Tricare/Civ health care

[stonewall]

Guys,

I'm looking for some inputs about using my health care plan from my civ employer vs tricare. I know very little about Tricare. I was single while on AD and simply didn't care about dependent care. Now I'm single at FDX, and simply didn't care about our family healthcare plans.

I'm going to be getting married soon and also going on 2.5 years of orders at about the same time. I'll enroll my future fam in DEERS and all that jazz, but I think I can keep my civ healthcare and pay about 90$/mo for that. I think that will go up under our new contract.

If anyone has an opinion or advice about how to manage family healthcare while on long term Mil Leave, please fire away! Thanks in advance.

 

[RickKC-135]

That's a tough call, I was in a very similar situation. Tricare Prime cost about $500 a year and you get 100% coverage but no dental coverage. For me and my dependants dental coverage with AD/Ret cost about $90 a month. So the bill for 100% coverage and dental through the AF was about $500 plus $90 per month.

Now the FedEx option. This depends highly on where you live. For me it was a package which gives 80% coverage with dental included, for $86 a month. This plan also had a total deductable of $450/year/family. So you can see both are very similar in cost.

I elected to take the FedEx coverage because you can default to Tricare Standard which cost nothing and and gives you a 75% coverage. Thus for the same price you end up with two plans, and everyone knows two is better than one.

Now, while you are on active duty, the Tricare Prime cost nothing for you and your family but it does not include dental. So if I were in your shoes it comes down to how much you plan to use the dental. If you expect to have big dental bills get the FedEx plan. If not, Tricare Prime cost nothing, and would be the cheaper option.

 

[SIG600]

Cashing in the snake ranch for married life? You're no longer my hero...

 

[AlbieF15]

Congrats on the new life. If you do it right--its better than you can even imagine...I wish you the very best.

Might hold off a bit on choosing--new contract has BCBS vice CIGNA (I think). All our data points may need to be adjusted a bit as we get insights in dealing with new provider. Cigna took care of all my back surgery in 05--less than $600 out of pocket for surgery, 3 MRIs, numerous visits to specialists and enough drugs to knock down a whole herd of elephants.

 

[scoreboard]

Go for both until you decide. I have seen that the further away from a base you are, the better the company plan is, however, even at SWA, the health plan is costing more out of pocket every year. TRICARE also has cap for catostrophic problems, UHC has a 2 mil cap, hope it never ever comes to that, but $500 for Tricare-prime a year is cheap.

I'm 7 days post rotator cuff repair via endoscopy, i figure when tricare pays the 10% out of pocket UHC does not pay, it will pay for itself for the next three years.

 

[Rotorhead1]

I have just returned to active duty in the Army after be retired 10 years. I have selected to keep my heath plan where I worked (ASA). The plan cost me $193 a month which includes medical, dental, and vision. My insurance is with United Healthcare. My secondary health insurance for my family is Tricare Standard. I feel this is the best plan I could have ask for. A bit expensive but not near as expensive as I coild have been.