Health Care Reform, Tricare, and the 26 Year Old Dependent
Mar 23 2010
Since the passage of the Health Care Reform bill, the number one question here at MOAA has been, “Will Tricare increase the age of a dependent to 26 to match the new law?”
Answer: Yes, but it won’t be soon. Military health care and Tricare fall under a different set of laws than the Health Care Reform act. Military health care requires changes in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). For the dependent age to increase to 26, the NDAA must authorize it. It will. Probably when the NDAA for FY2011 is passed which is usually around October or November of this year.
Then, once the law changes to allow 26 year olds, it has to flow through the bureaucracy. This could take a year…give or take. After a legal change, all the directives, policies, instructions, regulations, publications, computer systems, publication in the Federal Register with the required comment period, and the contracts with the Tricare insurance providers must change.
Oh, and don’t be surprised if when this change occurs, coverage for dependents over the age of 23 requires a premium. Don’t have any info to base this on, just a “worse-case-scenario” hunch.
In the meantime, check out these options if you need health care for an older dependent:
Tricare Continued Health Care Benefit Program
The MOAA Short-term Health Plan
To set an example of his new healthcare plan in action, CinC Obama should find a way to maximize the passing speed of this and minimize the potential dependent surcharge–if any….
The truly frustrating part of this is that for those of us with children who will age out at 23 who also have a chronic condition and can’t find a job with health care benefits in this economy realize our children have incredibly limited options–although emigration to Canada or the UK might be a very positive one.
OK, let’s see how this works. My son in 23 (24 next January) and will exit the military in October. As I see it, the change may not occur until he is close to 26. Is the law retroactive? Looks like he (me) should purchase a policy while he is using his GI bill benefits.
“cincobama” never erved, exempted himself and staff personnaly from the socialist medical plan and just doesn’t care since it dosn’t effect him. Your on your own. Get ready to wait in long lines.
And just what other privileges will the 23+ dependent get? currently, eligible dependents 23 and under get full base privileges, including BX, commissary, etc. Will the 23+ dependents get those also?
What about if the 23+ has a spouse/domestic partner and/or dependent children? Will they too be covered under the parents’ coverage?
I would suggest the intent of this legislation was that all healthcare providers conform to its’ rules. To allow any federal health plan to not comply would be pure hypocrisy in my view. Tricare should be leading the way by example, not dragging behind the curve.
So, my 2 sons who are ages 21 and 22 (until May 2010) won’t be covered until they are…. say around the ages of 24 and 25? Right now we carry MOAA Supplemental Insurance along with our Tricare Prime Insurance. What is the advice from you once my youngest son graduates from college… possibly December 2010? Shall we drop the MOAA Supplemental since he (they) won’t be covered under MOAA? My husband and I are covered under Tricare Prime (Family Plan).
Also, since they will probably be in other states, will we be able to then get the MOAA Supplemental ins. again? What we are still facing is having children without insurance. The oldest of my sons graduated May 2009 and it has been very hard for him to acquire a full time good paying job. As of today, he is subbing, part-time asst. coaching, and anything on the side with the university he graduated from. Neither of these jobs offer insurance. Another thing, my oldest son who is 25 yrs almost 26 (married) pays almost 300.00 per month for health insurance… that’s rediculous. That’s almost half his bring home pay. So happy about changes in the insurance industry… we need more!!! and SOON.
You can already cover dependents for up to 3 years after they “age out” (either 21 if not a college student and 23 if a college student) for a premium. The program is called the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) and the premium is $933/quarter with coverage for 18-36 months after they “age out”.
Info on the program can be found at http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/Download/Forms/CHCBP_Br_10_07.pdf
So, let me get this straight … it will take upwards of 2 years for the benefit period to be extended to age 26.
What a wonderful gift from our dysfunctional Congress. The primary distributors of hot air and bluster.
Merry Xmas to all like me you have dependents turning 23 but still in college!
OMG, the military is falling for this “hand out” mentality? If your “child” is 26 and living at home, assuming he/she does not have a serious physical/mental/medial condition, you need to kick him/her to the curb! Time to grow up folks! What has become of the military I knew and grew up with all my life? More and more retired folks I know, expect more and more be “given to them” because someone down the street gets it given to them! Sad state of affairs I am afraid!
I guess the pro-Hussein Obama group can’t stand it when someone does not fall in line, so you feel the need to delete such a response! Pretty Sad!
If Congress allows DoD to drag their feet on this will MOAA step and make this a priority? There’s no way that TRICARE should be allowed to enact the change any more slowly than private businesses and insurance companies are required to. Graet place to make an example that government run health care can take the lead on changes.
MOAA needs to take this on! As a MOAA member and for the good of the military families and retirees MOAA can pressure NDAA and Congress. The cost of CHCBP ($900+ a quarter) is the only option for children no longer meeting age requirements. Additionally, the number of PCMs that take CHCBP is so small that out of pocket fees are rediculous.
MOAA DOESN’T need to take this on! $300/month is not an unreasonable payment for a 24y/o “child” who has aged out of premium free; 30 years ago, WE found a job in the 1980-1982 recession (and like many of us, we joined the Service during that time because of the economy). And if your “child” can’t afford that $300/month premium, then show them where to go to sign-up for MEDICAID (the program for the working poor) run by the states and funded by the Federal Government.
I agree with JimC that I am shocked by the number of military members that want lower taxes and less Government (except for the entitlement that they want).
And I disagree with Peter Borosky about PCMs not taking the CHCBP; it is supposed to be TRICARE Standard, which is the same program that I use today (and I haven’t found ANYONE who refuses that … while only a small number of providers accept TRICARE Prime in the Charlotte NC area).
What MOAA should be pressing for is a larger military to deal with the world that we live in today … one that has more deployments and missions than we ever had before the end of the Cold War (when our Government took the peace dividend and cut the size of the military nearly in half). The last 8 years of war has nearly ruined the military that we built up after our last major war in Southeast Asia!
wow I think this is great…I have a son who will turn 25 in august..he is a full time student now but will graduate in december..so basically it will not even be a benefit to me…I feel I was dissed when all this started…my son was taken off our tricare when he turned 18…so no insurance because he was 18 yrs old..so for about 1 yr he didnt have any..and we paid out of pocket…we recieved a letter telling us this…he wasnt in school yet, he was working odd jobs to earn money to become a missionary. once he earned the money to do that…our church took over his medical expenses for 2 yrs. well when he came back he was 21 and we had him on tricare for 2 yrs till he turned 23 then he was cut off again….at that time he went to a different college that offered a medical insurance that is really just a discount program…plus the college actually charges in its upfront fees medical costs…there is a clinic on the school grounds and he has been seen twice in the 2 yrs he was there..I discovered the dental, optical, pharmacy benefits as part of the medical insurance discount plan I got…I used it and did get some money off the actual cost. today he went to see a dr at the clinic at no charge but the medicine he had to get was $290 brand name…he got the generic with the discount at $205. I cant believe we had to pay that much..but my son had shingles so bad around his back and side …he was in so much pain….we paid and hopefully there are no real bad side affects from the medicine…I hate to get generic on new type of meds as you dont know the side affects…..I am just going to pray…I think that we dont need gov insurance except for the military and retirees but we need good insurance for everyone…something affordable with no gov strings…and I want the availability for other families even if it doesnt work out for mine to have the security in knowing while their child is in school that they can get medical help…most families cant afford it…we cant and had to charge that amount…no wonder this country is going down hill in hock up to their ears….we are not paid enough to keep up with the high costs of buying anything in this country…
The CinC just had a news conference yesterday and stated the 26 year old rule would go into effect in Jan 2011. Who is believing this? Would someone stand up and yell “BS”! I have been paying for my 23 year old son in college since last Spring using the College Medical policy offered through the University of Kentucky. As a retired Veteran and 50% DAV I am appauled that someone really believes that this is really going to happen. No way the insurance companies are going to allow more folks covered with out more money. M.
This is not about us wanting more but about wanting the same as everyone else. If you have children leaving college now you would know that there are not a lot of jobs out there for them. The jobs the do find the companies only hire them part time so they do not need to provide them with insurance. If government is going to vote this in then I feel it should apply to everyone. It should have been in place to start when it started for everyone else. By the time it gets voted through it will not be beneficial for some of us. In the mean time with the economy what it is as a parent I feel I need to help my children who have been looking for over a year for a fulltime job have some kind of insurance. They are not living at home but they would have to if they had to pay for insurance because they can not afford the cost of insurance with all their other bills on part time jobs.
I do not understand how this reform does not benefit the military dependents until a year later–if it actually is going to go into effect. My son turned 21 four days ago, he had referrals to the hospital and refills on medication prior to turning 21. When I called our military insurance I was asked “if he is 21, why would he still have benefits?”
Tricare covers dependents to age 18 unless they become full time students and then they are covered until age 23. The Health Reform Act passed last spring increased the age for commercial health insurance dependents to age 26. Tricare and military health care do not fall under commercial health care laws. The military health care system has separate laws under the Defense Department. As a result, the Defense laws for FY 2011 are still being hashed around on the Hill. Once this law is passed by the House, Senate and signed by the President (maybe this or next month) then the law will be in place to increase the age for dependents to age 26. But wait! Once the law is passed, then the bureaucracy has to put in place all the policies, regulations, directives, instructions, and so on before anyone knows how to implement the new law. But wait! After all the paperwork finally catches up, then new contracts have to be negotiated and signed by the Tricare contractor companies before age 26 actually becomes a reality. Bottom line, age 26 may be a reality by summer or fall of 2011. One simple law ripples into a massive work load for bureaucracy.
I just spoke to a Customer Service Representative at Tricare and was told “Full time students are only covered until the age of 23. Tricare will not follow the new federal law covering students to the age of 26 because Tricare is an entitlement and not insurance”!! Why am I not surprised!!!
Secretary of Defense Gates is a traitor and should be run out of the U.S. He is screwing the military. From a wife of a Viet Nam Vet and mother and grandmother of sons and grandson who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan GATES is a coward
My daughter became 23 in Feb of this year. She has a chronic illness; therefore I had to choice but to continue her health coverage through CHCBP. One Tricare Representative told me it would be 933.00 per quarter, but the day I signed up, I paid 988.00. (quick change in prices) The Rep. also told me that Pres. Obama should have the part of dependent children staying on Tricare signed in approximatley two months and for me to keep all of my receipts because there is a chance I might get reimbursed. Then the Rep.
also said he thought the 988.00 was a lot. ( I was like da!!!!). I know my child’s health history and I know it would be cheaper to pay the 988.00 than for me to have taken a chance and not be able to pay her medical bills. Good thing I did pay because my daughter just came out of the hospital last Wed. after a three day stay. To think that it could be years before they finialize the 26 year old law
sadden me. I now have to pay this 988.00 every quarter and already have the bill, it’s due again 5-1-11. This is my child’s health
and that important. The CHCBP plan is only 3952.00 per year.
Yes, that all, right? It’s expensive, but I have to have it. It would be nice if the new law happens quickly not years down the road.
The Tricare age 26 law was passed last fall and now Tricare is working to implement the new coverage in the next month or two. There will be a premium charged but no number has been released by the DOD. We are guessing the annual premium will be around $2400. Keep watching the MOAA web site to catch when the age 26 program is released. Until then, Tricare states they will reimburse cost back to 1 Jan 11 when the program is announced so keep your receipts.
My son are covered under Tricare Prime also and still in college. How would they be able to get on post if their ID card expires after the age 23?? What about them continue counseling with Behavioral Health?? What about the school issues and problems trying to cope with life, prior military family deploying and the economy. These are serious issues too.