Your TRICARE Select coverage could stop if you don’t take action by January 1, 2019. New changes mean that people who receive health care through TRICARE Select must officially enroll. If you fail to enroll, simply showing up at the doctor’s office could result in unpleasant billing surprises. Take this important step soon to avoid losing your coverage.
TRICARE Changes
Significant changes were made to the TRICARE system on January 1, 2018. At that time, TRICARE Select replaced TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra, and people who were eligible for TRICARE Standard/Extra on December 31, 2017, were automatically enrolled in TRICARE Select. Going forward, a new rule requires beneficiaries to enroll in order to get or change coverage. While beneficiaries of other plans, such as Prime, are accustomed to purchasing or enrolling, this is a new twist for people covered under TRICARE Select.
Now we’re getting ready for 2019, and enrollment will not be automatic. To keep your TRICARE Select coverage, you need to enroll by January 1, 2019. As of this time, no grace period has been announced.
This change is part of the overall effort to improve TRICARE coverage while keeping costs down. Other changes that occurred included easier access to urgent care, increased coverage for medically necessary foods, additional preventative care services for TRICARE Select beneficiaries with no copay (when in network), and fixed-amount copays that replaced many variable cost shares. Here's more about how to enroll in TRICARE Select.
Who Is and Is Not Affected
These changes impact individuals who currently use TRICARE Select for their health coverage. It also affects people who will begin using TRICARE Select in 2019.
If you are on active duty, you will not be impacted. Likewise, if you enroll in TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Reserve Select and pay an enrollment fee for health care, your process for securing coverage will not change.
If you already have a TRICARE Supplement Plan, you won't need to re-enroll to keep that.
TRICARE + TRICARE Supplement Plan
A TRICARE Supplement insurance plan wraps around TRICARE insurance to cover the costs the government leaves behind; for example, cost shares, copays, excess charges, as well as prescription copays. TRICARE Supplement insurance is an additional coverage option designed to work with TRICARE Select, TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS) or TRICARE Retired Reserves (TRR). It is available to TRICARE eligible beneficiaries who are not eligible for Medicare, including military retirees, their spouses and their eligible dependents.
You must have TRICARE insurance to have a TRICARE Supplement. That means if you do not enroll in TRICARE Select, you will lose your TRICARE Select coverage, and this will make you ineligible for the TRICARE Supplement Plan.
TRICARE Supplement insurance helps pay for the copays, cost shares and excess charges that TRICARE beneficiaries normally have to pay out-of-pocket. As a result, TRICARE Supplement can keep out-of-pocket health care expenses down while also making these expenses more predictable and easier to budget. Whether you are enrolling for the first time in TRICARE Select, or you have been using Select services before, now is a great time to investigate how you can help get reimbursed for your share of health care costs.
For example, if you have TRICARE Select, adding a TRICARE Supplement insurance plan can help reimburse you for out-of-pocket expenses. Those out-of-pocket expenses could be as much as $3,000 per year, but a Supplement helps reduce that amount, after all applicable deductibles and premiums are paid. This is really helpful for your share of prescription costs, which has risen quite a bit in the last year.
Act Now to Avoid Losing Coverage
Don’t risk losing your coverage in 2019. Make sure you enroll, then speak with a rep right away to learn more and to see how a supplement plan could help you manage the out-of-pocket costs of your 2019 TRICARE Select Plan. Here are your next steps:
- Enroll in TRICARE Select
- Speak with a Selman & Company rep about supplemental insurance: 855.637.1961
- Get an instant quote and enroll online for a TRICARE Supplement:
- Read more about TRICARE Supplements
- Watch this video to learn more about changes to TRICARE:
Photo Credits: DoD. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
