Tricare Help: What we know — and don’t know — about health care reform - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

Tricare Help: What we know — and don’t know — about health care reform

Answering your questions on Tricare.

Q. If the new health care reform law says children must be covered by their parent’s health insurance until age 26, why won’t Tricare give me a straight answer about whether my 22-year-old daughter needs a new military ID card showing she is eligible for Tricare?

Until the Defense Department’s legal experts have analyzed the new law, it is not possible to say which parts of it, if any, apply to Tricare.

The health benefits program now called Tricare was created by federal law in 1966. That law, as amended, continues to govern Tricare operations today.

Among its many provisions, it specifies the requirements for Tricare eligibility, including age limits. Until that law is amended by Congress or superseded by other legislation, the age limits must continue unchanged.

In the meantime, I can point you to a recent Military Times news story. In the April 5 issues, Rick Maze reported that Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., introduced a bill March 24 that proposes to extend Tricare’s age limits for children to be in accord with the new law. (“Rush to allay worries over Tricare, VA Benefits,” Page 8.)

The bill is being considered by the House Armed Services Committee for inclusion in the broader defense authorization bill for fiscal 2011.

That bill usually is finalized in the fall. We will have to wait to see what happens. Until there is a change in the law governing Tricare, the age limit for coverage of dependent children remains 21, or 23 if the child is a full-time college student.

Q. I was privately told by a high-ranking officer in my reserve unit that the new health care law will cancel Tricare for Life in 2011. Is that true?

Absolutely not.

If I were you, I would have some doubts about this officer’s credibility and sources of information. My mail shows that many people doubt the official statements about the new law and its built-in protections of Tricare and other government medical programs. Many prefer to believe the myriad unfounded and inflammatory rumors circulating online.

There are 9.5 million Tricare beneficiaries. That’s about three out of every 100 Americans. If the story were true, don’t you think some news agency would have reported something about that since the law was signed?

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