As a retired vet, I will be turning 65 in a few months. I understand that I will need to enroll in TFL in order to continue receiving my healthcare benefits from Tricare. While I have been receiving all kinds of Medicare offers in the mail (almost daily), I have yet to receive anything about TFL. How long before my 65th birthday should I get something in the mail? Also, I understand I will have to pay Part B premiums when I start TFL. Is the premium automatically taken out of my SS, or my military pension?
Are you enrolled in Tricare For Life (TLF)?
- Thread starter grampi
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As a current Tricare recepient, call your Humana rep and get your answer. Should be Humana East if you are in OH, IIRC.
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You really need to make sure you're enrolled in:
1. Medicare Part B
2. DEERS - Defense Eligibility Reporting System.
Without these two items, no TFL for you.
Six months.
Premiums for medicare come out of your SS. You never see it. Uncle just grabs it.
Good news is that medicare premiums are tax deductible IF IF IF IF medical expenses exceed a certain percentage of your AGI Adjusted Gross Income.
You do NOT need a Medicare Supplement. That's what TFL is for. Don't waste your time talking to Medicare supplement companies.
Drugs - TFL pays for most. You will have a copay on all of them. No free sandwiches at lunch. Express Scripts will be your provider. Coverage comes free with TFL. I can't remember if I signed up for Express Scripts, or if it was automatic.
But you're getting a huge benefits package that is the envy of nearly everyone. All that you pay for is your drug copay and some dental expenses.
Regarding Dental plans, we have not received any benefit from them. Paying out of pocket for dental expenses isn't much worse than buying Govt dental plans and paying copay. If you had a dental catastrophe, maybe you'd make out.
1. Medicare Part B
2. DEERS - Defense Eligibility Reporting System.
Without these two items, no TFL for you.
Six months.
Premiums for medicare come out of your SS. You never see it. Uncle just grabs it.
Good news is that medicare premiums are tax deductible IF IF IF IF medical expenses exceed a certain percentage of your AGI Adjusted Gross Income.
You do NOT need a Medicare Supplement. That's what TFL is for. Don't waste your time talking to Medicare supplement companies.
Drugs - TFL pays for most. You will have a copay on all of them. No free sandwiches at lunch. Express Scripts will be your provider. Coverage comes free with TFL. I can't remember if I signed up for Express Scripts, or if it was automatic.
But you're getting a huge benefits package that is the envy of nearly everyone. All that you pay for is your drug copay and some dental expenses.
Regarding Dental plans, we have not received any benefit from them. Paying out of pocket for dental expenses isn't much worse than buying Govt dental plans and paying copay. If you had a dental catastrophe, maybe you'd make out.
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TFL doesn't advertise like all the for profit Medicare Advantage plans. If I recall correctly, TFL is automatic, but you do have to sign up for Medicare Part B, which is required to be eligible for TFL.
Check your military ID card. When I became TFL eligible, my card expired. Everyone's did. Not sure if that is still the case, but probably is.
If you are already drawing Social Security, Medicare Part B payments for that will automatically come out of your SS payments. If you aren't drawing SS yet, you will have to pay for it yourself - it won't come out of your military retirement pay.
What will come out of your retirement pay will be premiums for vision and/or dental plans if you sign up for them. You have the opportunity to sign up for Government employee plans if you choose to.
Throw every piece of mail advertising Medicare [Advantage] Plans in the trash. Just say no to every phone call that tries to sell you the same.
Check your military ID card. When I became TFL eligible, my card expired. Everyone's did. Not sure if that is still the case, but probably is.
If you are already drawing Social Security, Medicare Part B payments for that will automatically come out of your SS payments. If you aren't drawing SS yet, you will have to pay for it yourself - it won't come out of your military retirement pay.
What will come out of your retirement pay will be premiums for vision and/or dental plans if you sign up for them. You have the opportunity to sign up for Government employee plans if you choose to.
Throw every piece of mail advertising Medicare [Advantage] Plans in the trash. Just say no to every phone call that tries to sell you the same.
Yes. My TFL is pretty seamless with Medicare. I get my Rxs filled at Walgreens. Small copay on most scripts. Tried Express Scripts. Their copays were way higher. Echo the above. Toss the supplement solicitations in the green bin outside.
Went into the ID office on base the day after I turned 65 with my Part A-B Medicare card and got enrolled in TFL, they issued me a new ID card and told me I'm set. Medicare and TFL are all you need. We did the same thing for my wife in Dec to get her enrolled in TFL, easy peasy.
Still get my Rx thru Express Scripts but wife uses CVS.
Still get my Rx thru Express Scripts but wife uses CVS.
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I live 15 mins away from a military installation, and my wife and I get all of our meds from the pharmacy there with no co-pays. I've been told that doesn't change once I go on TFL. The co-pays are only applicable if we get our meds off base.
I have our vision and dental plans through my civil service retirement. That shouldn't change...
Getting on the Express Scripts discussion, has anybody checked Mark Cuban's online pharmacy yet? I used to use the base, but they won't supply one of my prescriptions, Bystolic, so I went to Express. Looking at the Cuban site, it appears the total cost (not the copay) of my 6 meds is less than the Express Scripts copay. It would appear using Cuban would save me a bit, and save the Government a lot. This violates the engineering principal of "No free lunches", but I can't find the catch.
if you have fehb through your civil service retirement you can suspend, not cancel, fehb once your medicare and tricare for life coverages are set.
that said, i wish that tricare would be replaced by fehb at some kind of subsidy, similar to usps situation, since tricare largely has no monthly enrollment fee paid by policyholder. tricare is an administrative jungle (e.g. four different websites, unanswered phones, different log on credentials). fehb offers a huge variety of easily-navigated, responsive plans at various prices. some fehb plans offer direct payment for overseas coverage, others tie into medicare at reduced cost to the policyholder.
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i use “good rx” and pay cash for my one scrip, at 1/3 the cost of what i would pay out of pocket if using tricare pharmacy coverage.
Hmmm……….
If you have coverage in retirement through the FEHB, why would you cancel it to take Medicare?
You sign up for Medicare Part A (no cost) and keep your current FEHB provider.
You wouldn’t need Medicare Parts B, C, D, F, etc.,
The premium you pay monthly for FEHB can’t be any worse than the premiums for Medicare. And you don’t need a Medicare disAdvantage plan.
The only healthcare coverage I have from my civil service is for vision and dental. I never took the medical coverage because as a military retiree, I never needed it...
i didn’t cancel fehb, i suspended it, as carrying three health insurance plans was expensively redundant. i had to take medicare part b in order to continue with tricare, which comes at no monthly cost to me. i looked into a medicare advantage plan but these specifically don’t coordinate coverage with tricare for life.
How do you get Medicare Part B for no cost?
He meant Tricare comes at no cost, methinks.
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Grampi -- Pretty sure that the tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and free Medicare Part B do NOT exist. Never heard of anybody getting free Medicare Part B
I haven't either. Maybe I misunderstood his post...
