The new year is here, and with it comes an increase in Tricare costs for military families and retirees.
The increase will amount to approximately 3%. For those using Tricare Prime and Tricare Select, it will mainly come from an increase in annual enrollment fees and deductibles. Copayments for medical services will not increase as much.
November 13th through December 12th marked the Tricare open enrollment season. During this time, members had the opportunity to modify their coverage for the new year.
Premiums will also rise in 2024 for young adults, retired and reserve troops enrolled in Tricare. This follows the sharp increase that happened with 2023 premiums. Those enrolled in Tricare for Life and pay Medicare Part B premiums will also see an increase.
Here is a further breakdown of how enrollment fees, deductibles, and copayments will change in 2024.
Enrollment Fees
Military retirees will notice an increase in their enrollment fees in 2024. However active-duty families in either Tricare Prime or Tricare Select will still have no annual enrollment fees.
Group A retirees (those who entered service before January 1st, 2018) using Tricare Select will have their annual enrollment fees increased by $10.92 for a family, and $6 for individuals.
Group A retirees using Tricare Prime will see a slightly larger increase in their enrollment fees. For family plans it will go up by $22.08, and for individuals it will go up by $11.04.
For retirees in Group B, their enrollment fees for a family plan will rise by $27, and $12.96 for individuals.
Deductibles
Similar to health plans for civilians, the deductible is the amount Tricare Select users must pay before Tricare covers any payments.
For retirees and active-duty family members in Group A they will see no changes to their deductibles.
Here is the breakdown of what’s happening to deductibles for those in Group B:
- Military personnel with a ranking of E-4 or below will see a $4 increase in their family deductible
- Military families with sponsors of E-5 or higher will have their deductible rise $12
- Individual military members ranked E-4 or below will see a $2 increase
- Individual military members ranked E-5 and above will see a $6 increase
Copayments
Tricare Select users with a family and who are active-duty in Group A will have a $2 increase in primary care appointments. For family members in Group B, their primary care copay will not change.
Retirees using Tricare Select will see a $2 increase next year in primary care visits, while people using Tricare Prime will pay $1 more per visit.
Other Changes
The catastrophic cap, which is the most you pay out-of-pocket for covered services each year, will be changing for certain Tricare users as well.
Military.com has the details on those changes:
Group A retirees using Tricare Select will see this cap increase in 2024 from $4,028 to $4,157.
While the cap for active-duty family members in Group A who have either Tricare Select or Tricare Prime will remain the same at $1,000 annually, those in Group B will see it increase from $1,217 to $1,256.
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