Q. I'm getting married to a soldier very soon, but my father refuses to take me off his DEERS record as his dependent. He will not tell me why. Is there any way I can take myself off his DEERS record so I can be put on my soon-to-be husband's? I'm also due to have a baby soon, which is only adding to my anxiety.
A. That's rather odd; your father derives no obvious benefit from keeping you on his Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System record as his dependent.
In any event, you can't be listed in DEERS under two separate military sponsors. And unfortunately, only the sponsor has the authority to make changes to his or her DEERS record.
You don't say how old you are, but you will automatically age out of Tricare coverage as a dependent child when you turn 21 (or 23 if you're a full-time college student). At those age points, your father should not be able to keep you on his DEERS record even if he wanted to, and you could shift to your soon-to-be-husband's military sponsorship in DEERS.
The important thing for you is that as long as you remain on your father's DEERS record, you are eligible to have a military dependent ID card. That gives you continued access to Tricare coverage for yourself, to include the upcoming maternity services you will require. The baby is not an issue in regards to DEERS; your soldier fiancé, as the father, can list the baby under his sponsorship in DEERS as soon as it is born.
Visit the ID Card/DEERS office on your nearest military installation or call the main DEERS support office in California for further information and guidance. The number is 800-538-9552.
Q. I am a retired reservist, 61 years old, and also a civil servant working in the Veterans Health Administration. My wife and I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the VA and like our coverage. I'll probably retire next year at 62. My spouse, who is also an RN (at a non-VA facility) has not decided yet if she'll retire. Should I keep my BC/BS after retirement, or should I use Tricare? And what should I be looking at when I turn 65?
A. Tricare Help gets this kind of question quite often, and it's one we can't answer definitively, for the simple reason that everyone's circumstances, financial resources and coverage comfort level are different.
You are free to keep your BC/BS coverage; whichever Tricare option you carry (Prime or Standard) will simply serve as a backup second payer. If you go that route, you'd be better off from a cost perspective by going with Standard, since Prime requires payment of an annual enrollment fee, which would be in addition to your BCBS premiums.
If you choose to go with Tricare Prime or Standard only, Tricare does cover a vast array of medical services and procedures. In terms of cost, while Prime requires enrollment and payment of annual premiums, its out-of-pocket costs in the form of co-pays and cost shares tends to be lower than under Standard.
The decision ultimately rests on how much you can comfortably afford to pay for health coverage, and how much health coverage you believe you really need.
When you turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare, you will shift to Tricare for Life, with Medicare Parts A and B as first payer and Tricare Standard as secondary payer. This combination will cover 100 percent of your costs on the vast majority of your claims.
However, TFL does have some coverage quirks; one of the biggest is the fact that neither Medicare nor Tricare Standard covers routine eye exams, eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing tests or hearing aids. That's one of the reasons that many TFL beneficiaries look into getting a relatively inexpensive "Tricare supplemental" policy. Many military associations and veterans groups offer such supplemental policies; Google the words "Tricare supplemental" and you'll get a bunch of options to compare.
Email tricarehelp@militarytimes.com. Include the word "Tricare" in the subject line.
