Can I sign up elderly mother for Tricare?
March 14th, 2012 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
My 82-year-old mother is a recent legal immigrant to the U.S. She lives with us and is our dependent. How can I get her signed up for Tricare?
Dependent parents and parents-in-law are not eligible for Tricare. Under certain circumstances, however, the uniformed services may determine a parent or parent-in-law to be the dependent of an active duty member or retiree. In those circumstances, the parent or in-law may be allowed to use a military treatment facility, subject to the availability of space, personnel, and technical capacity.
You must apply with your service for your mother to be designated, legally, as your dependent. Then you may apply with your MTF for her to be allowed to use its facilities. Ask whether she can be eligible for Tricare Plus, which will give her the same access rights to free MTF care as are enjoyed by Tricare Prime members. She will not have Tricare Prime health care coverage, but the medical care she will get will be just as good.
Why won’t Tricare talk to me about daughter’s claim?
March 7th, 2012 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
My daughter attends college in another state. She is 20 and still covered by my Tricare. She called me recently because she was having trouble with a claim, but when I called Tricare to try to straighten it out, they refused to help me, saying the Privacy Act wouldn’t allow them to talk to me about my own daughter. I tried to explain she was my dependent, even gave them my Social Security number to prove I was who I said I was, but they wouldn’t listen to reason. Who can I talk to at Tricare to make sure other parents don’t go through this?
You may not like this answer, but for purposes of the Privacy Act, your daughter became an adult when she turned 18. She, alone, has the authority to grant someone else access to her Tricare claims and other personal information. That’s easy to arrange, however: She needs to give you a signed and dated written authorization. If she agrees, contact your Tricare Service Center to learn how to proceed.
If it ever becomes necessary to file an appeal of a denied Tricare claim, and if your daughter wants you to deal with the matter on her behalf, she must provide with the appeal a signed and dated statement appointing you as her representative on the appeal.
Can 18-year-old sister get Tricare as dependent?
February 8th, 2012 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
I have a sister-in-law who is 18 and is about to move to our duty station to live with us to attend college. Can my husband, who is active-duty military, claim her as a dependent if she is a full-time student?
No, I’m sorry, but a dependent sister-in-law cannot become eligible for Tricare. You can confirm that fact by calling the DEERS Support Office, toll-free, at 1-800-538-9552.
Tricare after a divorce: Even lawyers should start with DEERS
February 1st, 2012 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
I have a friend who is going through a divorce. He is retired from the Air Force, and in the divorce papers, his estranged wife is requiring that he keep her and her child (who is not his biological child) on Tricare for an additional year. Can she sue him if Tricare drops her?
As a lawyer friend of mine says, “Anybody can sue somebody for anything. Finding a lawyer willing to take the case, and/or winning the case, are entirely different matters.”
The legal requirements for Tricare eligibility are established by federal law. I cannot give legal advice, but I can suggest the best place to start an inquiry about the legal requirements for Tricare eligibility is by calling the DEERS Support Office, toll-free, at 1-800-538-9552.
DEERS cannot give legal advice, but it can advise inquirers about the provisions of federal law concerning Tricare eligibility. Even lawyers should begin any inquiries about Tricare eligibility at that office.
How do we know if we’re eligible?
January 30th, 2012 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
My husband is a disabled Army vet and he cannot seem to tell me what Tricare is or if he can get it. I understand it is some kind of insurance. Could we be eligible for it?
There are two programs for which you might be eligible.
You wrote that your husband is a disabled vet. Depending on his disability rating from the Veterans Affairs Department, you may be eligible for care through the VA. If his rating is “100 percent, permanent and total,” he may qualify for free VA medical care for the rest of his life, and his wife and unmarried children under age 18 would be entitled to the program called CHAMPVA.
Alternatively, if your husband is entitled to receive retired pay, he and his family may be entitled to Tricare.
For official information regarding your husband’s Tricare eligibility, he should call the DEERS Support Office, toll-free, at 1-800-538-9552. He must call, himself. Due to provisions of the Privacy Act, that information cannot be given to another person.
Another source of public information regarding Tricare eligibility is at the official Tricare website.
If I divorce wife, will she lose all Tricare coverage?
January 18th, 2012 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
My dependent spouse had a massive stroke and presently lives in a nursing home. She has been approved for Medicaid with Tricare being primary and Medicaid as secondary. We have been married for over 20 years and I have over 18 years active duty. If I file for a divorce and it is granted, are there any Tricare benefits she would be eligible for, or would she be dropped from Tricare altogether?
The requirements for Tricare eligibility are established by federal law and regulation. The information in your letter appears to indicate that your wife will lose all her Tricare eligibility immediately on the date the divorce is final.
To retain Tricare eligibility following divorce, a former spouse must have been married to the same uniformed service sponsor for at least 20 years during which time the sponsor earned retirement credits. That is, the sponsor’s active duty service and the marriage must have been concurrent for at least 20 years. Your letter does not report that.
For an official response to your question about your wife’s Tricare eligibility following divorce, please contact the DEERS Support Office, toll-free, at 1-800-538-9552.
What happens to daughter’s coverage when she gets married?
December 15th, 2011 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
A Blue Cross Blue Shield subscriber has a daughter who is under 26 and married to a Navy man who has military coverage. Is the daughter eligible to have both coverages? If so, who is primary?
If the daughter is legally married to a man who is on active duty with one of the U.S. uniformed services, she is automatically eligible for Tricare. For her to use Tricare, however, the husband (her military sponsor) must contact his personnel office to arrange for her to be registered in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, better known as DEERS, and to be issued a uniformed service identification and privilege card.
Any Tricare eligibility through her status as daughter was terminated by law when she married. Whether she can retain her coverage under the father’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan is totally dependent on that plan’s eligibility rules. Tricare is not involved with that matter in any way.
For official information about the application of federal law to Tricare eligibility, please contact the DEERS Support Office, toll-free, at 1-800-538-9552.
Do I have to cancel employer’s policy to use Tricare for Life?
December 9th, 2011 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
I will turn 65 later this year and become eligible for Medicare and Tricare for Life. I have another health insurance policy through my employer. I’ve heard that I have to cancel the other policy to use Tricare for Life, but my wife and children still need that coverage. I asked and was told that I can’t cancel just my own coverage and leave my family insured under my employer’s plan. What can I do?
You were misinformed. You do not need to cancel your other health insurance policy to qualify for Tricare for Life. The legal requirement regarding other health insurance is that Tricare must always be last payer to all other coverage, except welfare-related plans such as Medicaid.
When Tricare beneficiaries become entitled to Medicare and are enrolled in Part B, they are covered under Tricare for Life. If they have no other health insurance, Tricare Standard acts as a free Medicare supplement and last payer to Medicare.
After it processes a claim and makes whatever payment is due, Medicare automatically transfers the claim to Tricare electronically. In the vast majority of claims, Tricare pays whatever Medicare did not pay for Tricare-covered services — usually the beneficiary’s Medicare deductible and co-payment.
Your situation will be different because of your other health insurance. As you read the following, keep in mind that Tricare must always be last payer to all your other coverage, regardless of which plan is first or second payer.
Let me summarize the situation regarding your family:
Tricare for Life rules do not require you to cancel or alter your employer’s health insurance policy. You and your family may continue coverage under your employer’s plan. Regardless of decisions you make about your Medicare coverage, your family’s Tricare coverage as second payer to your employer’s plan will not be affected.
Now, the following pertains to you only, not your family:
When you become entitled to Medicare, you will be told that Medicare does not require you to enroll in Part B as long as you continue to work for the employer that provides the other health insurance. Also, for as long as you continue to work for that employer, your employer’s plan will be your primary coverage. Medicare will be second payer.
Although Medicare’s rules allow you to postpone Part B enrollment for as long as you continue to work, Tricare’s rules do not allow that.
According to law, retirees or their family members who become entitled to Medicare must enroll in Part B of Medicare in order to retain Tricare eligibility.
If you feel that Medicare Part A plus your employer’s plan is enough health insurance for you (yourself only) while you continue to work, you might want to postpone Part B enrollment during that period. That will allow you to avoid paying the monthly premium for Part B. But you will be ineligible for Tricare for Life until you enroll in Part B.
That’s a decision only you can make. Before you do, I suggest you contact Medicare for details about the kinds of health care services Part A covers.
You’ll want to enroll in Part B, however, as soon as you stop working. Your Tricare eligibility will be restored as soon as you do that and your Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) record has been updated.
For as long as you continue to work, you must file claims with your employer’s plan first. Medicare Part A will be second payer to that plan. You will no longer have Tricare as a last-payer backup because you are not enrolled in Medicare Part B.
When you are no longer working, you will file claims with Medicare first. Your employer’s plan will be second payer to Medicare. If you have enrolled in Part B, Tricare will be last payer to your other coverage.
Depending on the extent of the other plan’s coverage, it will very likely pay what Medicare does not pay in much the same way that Tricare would. After Medicare and the other plan have both completed processing and you have the explanations of benefits from both, you may file a claim with Tricare for any amounts they left unpaid.
As I said earlier, regardless of decisions you make, your family members will continue to have your employer’s plan as their primary coverage and Tricare as second payer on their claims. Their Tricare coverage will not be affected by your Medicare entitlement or the decision you make about Part B enrollment.
What happens to younger spouse when I get Medicare?
December 5th, 2011 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
I am retired Navy and in another year will turn 65. For the last 15 years my family has been enrolled in Tricare Prime. My plan is to continue with Tricare for Life. My spouse is four years younger than I, however. When I enroll in Medicare, is my wife covered by Tricare for Life until she becomes eligible for Medicare?
As a uniformed service retiree, you will be required by the law that governs Tricare to be enrolled in Medicare Part B on the same date that your Medicare Part A becomes effective. If you are not enrolled in Part B on that date, you will lose all of your Tricare eligibility automatically until you are enrolled in Medicare Part B.
If a beneficiary enrolls in Medicare Parts A and B in a timely manner, his or her Medicare coverage and TFL eligibility will begin on the first day of the month of his or her 65th birthday.
Your wife will not qualify for Medicare or Tricare for Life until she is 65 years old, but she can continue her Tricare Prime coverage until that time.
What if estranged husband tries to stop us from getting ID cards?
November 30th, 2011 | TriCare Help | Posted by Military Times
My estranged husband of 26 years is retired Army and has been extremely hostile since I left our abusive relationship. In the two and a half years we have been separated, he has disobeyed every court order issued for child support and disclosure of income and assets. Now my daughter and I need new military ID cards, which we need to prove our coverage under Tricare — our only health insurance. Although I have been told that a hostile spouse cannot terminate Tricare while we are married, he will undoubtedly refuse to process the paperwork necessary for the new ID cards. How can I get the new ID cards without his cooperation?
Once you divorce your husband, your and your daughter’s Tricare eligibility will be separate issues.
Your daughter is automatically eligible for Tricare because her father is a retired uniformed service member. To use Tricare, she must be registered in DEERS and be issued her ID card. Only the uniformed services or the Defense Department can do either of those things for her. Her father’s permission, approval, or assistance, however, are not required.
You may need official help to register her in DEERS and to get her ID card if her father will not cooperate. All you need to do is call the DEERS Support Office, toll-free, at 1-800-538-9552. DEERS deals with eligibility issues only.
Your letter implies that you will still be eligible for Tricare after your divorce because of the 26-year duration of your marriage. DEERS can help you with that, too. If you meet the requirements as a former spouse, you are legally eligible for Tricare, and DEERS will help you get registered and get a proper ID card.
Your former husband does not have the power or the authority to prevent you from using Tricare. He cannot control your access to care and has no rights to know whether you file Tricare claims or anything about your medical care. That is all confidential.
However, the court may grant your former husband the right to information about his daughter’s claims and medical care. That is something to discuss with your attorney if you have one.