CBO recommends charging for Tricare for Life, TLF [View all]

CBO recommends charging for Tricare for Life, TLF

TFL Enrollment Fee
TFL beneficiaries pay Medicare Part B premiums, but TFL enrollment is automatic, and there is no enrollment fee or monthly premium for TFL coverage. A CBO proposal would require Medicare-eligible beneficiaries who choose to enroll in TFL to pay an annual enrollment fee of $575 for individual coverage or $1,150 for family coverage.

The enrollment fees would be indexed to grow at the same rate as average Medicare costs in later years.


The other CBO measure would introduce minimum out-of-pocket requirements in TFL, including an $850 deductible – TFL would not cover any of the first $850 of a beneficiary’s Medicare cost-sharing. After the deductible was satisfied, TFL would cover only 50% of the next $7,650 in Medicare cost-sharing.

This means TFL beneficiaries could face up to $4,675 in cost-sharing per year. Similar to the enrollment fee proposal, cost-sharing requirements would increase annually at the rate of Medicare cost increases.

The cost-sharing option would also require TFL beneficiaries seeking care from military treatment facilities (MTFs) to make payments roughly comparable to the charges they would face at civilian facilities; this would reduce their incentive to avoid out-of-pocket costs by switching to MTFs.

https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2023-news-articles/advocacy/tricare-for-life-benefit-targeted-by-congressional-budget-office-report/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TMNsend&utm_content=6r7bIyx+t3cAMHJh1eJHNA==+SC+ATFHSRM+1+ERet+L+CC