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Reserve retirees face longer wait for Tricare

“Gray area” military retirees who were promised health care coverage under Tricare may have to wait a year or longer for benefits to begin, Tricare officials are warning.

Reserve retirees, who have had to wait until age 60 before military health coverage begins, had been promised they could sign up for Tricare Reserve Select under a provision of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Oct 28.

Tricare coverage for the reserve retirees — called “gray area” retirees because they are eligible for, but not yet receiving, retirement benefits — was authorized effective Oct. 1, but everyone expected it would take six to eight months to implement, based on the amount of time it has taken for other Tricare changes.

But military and veterans associations were surprised Tuesday when a Tricare official said it could take 11 to 18 months before enrollment is allowed. One group thinks the delay might be driven by the budget.

“I suspect the Pentagon is slowing implementation to coincide with the next generation of a Tricare contract to avoid change order costs,” said Marshall Hanson, a retired Navy captain who is legislative director for the Reserve Officers Association.

Hanson’s group has launched an effort with other military associations to try to push the Defense Department to move faster by getting congressional leaders involved. Congressional aides working on military health care issues said they already have heard complaints about the slow implementation and were trying to determine the reason.

The Tricare statement warning of the delay says the new program requires Tricare to come up with “complex operational procedures, negotiate significant modifications to existing contracts and introduce changes in the Code of Federal Regulations.” The statement from Thomas E. Broyles, a Tricare Management Activity spokesman, was sent to several military and veterans groups that were inquiring about when the new benefit would begin.