TRICARE 101 for college students Published April 7, 2009 By TRICARE SEMBACH AIR BASE, Germany -- The end of the school year is almost here and many young people will go off to college this summer or fall. It is an exciting time for the whole family with lots of coordination and preparations to make sure everything goes smoothly. It is important to remember health care and determine which TRICARE Option would be best for your son or daughter. First, it is important to know that dependent children will remain eligible for TRICARE up to the age of 21. The coverage may be extended to age 23 if they remain enrolled full-time in an accredited academic institution and if they continue to receive more than 50 percent financial support from their parents. It is important to verify a child's eligibility in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting system, better known as DEERS. Disenrollment is automatic the day a child turns 21, unless they have updated their information in the system prior to their birthday. Visit www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/bwe to check and update information or do an enrollment within the United States. At age 18, an individual can update their own information. Which TRICARE Option would be best for a college student? A lot depends on where the school is located. If the school is in the United States in a TRICARE Prime service area or in one of the six US Family Health Plan locations, the Prime enrollment option can be used with a split enrollment. With TRICARE Prime, a child must seek all nonemergency and non-behavioral health care from an assigned primary care manager or they may incur out-of-pocket, non-reimbursable expenses for going to a different doctor. For specialty care, a child requires a referral from the PCM and authorization from the regional contractor. USFHP is a managed-care option, so all care must be received or coordinated by the PCM to include using the USFPH pharmacy for prescriptions. The TRICARE regional contractor where the school is located and a local TRICARE Service Center must be contacted for assistance setting up split enrollment and possible enrollment fees. Go to www.tricare.mil for more details. If a child's school is overseas, or in an area where TRICARE Prime is not offered, then they would be covered under TRICARE Standard. There is no enrollment process, but there are costs and deductibles. In the United States a child may decrease out-of-pocket cost and the "hassle factor" of submitting a claim for reimbursement by using a TRICARE Network Provider, considered TRICARE Extra. With non-network providers, the child may have to pay for the medical care and submit claims for reimbursement. For more details, www.tricare.mil/tricarecost. Some colleges and universities offer student health plans and are considered other health insurance. If purchased, the student would have to follow that policy guidance for any care received. TRICARE would be the secondary insurance. For additional information, visit www.tricare.mil and click on TRICARE Benefit Information.