Tricare For Life vs. Medicare

Tricare for Life and Original Medicare — Medicare Part A and Part B — are federal health insurance programs. Tricare for Life acts as secondary insurance to Original Medicare for service members and military family members who have Medicare.

Among the chief differences between Tricare for Life and Original Medicare is that Tricare for Life helps pay your out-of-pocket costs — copays and coinsurance — that Original Medicare doesn’t cover.

Medicare is available to everyone in the U.S. who qualifies for it, while Tricare for Life provides Medicare-wraparound coverage for Tricare members who have Medicare Part A and Part B coverage.

There is no monthly premium for Tricare for Life, but you still have to pay the Medicare Part B monthly premium, which in 2022 is $170.10.

To understand the differences, it’s helpful to know the basic purpose of Tricare, Tricare for Life and Medicare.

You should not confuse Tricare and Tricare for Life with VA health care benefits. VA benefits apply to certain former service members who did not receive a dishonorable discharge and who meet certain other criteria.

Tricare for Life is not a Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare Advantage plans provide primary health care coverage. Tricare for Life helps pay for the costs your Medicare plan does not cover.

Tricare for Life also does not offer any Medicare Advantage plans. But if you are enrolled in Tricare for Life, you can still get a Medicare Advantage plan.

Tricare for Life supplements your Medicare Advantage plan the same way it works to fill coverage gaps if you have Original Medicare. But TFL doesn’t automatically link your payments through a Medicare Advantage plan like it does with Original Medicare. That means if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you’ll likely have to manually file claims with TFL and wait to be reimbursed.

You can check with Tricare for Life to see if a particular Medicare Advantage plan can be automatically linked to your TFL coverage by calling Tricare at 866-773-0404.

You can also compare Medicare plans to see which may offer the best coverage when combined with Tricare for Life.

Tricare for Life and Medicare work together to cover your health care costs. If the care you receive is covered by both, you may have no out-of-pocket expenses for covered care beyond Medicare Part B monthly premiums.

If you are a retired service member, you and your family are typically eligible for Tricare for Life when you turn 65. Once you are eligible, you are no longer eligible for Tricare Prime — the insurance provided by the federal government to military members and their dependents who are not eligible for Medicare. At that point, you will likely need to enroll in Medicare.

Tricare for Life provides coverage through any health care provider who accepts Medicare. But if you go through Veterans Administration health care providers who opt out of Medicare, you will have to pay more for their services, since those providers are not allowed to bill Medicare.