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Sorting out Tricare, Social Security and
Medicare |
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By James E. Hamby, Jr.
Q. What would happen if I defer taking my Social
Security benefits until I am 67? Does that keep
me from being able to enroll in Medicare Part B
until I am 67? Do I have to enroll in Social
Security when I am 65 so I can enroll in Part B
and keep Tricare for Life eligibility?
A. The best source for clarification about
Social Security and Medicare rules is the Social
Security Administration. For official Tricare
information, call your Tricare Service Center
and ask for a free Tricare Standard or Tricare
for Life Handbook. If you don’t know how to
contact that office, call the Defense Enrollment
Eligibility Reporting System support office,
toll free, at (800) 538-9552.
That said, I’ll address some of the common
issues that appear to concern you.
It used to be that Social Security benefit
payments began at age 65. The law was changed
several years ago. Now, entitlement to Social
Security payments is determined by the year of
the beneficiary’s birth. However, the age for
Medicare entitlement did not change. If a person
is entitled to Medicare, coverage still begins
at age 65.
Even if a person won’t become entitled to
monthly Social Security checks until, say, age
67, Medicare entitlement begins on the first day
of the month when the beneficiary will be 65
years old. If the person was bo rn on the first
day of that month, Medicare entitlement will
begin on the first day of the previous month.
There isn’t enough space in this column to
discuss every rule and situation that can go
into effect for every individual at that time,
but here is some information that applies to
several recent Tricare Help inquiries.
In effect, DEERS automatically reviews its
database one second into the first day of every
month. It looks for beneficiaries who are not
active-duty family members and who will have
their 65th birthday in that month.
The DEERS record for all those people must show
that t hey are enrolled in Medicare Part B, or
that they are not legally entitled to Medicare.
In the absence of one or the other of those
statements in the DEERS record, a person’s
Tricare eligibility is automatically terminated.
To protect your Tricare eligibility, contact
Social Security and apply for Medicare, Parts A
and B, at least 90 days before your 65th
birthday. If you don’t, you likely will lose
your Tricare eligibility until you are enrolled
in Medicare Part B and your DEERS record has
been updated.
A few Tricare beneficiaries do not meet the
legal requirements for Medicare entitlement.
Medicare will deny their application and send
them a notice of disallowance, which they must
file with DEERS.
When DEERS is updated to show they are not
entitled to Medicare, their Tricare eligibility
will continue, unchanged, even if they are not
enrolled in Part B.
A law enacted in 2001 allows retirees and their
family members to combine Tricare Standard
benefits with Medicare benefits if they are
enrolled in Medicare Part B. The program created
by that law, the combination of Medicare with
Tricare Standard, is called Tricare for Life. It
is not possible to become eligible for Tricare
for Life until a person becomes entitled to
Medicare and is enrolled in Part B.
Sponsor and spouse are seldom exactly the same
age. If the spouse turns 65 before the sponsor,
the spouse will get Tricare for Life first. The
sponsor will have to wait until he gets Medicare
at age 65 to get Tricare for Life.
If somebody refers to your status as “dual
eligible,” instead of saying “Tricare for Life,”
don’t worry. It means exactly the same thing -
“dual eligible” is simply an earlier term. |
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