Tricare prices set for gray-area retireesBy Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 6, 2010 18:00:16 EDT
Tricare health benefits for so-called “gray area” retirees will cost $388.31 a month for single coverage and $976.41 a month for families, under proposed rules for the new program announced Friday.The health benefits could be available by Oct. 1.
Premiums are spelled out in an interim final rule published in the Aug. 6 Federal Register that will be open for public comment until Oct. 5.
However, Tricare officials indicated they will not wait for the two-month comment period to end before opening enrollments, which they hope to do September with benefits beginning as early as Oct. 1, according to a statement.
Initial applications will have to include payment of the first month’s premium. The program is open only to gray-area retirees and their families, or the survivor of a gray-area retiree who is not enrolled or eligible for an employer-provided health plan.