triCare supplements

I will be retiring in September of this year and will probably sign up for TRICARE standard. I have looked at one TRICARE supplement plan, but I am wondering: ???

1. Are any significant differences in the plans?

2. What plans the members of this forum use and recommend?

3. How much out of pocket you have to pay, besides the premium and annual deductible?

All help appreciated. Thanks.

CDR

The best deal going is Tricare Prime IF you are located near a military medical facility and can be accepted as a patient. Essentially everything is paid except for a $25 co-pay on outside referrals. Say your doctor decides you need to see a podiatrist or a cardiologist. You go to the podiatrist or cardiologist, pay them $25 and everything else is covered.

I have Tricare standard because we travel all the time and I can not work within an HMO structure (which is what Prime is). Standard is point of purchase. In the two years we have been on the program we have gone without supplemental insurance and my out of pocket expenses have been less than the supplemental would have cost.

Bottom line, read the literature, figure the estimated costs and go with what makes you happy. Some people like giving money to insurance companies, others avoid it even if it could cost more. My grandfather was an insurance junkie. He had a trailer parked near the ocean that was worth about $50 if it burned to the ground. He ALWAYS had it insured for $1,500 (which they never would have paid) and it cost him $75 per year for the policy. I talked him out of it one year and he was a nervous wreck by the time he was able to re-insure the property. The insurance agent should have been jailed.

Glenn

I live in el paso, have the "Prime" costs about 480 per year. Wife had back surgery at civilian place , 450,000 total, tricare paid all but 289.00. sure Standard is ok, but I have not had any problems outside of our area using tricare. If you have retired and have med insurance from employer all the better, we have a 4000 deduct, plus the tricare, deduct is primary, tri secondary, don't need referrals etcetc to see civilians specalists. or while traveling. they bill the primary deduct, don't get anything and then bill tricare. Works good next year I'll add medicare or whatever it is the Gov's got.

larry;

I agree with you that prime is great but understand that at 65 you are no longer eligible for prime. You will have to register for Medicare (and pay their fees) and Tricare standard becomes your second (or perhaps in your case, third) payer. You don't get a choice in the matter. That really screws up some people who are expecting to keep their prime and don't plan for the change.

Glenn

We also travel fulltime and Standard has been best for us. We can't live with the restirctions of Prime, since we're always in a different location. Luckily, we're fairly healthy. Our medical bills (including prescriptions) have been less than the $480 yearly fee for Prime. If we do have a major issue (like back surgery costing $450,000), we have the same catastrophe cap of $3000/year. So the most we'll ever pay in a year is $3000 (it may be a bit higher now).

Although standard works for us, it may not be best for others. There's a GREAT article on this website that compares Prime and Standard for fulltime travelers. An no, I didn't write it.

Correct me if I'm mistaken here -- but I believe the TC Standard CAP is $1500 per family member, and $3000 per family annually. But it does change occasionally, and I'm not exacty sure here at this point in time ...