Military Retiree Benefits

Bill_Ace_350

Elite Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
1,326
Location
Upstate New York
Retired, have Tricare Prime health insurance.
Wife fell fractured her wrist on Tuesday.

Had surgery on Thursday at Walter Reed. Has a plate and some.screws.

Thankfully she is ok.

So thankful to have this retiree benifit.

She's ok and it won't cost us a dime.
 
Glad she's okay! Tricare For Life has been a blessing for me and my family. My father and mother had it as well and it was a godsend. Mom and dad both battled cancer and had enormous medical bills, all of which were covered 100%. They would have been flat broke without it. Lost dad in 2009 and my mother this last January. I was blessed to have had model parents....
 
It all depends on where you live. There are areas in the US where Tricare is not accepted, I was briefed on these areas when I first separated. We are fine with TFL but have found a large number of Dentists do not accept the Tricare Dental Program.

Then at 65 you have to pay Medicare and that will set you back $144 a month. Dental and Vision insurance cost another $120 month. Before prescriptions, My out of pocket expenses are $450 Month.

While still a good benefit and I consider myself very fortunate, its far from the Free Health Care for Life that we were promised upon completion of a military career.
 
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Yep......veteran here, too. Took care of the wife for the first 1.5 years of my civilian retirement, and lost her to cancer last September. If it hadn't been for her Medicare, and the TFL coverage, I'd have had to file for bankruptcy protection.

As for my Tricare, I'm a cheap date, so far. Still in pretty good health, take only three prescriptions for medical purposes.

Glad I served....it was well worth it on this end.

Roger
 
Yep,
My wife has cirrhosis of liver.
Had shunt installed.

Her medical bill was a load.
Didn’t pay a penny.

I worked hard in military for over 22 years.
Don’t feel a bit guilty taking this benefit either.

Thank you all for your service.

Cheers.
 
Hey.....sidebar question to you guys that are also on Medicare.

Is it a requirement from Tricare that you/we get it, or is it just a very strong recommendation to get it early?
I do know that the later one enrolls in Medicare, the higher the premiums are.

It's just that my thought processes are; do I really need to get Medicare, being as I already have "free" Tricare. ('course, that only covers 80%.)

Thanks.....Roger
 
Hey.....sidebar question to you guys that are also on Medicare.

Is it a requirement from Tricare that you/we get it, or is it just a very strong recommendation to get it early?
I do know that the later one enrolls in Medicare, the higher the premiums are.

It's just that my thought processes are; do I really need to get Medicare, being as I already have "free" Tricare. ('course, that only covers 80%.)

Thanks.....Roger

Here’s the answer.
Military retirees and dependents MUST enroll in Medicare part B. After one turns 65, Medicare will become primary insurance and tricare secondary insurance.

Now this is really not so bad.
Why?
Those Medicare supplement health insurance policies ain’t cheap, especially as you get older and older.
So those cost savings will add up over time.

This does not apply to having to enroll in part D Medicare.
So one’s prescriptions using express scripts still works.
 
I chose Prime because I work on an installation with healthcare facilities. Would be stupid not to use it.

On a totally different topic, the commissary at Fort Myers sells beer and wine now.

Not the Class VI or PX, the commissary.

Never saw that before.
 
Tnsharpshooter; Thanks much for both the replies.

I wasn't sure how that would be handled, but am not surprised.
Although, it seems a bit .....unfair, as we all served our 20+ years, partially on the promise of that medical insurance being available to us, and now, at 65, we have to start paying for some of what was promised.

But I'm just another grumpy, old, opinionated SOB, so what do I know?

Roger
 
Tnsharpshooter; Thanks much for both the replies.

I wasn't sure how that would be handled, but am not surprised.
Although, it seems a bit .....unfair, as we all served our 20+ years, partially on the promise of that medical insurance being available to us, and now, at 65, we have to start paying for some of what was promised.

But I'm just another grumpy, old, opinionated SOB, so what do I know?

Roger

This was why they put expiration dates that coincided with one’s 65 birthday on ID cards.

Also for folks that don’t know. For persons on disability seems they will put indefinite expiration date on dependents ID cards. They did this for my wife last ID card. This is convenient for those like us, as it is around 80 Miles’s to nearest DOD military base.

Cheers.
 
TN i retired from the Navy in 1978 and my retired card has always said indefinite. My wifes dependent card has always had an expiration date.
 
TN i retired from the Navy in 1978 and my retired card has always said indefinite. My wifes dependent card has always had an expiration date.

Don’t know how old your ID card is.
Look on back.
Mine says expires for medical 2027. The same year I turn 65.
The front of my card says indef for expiration.
My wife’s card use to have expiration date on front.
But when she last went to get a card before hers expired, they issued her next card, says expiration date indefinite. The reason is she is disabled. She by doing this keeps here form having to make another’s trip to get new ID card.

Now the reason they put the medical expiration date on cards is to alert a person about signing up for medical part B, so one can keep their tricare benefits.
 
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