Expiration Date on the Back of Your Military ID Card?
Sep 24 2008
Yes, there it is on the back of your card, in the Medical block, under “EXP DATE.” Before Tricare for Life, the expiration date indicated when you dropped off the Tricare Prime or Standard rolls upon turning age 65. But now we have Tricare For Life for folks 65 and over and the expiration date still exists.
The processes used for issuing military ID cards do not allow for an “indefinite” or blank input in the expiration block. The costs for changing the systems are prohibitive. So a date will continue to be printed for the foreseeable future as the DOD hashes out the options.
The DOD Tricare Management Activity is aware of the issue and has passed the word to all contracted health providers and military treatment facilities. These agencies have been told to not pay as much attention to the ID card as to their on-line DEERS eligibility systems. DEERS has your most current eligibility information.
Of course being a very large organization, the health service community, someone will not get the word and occasionally deny a military retiree service based on the expired ID card date. If this should happen to you, ask the service provider to perform an interactive DEERS query rather than rely on the ID card information. Have your Medicare Part A and B card at the ready.
Does the above information apply to the dependents I D Card??
When you turn 65, you can have a new Retiree ID card issued. In the Medical block on the back of the card, Direct will be Yes (if you’re eligible for treatment at Military Health Facilities), Civilian will be Yes, Eff Date will be the date you became eligible for Medicare, and Exp Date will be Indef (contrary to what the first sentence in the second paragraph above says). A good time to do this is when your spouse’s ID card has to be renewed.
When a spouse’s ID card is renewed as he or she approaches 65, its expiration date will be the last day of the month prior to the month of the 65th birthday (unless the birthday is on the first of the month, when the expiration date will be the last date of the preceding month, e.g., birthdate is 1 Oct, expiration will be 31 Aug, and Medicare eligibility will be 1 Sep). A new dependent ID card will have to be issued, showing eligibility for Civilian care, i.e., Medicare, and thus for Tricare for Life.
My ID card has two Indef ‘s on it . One on the front and one on the rear. The cardwas issued March 23 2005. I am Tricare for Life.
I do not understand your position. My ID card has not exp date, it is INDEF, FRONT AND BACK????