Q. I need to have my status as a full-time college student verified for Tricare eligibility. My dad lives in Washington state and I go to school in Florida. I'm 22, will turn 23 in five months, and my military ID is expired. I went to my school's registrar office and got an official letter from them verifying my full-time student status. But I'm not sure what to do now.
A. Before getting into what you need to do, be aware that your eligibility for Tricare in full-time college student status ends when you turn 23. So you have five more months until the letter you just obtained becomes useless for Tricare eligibility purposes.
If you want to remain under Tricare in full-time student status for those five months, you need to do a couple of things right away. First, get a new ID card; a valid ID card is your principal proof of Tricare eligibility (though not your only one — your father can go to https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/ and generate, save and print an eligibility letter for you that will serve as proof of current coverage under Tricare).
You also need to have your full-time student status validated in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System database under your father's sponsorship. Send the letter you obtained from your school to your father so he can take it to the ID Card/DEERS office on his local military installation and get them to update your information in his file and verify you as a full-time student.
As far as renewing your ID card: A few years ago the Defense Department launched a new system called Real-time Automated Personnel Identification System, or RAPIDS, an online self-service portal that makes it possible to renew dependent ID cards even if the dependent and sponsor are geographically separated.
At his local ID Card/DEERS office, your father can "digitally" sign the required documents to renew your ID card. Those digital documents are then accessible by all military ID card-issuing facilities worldwide.
A dependent who is thousands of miles away can then go to the nearest RAPIDS ID card-issuing facility and complete the update process or have a new ID card issued. Your father can get details from his local ID Card/DEERS office or by calling the main DEERS support office toll free at 800-538-9552.
Last thing: Once you turn 23, your only remaining Tricare option will be Tricare Young Adult, which requires enrollment and payment of monthly premiums, and has a few other requirements as well. If you qualify for TYA, you may stay covered under that program until age 26.
At that point, you will age out of all Tricare options for nondisabled dependent children.
More information on Tricare Young Adult is here: www.militarytimes.com/TYA.
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/.
