home/overview/plans. Study the descriptions and the workings of Tricare Standard and Prime to learn which plan will best meet your needs.

When you feel you know enough to ask questions, call your Tricare Service Center and discuss your options with them. Ask for a Tricare Standard Handbook, and ask whether Tricare Prime is available where you will live. If it is, ask for a Prime Handbook also. You can also download the handbooks at the Web site above.

Ask for the names and phone numbers of authorized providers of Tricare Standard and Tricare Prime in your area. Standard is available worldwide and is the default option if Prime is not available.

The more you know, the better Tricare will serve you.

Q. My wife will turn 65 in March, but I am only 61. I heard that she has to wait until I get Medicare before she will qualify for Tricare for Life. What are the facts?

A. Your question concerns the law governing Medicare, and answers lie with the Social Security Administration. Your wife should contact that office at 800-772-1213 to learn what the law provides in her case.

Tricare is not involved with the laws that govern Medicare entitlement. However, the law that governs Tricare says your wife cannot become eligible for Tricare for Life until her Medicare Part A and Part B coverage go into effect.

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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.