How TRICARE For Life works — Medicare-wraparound coverage for TRICARE-eligible retirees and family members with Medicare Parts A and B
TRICARE For Life (TFL) is Medicare-wraparound coverage for anyone who is TRICARE-eligible — military retirees, their spouses and survivors, and other eligible family members — and has Medicare Part A and Part B, regardless of age or where they live. There is nothing to enroll in and no enrollment fee: coverage begins the first day both Medicare parts are in effect, and your Medicare card and Uniformed Services ID card are your proof. Providers bill Medicare first; Medicare pays its share and sends the claim to the TFL contractor, which pays the rest for services both programs cover, so most beneficiaries owe nothing for that care. The one rule that trips people up: you must keep paying Medicare Part B, even overseas, or you lose TRICARE.
What you'll need
- Medicare Part A and Part B (sign up through Social Security: ssa.gov/medicare or 800-772-1213)
- Your Uniformed Services ID card and a current DEERS record (check at milConnect)
- Your Medicare card — together with the ID card, this is your proof of TFL coverage
Step-by-step
Step 1: Who gets TRICARE For Life
TFL covers each TRICARE-eligible person who has Medicare Part A and Part B: retirees, retiree spouses and survivors, and Medicare-eligible family members, at any age and anywhere in the world. Coverage is individual — a spouse who is not yet Medicare-eligible stays in their own TRICARE plan until they are. You are not required to enroll, there is no enrollment card, and coverage starts the first day Part A and Part B are both in effect.
Step 2: Get and keep Medicare Part B
You must pay the Medicare Part B premium (set each year by Medicare and based on income) in addition to Part A. Sign up through Social Security during the seven-month initial enrollment period around your 65th birthday, or when you become Medicare-eligible earlier through disability; if you are not yet drawing Social Security, Medicare will not enroll you automatically. If you keep working past 65 with employer group coverage, Medicare allows a special enrollment period after that coverage ends — but check with TRICARE before delaying, because without Part B you are not TRICARE-eligible at all. Keep DEERS current at milConnect so TRICARE knows your status.
Step 3: How care and claims work
See any provider authorized by Medicare. The provider files the claim with Medicare; Medicare pays its portion and forwards the claim to the TFL claims processor (WPS), which pays the provider for TRICARE-covered services. For care both Medicare and TRICARE cover you generally pay nothing; for care only Medicare covers you pay the Medicare deductible and cost share; for care only TRICARE covers you pay the TRICARE deductible and cost share; for care neither covers you pay the bill. Military hospitals and clinics are available only on a space-available basis. If you also have employer insurance from a current job, it pays first, then Medicare, then TRICARE; other insurance not from current employment pays after Medicare and before TRICARE, and you file those claims with WPS yourself.
Step 4: Prescriptions
TFL includes the TRICARE Pharmacy Program — military pharmacies, home delivery and network retail pharmacies through Express Scripts — so you do not need a Medicare Part D plan, though you may have one. TRICARE copayments change each year; check the current pharmacy costs. Since August 31, 2025 the TRICARE pharmacy benefit does not cover weight-loss drugs for TFL beneficiaries when obesity is the primary diagnosis.
Step 5: Overseas, and if you also use VA care
Medicare does not cover care outside the U.S. and its territories, so overseas TRICARE is the primary payer and you owe TRICARE's annual deductible and cost shares — and you must still keep Part B to remain TRICARE-eligible. If you are also enrolled in VA health care you can use either system; VA care is not billed to Medicare, so ask the VA facility how TRICARE applies before relying on TFL for care there.
Critical tips
- The only required cost is the Medicare Part B premium; TFL itself has no enrollment fee.
- A Medicare supplement (Medigap) policy is generally unnecessary with TFL, since TFL pays the Medicare cost shares for covered care.
- Questions about TFL claims: WPS, the TFL contractor, at 866-773-0404; DEERS questions: 800-538-9552.
- Routine dental and vision are not part of TFL; retirees and family members can buy coverage through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP).
- In crisis: dial 988 then press 1, or text 838255.