TRICARE Retirement Health Coverage

What you get

TRICARE health plans for military retirees and their families, run by the Defense Department: TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select before Medicare, and TRICARE For Life once Medicare Parts A and B are in effect (under 65 with Medicare, you can keep TRICARE Prime instead). TRICARE works side by side with VA health care.

What TRICARE looks for when you retire

1. 1Your record in DEERSTRICARE does not decide who can use it. Your uniformed service decides and reports it in DEERS, the Defense Department system that holds TRICARE records for you and family members registered there.
2. 2Enrollment within 90 days of retirementTo keep TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select with no break in coverage, you reenroll within 90 days after your retirement date. If you miss it, you can ask for retroactive enrollment within 12 months of retirement. After that, you can enroll only during TRICARE Open Season or after a life event TRICARE lists, such as a move, a marriage, or a new child. If you do not enroll in TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select, you lose all TRICARE coverage and can use military hospitals and clinics only if space is available.

Source: TRICARE: who can use TRICARE (opens in new tab); TRICARE: retiring from active duty (opens in new tab)

Which part of your coverage is this about?

• Retiring from the military

  When you retire, your status change ends active duty TRICARE Prime. You and your family can enroll in a retiree plan: TRICARE Prime (in Prime Service Areas only), TRICARE Select, the US Family Health Plan or TRICARE Prime Demo in some U.S. locations, TRICARE Select Overseas, or TRICARE For Life with Medicare Parts A and B. You and your family members need new ID cards. This applies to retiring from active duty; tricare.mil covers medical retirement and Guard or Reserve retirement on their own pages.

  Source: TRICARE: retiring from active duty (opens in new tab); TRICARE: retired service members and families (opens in new tab); TRICARE: who can use TRICARE (opens in new tab)

• TRICARE For Life and Medicare

  TRICARE For Life is coverage that wraps around Medicare for people who can use TRICARE and have Medicare Parts A and B, at any age and anywhere. You do not enroll in it separately: it starts the first day Medicare Parts A and B are in effect. At 65, TRICARE Prime converts to it and you can no longer enroll in other TRICARE plans. Under 65 with Medicare, TRICARE says you can enroll in a TRICARE Prime option or use TRICARE For Life. You pay the Medicare Part B premium. At 65, VA says retirees need Medicare Parts A and B to keep TRICARE.

  1. 1Medicare Parts A and B, both in effectTRICARE For Life starts after both Medicare Parts A and B are active. You do not sign up for TRICARE For Life separately. At 65, TRICARE Prime converts to it.

  Source: VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: when you get Medicare (opens in new tab)

• Using VA care alongside TRICARE

  VA health care and TRICARE work together: TRICARE says retirees see VA for service-connected conditions and use TRICARE for everything else, and enrolling in VA care does not cancel TRICARE For Life. VA says it does not bill Medicare or TRICARE For Life for care at a VA facility. TRICARE says that if you use TRICARE For Life at a VA facility for care not related to your service, Medicare cannot pay, TRICARE pays only up to 20 percent of its allowed charge, and you pay the rest. Ask your VA facility how your care there is billed.

  1. 1Signed up for VA health careTo use VA benefits, you get care at a VA location, or outside VA with a VA referral. Having other coverage does not change the VA health care you can get.
  2. 2Your other coverage on file with VAVA asks about other health coverage so it can bill private insurance for care not related to your service. It does not bill Medicare or Medicaid.

  Source: VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); VA.gov: VA health care and other insurance (opens in new tab); TRICARE: TRICARE For Life and VA care (opens in new tab); TRICARE: Veterans Affairs facilities (opens in new tab); VA.gov: how to apply for VA health care (opens in new tab)

What to gather, and what it shows VA

TRICARE and Medicare records stay with the Defense Department and Medicare, and insurance details go to VA. BeneVets does not ask for copies of them.

Steps, in order

1. Enroll within 90 days of retiring

   Pick a TRICARE plan and enroll within 90 days after your retirement date to keep coverage with no break. As a retiree, you may pay annual enrollment fees and see higher costs than on active duty. If you miss the 90 days, ask for retroactive enrollment within 12 months of retirement; coverage then runs from your retirement date, claims are paid once enrollment is complete, and any enrollment fees are due back to that date.

   Source: TRICARE: retiring from active duty (opens in new tab)

2. Check and update DEERS

   Sign in to milConnect to check your record in DEERS, and update your address there if you move. If you are not sure TRICARE For Life applies to you, VA says to confirm it in DEERS.

   Source: VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: retiring from active duty (opens in new tab); TRICARE: who can use TRICARE (opens in new tab)

3. Sign up for Medicare Parts A and B

   You can sign up from 3 months before to 3 months after your 65th birthday. Missing that window can bring lasting Part B penalties, delayed coverage, and gaps in protection, and TRICARE says you need Part B to keep TRICARE. If you missed it, ask your local Social Security office about a general or special enrollment period; TRICARE says Part B and TRICARE For Life then start the first day of the month after you sign up.

   Source: VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: retiring from active duty (opens in new tab); TRICARE: beneficiaries with TRICARE and Medicare (opens in new tab)

4. Let TRICARE For Life start

   Once Parts A and B are in effect, TRICARE For Life starts with no separate sign up and no enrollment fee. At 65, TRICARE Prime converts to it. You pay the Medicare Part B premium.

   Source: VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: when you get Medicare (opens in new tab)

5. Medicare under 65 because of a disability

   If you get Social Security disability payments, TRICARE says Medicare Parts A and B start automatically in the 25th month of disability, at any age, and you must have Part B to keep TRICARE. Under 65, you can enroll in a TRICARE Prime option or use TRICARE For Life. If your disability award and Medicare are back dated, make sure your Part A and Part B start dates match, or TRICARE will try to take back payments for claims paid while you had Part A without Part B.

   Source: TRICARE: beneficiaries with TRICARE and Medicare (opens in new tab); TRICARE: disability and Medicare (opens in new tab); TRICARE: when you get Medicare (opens in new tab)

6. Apply for VA health care

   If you are not in VA health care yet, apply with VA Form 10-10EZ online, by phone, by mail, or in person.

   Source: VA Form 10-10EZ (opens in new tab); VA.gov: how to apply for VA health care (opens in new tab); VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab)

7. Tell VA about your other coverage

   Give VA your other insurance details, and let your VA doctor know about care you get outside VA so your care stays coordinated.

   Source: VA.gov: VA health care and other insurance (opens in new tab)

8. Pick where to get each visit

   TRICARE and VA recommend VA for care of your service-connected disability, at a VA facility or with a VA referral. For other care, TRICARE suggests considering a provider who accepts Medicare: Medicare pays first, and TRICARE For Life pays after it for services both cover, so you typically pay nothing for those.

   Source: VA.gov: veterans turning 65, VA health care, Medicare, and TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: TRICARE For Life (opens in new tab); TRICARE: TRICARE For Life and VA care (opens in new tab)

9. Get free help with the VA side

   TRICARE and Medicare run their own sign up. For the VA side, such as a health care application or a disability claim: Free help: an accredited VSO can file this with you. Find one near you in the BeneVets VSO directory at Find an accredited VSO near you.

   Source: VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab); VA.gov: how to apply for VA health care (opens in new tab)

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