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What to Do When Your Child Becomes Ineligible for TRICARE
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If you have a child who will soon be ineligible for TRICARE due to his or her age, you may want to look into the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP).
Your children remain eligible for TRICARE up to age 21, or age 23 if they are full-time college students, you provide at least 50 percent of their financial support and their Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) information is up-to-date. To extend your college student’s benefits beyond his or her 21st birthday, you must update DEERS.
To update DEERS:
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Visit a uniformed services personnel office. To find one near you, go to the RAPIDS Site Locator.
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Call 1-800-538-9552.
Your college student’s TRICARE Prime coverage ends if his or her DEERS record is not updated before age 21.
To reenroll a student in TRICARE Prime, you must update DEERS and document that the student is continuing his or her college education to age 23. Then, you must submit a TRICARE Prime Enrollment Application and PCM Change Form to reenroll in TRICARE Prime after the DEERS record is updated. Both steps must be done to reenroll in TRICARE Prime as updating DEERS does not update TRICARE Prime enrollment. If you choose not to reenroll the student in TRICARE Prime, he or she is covered by TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra.
Coverage after TRICARE
CHCBP is one option you can use if your college student still needs health care coverage after turning 23. It is a premium-based health care program administered by Humana Military and is similar to, but not part of, TRICARE. CHCBP gives your student up to 36 months of health care coverage after TRICARE eligibility ends.
The major difference between TRICARE and CHCBP is that you pay a quarterly premium for your child to participate. CHCBP benefits are comparable to TRICARE Standard, using the same providers and program rules.
Visit TRICARE's CHCBP portal for more information on CHCBP.
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