Beneficiary Standard Handbook

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Life Events
Getting Married or Divorced
         
Life Events

TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra continue to provide health coverage for you and your family as you experience major life events. You will, however, need to take specific actions to make sure you remain eligible for TRICARE. With every life event listed in this section, the first step is to update your information in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS).

To update DEERS:
 
  • Visit a uniformed services personnel office.  Find one near you.
  • Call 1 (800) 538-9552.
  • Fax address changes to DEERS at 1 (831) 655-8317.
  • Mail the address change to:
     
        Defense Manpower
Data Center Support Office
Attn: COA
400 Gigling Road
Seaside, CA 93955-6771
Read the following sections to learn what to do when you get married, have a child, move, retire, and more.


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Getting Married or Divorced
Marriage

It is extremely important that active duty and retired sponsors register their new spouses in DEERS to ensure they are eligible for TRICARE. To register a new spouse, the sponsor will need to provide a copy of the marriage certificate to the nearest uniformed services ID card-issuing facility. Once the spouse is registered in DEERS, he or she will receive a uniformed services ID card and will be eligible for TRICARE. When accessing care, providers will ask to see the ID card.


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Divorce

In the case of a divorce, sponsors must report to DEERS that the former spouse is no longer eligible for TRICARE. You will need a copy of the divorce decree to update DEERS.


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Children
After a divorce, children (biological and adopted) remain eligible for TRICARE up to age 21 (or age 23 if enrolled in college full time and the sponsor provides at least 50 percent of the financial support) as long as their information is kept up to date in DEERS. While children normally do not get their own uniformed services ID card until age 10, children under age 10 should have an ID card of their own when they are in the custody of a parent or guardian who is not eligible for TRICARE benefits or who is not the custodial parent after a divorce. Please check with DEERS for eligibility criteria. Patient privacy may be a factor for divorced parents attempting to obtain information about received health care services. Contact Humana Military for assistance. Note: Children with a disability may remain eligible for TRICARE beyond the normal age limits. Please contact DEERS to verify what documentation is needed to extend coverage.


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Former Spouses
Certain former spouses are eligible to continue TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra coverage if the following requirements are met:
 
  1. Must not remarry (If they remarry, the loss of benefits remains applicable even if remarriage ends in death or divorce.)
  2. Must not be covered by an employer-sponsored health plan
  3. Must not be the former spouse of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization or “Partners for Peace” nation member
  4. Must meet the requirements of one of the three situations in Figure 5.1.


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Eligibility Requirements for Former Spouses


Figure 5.1

1
  • Must have been married to the same member or former member for at least 20 years, and at least 20 of those years must have been creditable in determining the member’s eligibility for retirement pay.
  • If the date of the final decree of divorce or annulment was on or after February 1, 1983, the former spouse is eligible for TRICARE coverage of health care that is received after the date of the divorce or annulment.
  • If the date of the final decree is before February 1, 1983, the former spouse is eligible for TRICARE coverage of health care received on or after January 1, 1985.
  • Eligibility continues as long as the preceding requirements continue to be met.

     

2
  • Must have been married to the same military member or former member for at least 20 years, and at least 15—but less than 20—of those married years must have been creditable in determining the member’s eligibility for retirement pay.
  • If the date of the final decree of divorce or annulment is before April 1, 1985, the former spouse is eligible only for care received on or after January 1, 1985, or the date of the decree, whichever is later.
  • Eligibility continues as long as the preceding requirements continue to be met. However, if the date of the final divorce decree or annulment is on or after April 1, 1985, but before September 29, 1988, the former spouse is eligible for care received from the date of the decree until December 31, 1988, or two years from the date of the decree, whichever is later.
     

3
  • Must have been married to the same military member or former member for at least 20 years, and at least 15—but less than 20—of those married years must have been creditable in determining the member’s eligibility for retirement pay.
  • If the date of the final decree of divorce or annulment is on or after September 29, 1988, the former spouse is eligible only for care received for one year from the date of the decree.
           
When a former spouse is eligible for TRICARE coverage, he or she must change his or her personal information in DEERS so that his or her name and Social Security number (SSN) is listed as the primary contact. The former spouse’s TRICARE eligibility will be shown in DEERS under his or her SSN.


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Last Update: February 15, 2008