Military advocacy groups are calling for changes that give working-age retirees a longer grace period if they fail to set up a way to pay new fees for Tricare Select set to kick in Jan. 1.

As it is, if the retirees fail to set up their payments by Jan. 1, they’ll be kicked out of the health care program, and will have 90 days to apply for reinstatement.

Many advocacy organizations are hearing complaints about the new fees from angry members who may not have realized fees were coming, said Karen Ruedisueli, director of health affairs for the Military Officers Association of America. “Some of the angriest are the recent retirees who served almost their entire careers while our nation was at war and endured multiple combat deployments, only to face fee increases as they’re about to retire,” she said.

Starting Jan. 1, working-age retirees must pay an enrollment fee of $12.50 per month or $150 per year for individuals; and $25 per month or $300 a year for families.

MOAA and National Military Family Association want that 90-day grace period to be extended to 12 months, over concerns that retirees may lose health care coverage because they aren’t aware of the new requirement to pay enrollment fees. They also want retroactive coverage.

“We are seeking an extension to the grace period for Tricare reinstatement with retroactive coverage in the event someone misses the communication and fails to pay the enrollment fee by Jan. 1,” Ruedisueli said.

There were 407,431 military retirees and 764,936 retiree family members in Tricare Select at the end of 2019, according to a DoD report.

This doesn’t affect those in Tricare for Life. These fees affect retirees and their family members in the so-called Group A — the sponsor’s initial enlistment or appointment was before Jan. 1, 2018. The retirees in Group A are generally working-age retirees under age 65.

“Many beneficiaries understandably do not realize Congress passed this [Tricare Select] enrollment fee back with the [fiscal 2017 defense authorization act] and it is actually significantly lower than was proposed, thanks to the efforts of numerous associations who fought it,” Ruedisueli said. The provision was part of Tricare reform that was signed into law in 2016 by President Barack Obama.

MOAA and other organizations opposed the enrollment fee when it was proposed during the legislative process, she said. The Tricare reform was an 18-month process that began with a proposal to completely get rid of Tricare.