Home > News > Article Display

TRICARE coverage follows college-bound students

By Brian Smith, TriWest Healthcare Alliance / Published July 05, 2007

PRINT | E-MAIL
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- College-bound family members of active-duty or retired servicemembers can take comfort that their TRICARE coverage will make the journey with them.
Insurance industry studies show as much as 10 percent of uninsured Americans are college students. 

As long as the sponsor remains eligible for TRICARE benefits - active-duty, retired or eligible under the Transitional Assistance Management Program - the eligible college-aged family member will remain covered until age 21. 

Benefits will extend until the student is 23 if he or she remains a full-time student at an accredited institution and more than half of their financial support comes from the sponsor. Eligible family members moving to another state or even a different TRICARE region will have coverage. 

A key for maintaining TRICARE eligibility is to ensure the student's address, status and personal information is updated in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS. If the information - including any change in address - is not updated, claims may be delayed or even denied. 

Coverage ends when the student either turns 23, graduates or otherwise ceases to be a full-time student, whichever occurs first.

TRICARE Programs
The choice of TRICARE programs (Prime, Standard or Extra) will depend on where the student lives. If the student lives near a military treatment facility in what TRICARE designates a Prime Service Area, they may enroll in Prime. Prime coverage is also portable, following the student during travels or when returning home. To avoid out-of-pocket costs, non-emergency care must be coordinated with the student's primary care manager and regional contractor where they are enrolled. 

Split enrollment allows the student with Prime coverage to live in a different TRICARE region than their sponsor. If an annual fee is due, it is due to the TRICARE regional contractor where the sponsor resides. One fee is paid per family, even if the TRICARE-eligible college family member lives in another region. The student then coordinates care with a primary care manager where they are located. 

Outside a PSA, TRICARE Standard and Extra are the only options. Standard and Extra coverage does not require enrollment, but the information in DEERS must be up-to-date. 

Students who were previously enrolled in Prime Remote for Active Duty Family Members can transfer their Prime coverage if the college is in a PSA. In non-PSAs, Standard and Extra are available so you should disenroll from TPRADFM to avoid Point of Service charges. 

TRICARE-eligible students may enroll for dental coverage, too, but it's separate from other TRICARE benefits. Depending on the sponsor's status, the TRICARE Dental Program or the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program is available for the student.
Students can get prescriptions through the TRICARE retail pharmacy network or from a local military treatment facility.

Helpful Web links 
* TRICARE benefits for college students
* Find a local uniformed services identification card-issuing facility
* DEERS information
* Dental  
* Pharmacy 
* TriWest Healthcare Alliance
USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.