According to TRICARE, the new TRICARE Young Adult program will be available to eligible dependents who age out of TRICARE at age 21 (or 23, if full-time college students) who are not married or eligible for their own employer-sponsored coverage later this spring.
The people at TRICARE are fast-tracking implementation to ensure that later in the spring of 2011, qualified, unmarried dependents up to age 26 will be able to purchase purchase TRICARE Standard/Extra health coverage on a month-to-month basis.
- Those who are eligible to purchase coverage should save their receipts after the first of the year, as the benefit will be retroactive to January 1, 2011, provided premiums are also paid back to January 1.
- After purchasing coverage, enrollees will be issued a new ID card as verification.
Discussions are currently underway on how TRICARE Prime will be affected by this new program.
Details, like premium costs and application process, are still being worked out. Stay tuned, I'll post more information as it becomes available.
