Tricare for Life Question

I and wife are currenty covered under Tricare Standard. I am coming up on my 65th birthday and will be enrolled in Medicare A & B automatically.... My question is two-fold.

1. Does TFL provide prescription coverage? Do I need to enroll in Medicare Part D, or does TFL cover prescriptions, and is there a co-pay.
2. My spouse will NOT be eligible for TFL, does my Tricare Standard coverage continue for her? Is there anything I need to do relative to her ID card when I start TFL?

OKay three-fold,
3. Does Medicare and/or TFL have a catastrophic medical expense ceiling like Tricare Standards $3000 cap?

I have perused all the info I could find both at SS and Tricare, and it seems that their answers are ambiguous at best.
Thanks to those of you who have experience in this area....John

Big John wrote:

I and wife are currenty covered under Tricare Standard. I am coming up on my 65th birthday and will be enrolled in Medicare A & B automatically.... My question is two-fold.

1. Does TFL provide prescription coverage? Do I need to enroll in Medicare Part D, or does TFL cover prescriptions, and is there a co-pay.
2. My spouse will NOT be eligible for TFL, does my Tricare Standard coverage continue for her? Is there anything I need to do relative to her ID card when I start TFL?

OKay three-fold,
3. Does Medicare and/or TFL have a catastrophic medical expense ceiling like Tricare Standards $3000 cap?

I have perused all the info I could find both at SS and Tricare, and it seems that their answers are ambiguous at best.
Thanks to those of you who have experience in this area....John

John, TFL does have the RX coverage for life. You can use the military pharmacies or the coverage on the internet called Express Scripts for the perscriptions. If you choose the military there is no charge. If you use the express scripts then there is a co-pay and it could be different for the different perscriptions you use. It depends if there is a generic or not, and how many months you fill the rx for. As for the wife, her coverage continues without any further things to do. You can use the military for things like perscriptions,lab, x-ray, physical therepy, and any other things that the military has to offer where you are. There is a cap, like you had before for medicare and TFL standard etc. I hope this answers your questions. When you switch over to medicare, you stop paying for TFL for yourself if you have been paying. I payed for TFL but if you are using standard, I don't think you were paying for that.
Bill O.

I am on TFL, wife is on Standard. Hers stays the same, I did have to enroll in medicare part B. Because we are full timers and always moving around, we get our prescriptions filled at Wal Mart. Works great for us. We do pay a bigger co-pay than the mail order would be, but don't have to worry about getting our mail before I run out of meds.

Big John wrote:

I and wife are currenty covered under Tricare Standard. I am coming up on my 65th birthday and will be enrolled in Medicare A & B automatically.... My question is two-fold.

1. Does TFL provide prescription coverage? Do I need to enroll in Medicare Part D, or does TFL cover prescriptions, and is there a co-pay.
2. My spouse will NOT be eligible for TFL, does my Tricare Standard coverage continue for her? Is there anything I need to do relative to her ID card when I start TFL?

OKay three-fold,
3. Does Medicare and/or TFL have a catastrophic medical expense ceiling like Tricare Standards $3000 cap?

I have perused all the info I could find both at SS and Tricare, and it seems that their answers are ambiguous at best.
Thanks to those of you who have experience in this area....John

You've already gotten good answers. I am on Tri-Care Standard and my wife is on TFL and Medicare. (I married an older woman.) When she turned 65 this year we had to get her a new ID card since hers was only issued up to her 65th birthday. My ID card has an indefinite renewal date but on the back, where the medical is shown, that part expires the month I turn 65 in two years. That means I'll then have to get a new ID.

Nothing changed as far as prescriptions. We both still get them at Wal-Mart through Tri-Care. No, we do not need to sign up for part D. The wife pays for Medicare Part B but there is no charge for TFL just like Tri-Care Standard. We could use the local AF base but it is a 50 mile round trip and is not worth it to us. We like to use Wal-Mart because we can get prescriptions filled anywhere in the country. (Except for Key West. We found out there is no Wal-Mart in Key West. Fortunately they did have a Walgreens.) Most of our meds, which are generic, cost us $9.00 for three months. A couple that are not generic cost us $27.00 for three months worth. The mail order will give you three months worth for $3.00 for generic and $9.00 for non-generic.

Thanks to all..... This has been really informative... and helpful! May you all have a great holiday season and a great 2010.