Q. So I'm divorced, 25 years old, trying to get on my active Army dad's Tricare until I'm 26. I sent in an application for Tricare Young Adult but they said they never got it. So I called and a lady told me I was still listed in their records under my married name. Here's the thing: My ex-husband is no longer in the Marines; I spoke with him verifying he was out and he did everything he needs to do to sign out of the military. But DEERS is telling me he's still on active duty. And since I'm still listed in there under my married name, they won't let me get off his DEERS record unless I send in my divorce papers. Why do I need to send in personal documents when he's not supposed to be signed up with DEERS anymore, since he's out? Now I can't seem to get a hold of anyone in DEERS for weeks. And I'm not not close to a base. Bottom line, I just don't feel I should have to send in personal documents to show we are divorced to get off his DEERS when he's no longer active. What to I do? I have to get off my ex's DEERS to transfer over to my dad's!
A. Generally, it's the responsibility of a Tricare beneficiary's "military sponsor" — in this case, your Marine ex-husband — to ensure all information is up to date on all people listed on the sponsor's DEERS record. But since he is now out of the military, your DEERS status is no longer really his concern (although the fact that he, himself, is apparently still showing up as being on active duty in DEERS might be of possible concern to him).
In any event, it's unclear why you are so opposed to sending DEERS a copy of your divorce papers. After all, those are public documents on file with whatever legal jurisdiction you were divorced in. If DEERS officials are telling you that's what they need to get your situation straightened out, then doing so would allow you to put this behind you and move on. There is no real avenue of appeal in this situation, which is what you seem to be looking for.
You need to contact the main DEERS support office in California. The toll-free number is 800-538-9552.
Q. Our daughter is an Air Force E-3 assigned to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and living off base. Our other daughter, a civilian, is moving to Germany to live with her sister. How do we set up our civilian daughter with medical coverage?
A. Unfortunately, siblings generally are not eligible for Tricare.
However, Tricare itself does not make eligibility determinations; only the military services may do that. The mechanism they use is the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
There is an ID Card/DEERS office on every military installation, and a main DEERS support office in California that can be reached toll free at 800-538-9552.■
Email tricarehelp@militarytimes.com. Include the word "Tricare" in the subject line and do not attach files. Get Tricare advice any time at http://blogs.militarytimes.com/tricarehelp/.
