Tricare upgrade for children being studied - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Tricare upgrade for children being studied

National health care reform, which could be signed into law this week, has a key new benefit for families that will not apply to military families enrolled in the Tricare health insurance program.

A key expansion of benefits in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HR 3590, is a requirement for health insurers to cover unmarried children up to the age of 26 who are carried on the policy of a parent.

This change, like the rest of the bill, does not apply to Tricare, according to Defense Department and congressional sources.

But congressional aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said several lawmakers have begun investigating how to alter Tricare so that it also covers older children who do not have their own coverage. A change is being considered for inclusion in the 2011 defense authorization bill, which the House and Senate armed services committees will begin writing later this year.

Currently, Tricare covers unmarried children up to age 23 if they are attending college or up to 21 if they are not.

Tricare spokesman Austin Comacho said he could not give a definitive statement about whether Tricare’s age limit for children would be changed.

“The only thing we can be sure of is that there will be no adverse impact to our beneficiaries,” he said.