kschultz wrote: We're getting ready to semi retire and I am curious if it is worth while getting Tricare supplement insurance to help offset the costs when using Tricare Standard. If so do you have any suggestions from past experience on the best insurance carrier for the supplemental. Thank-you.
In my opinion, it depends on if you'll need to use medical quite a bit. Judge the difference in the cost of the supplement to what your out-of-pocket share would be for medical service.
My wife and I see our family physician once or twice a year, have a couple normal yearly tests done, see a cardiologist once a year, and have a CAT scan once a year. In 2012, our out-of-pocket cost was a little under $1100 for the year on medical services (this includes medications). Our yearly average over the past 8 years (since fulltiming) is $850 a year. I would need to consider the cost of the supplemental insurance and see if I would save anything. Currently, I don't use a supplement.
Remember, there is still a $3000 sending cap on Tricare Standard (last I knew). This is the most we would spend out-of-pocket in a year on medical care. After that, Tricare covers us 100%.
