7-06-12
Fee Increase for TRICARE Prime Enrollees
TRICARE Management
Activity (TMA) announced this week that annual enrollment fees for
military retirees participating in TRICARE Prime will increase effective
Oct. 1, 2012. Last
year’s fee increases varied based on enrollment date, but the new
annual fees will rise to $269.28 for all individual enrollees and to
$538.56 for families, aligning the fee structure for all
beneficiaries. Medically-retired uniformed service members and their
dependents, as well as survivors of active duty deceased sponsors, are
exempt from these increases.
The fee hikes are the
result of 2011 legislation that restricted TRICARE increases to
retirees’ 2012 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Despite these increases, the
Department of Defense (DoD) calls for additional Prime fee hikes for
military retirees and new enrollment fees for TRICARE Standard, Extra
and TRICARE-for-Life beneficiaries in 2013, all pegged to future health
care inflation. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees
have rejected these
proposals, however the full Senate has not yet finalized its 2013
Defense Authorization Bill.
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