Families around the world are constantly growing and changing, and this includes military families. There are blended families, where one or both partners have been married before and may have children from their previous marriages. And some families grow by adopting children.

TRICARE reminds sponsors to enroll adopted or stepchildren in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System as soon as possible so the children can receive TRICARE health-care benefits through the military health system.

Adopted and stepchildren of active- duty service members are eligible for TRICARE. Stepchildren who are not adopted by the sponsor are covered by TRICARE as long as the sponsor and the mother or father of the stepchildren stay married.

There is a caveat: If the couple divorce, and the children were not adopted by the sponsor, their TRICARE eligibility ends on the date the divorce decree is final. If the sponsor adopted the stepchildren, but the couple gets a divorce, the children remain eligible for TRICARE benefits within the normal limits. These limits are:

• Unmarried up to the age of 21
• Unmarried up to the age of 23 if the stepchild is enrolled in a college or university full time and the sponsor provides 50 percent of the child's financial support

A stepchild or adopted child, including an adopted stepchild, may receive TRICARE coverage past the normal limits if he or she is severely disabled and the disability existed prior to age 21, or the disability occurred between the ages of 21 and 23 while enrolled in a college or university.

The Department of Defense requires all TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries, including adopted and stepchildren, to be registered in DEERS. TRICARE encourages parents and guardians to register the pre-adopted and adopted child in DEERS as soon as possible once assigned legal temporary or permanent custody of the child.

According to TRICARE policy, if an active-duty sponsor adopts a child in the U.S., the child is considered enrolled in TRICARE Prime on the day of the adoption. The sponsor then has 60 days to formally enroll the child in Prime before the enrollment converts to TRICARE Standard. If the child is adopted overseas, the sponsor has 120 days to enroll the new addition in TRICARE Overseas Prime or TRICARE Global Remote Overseas before the child's enrollment converts to TRICARE Standard Overseas.

Sponsors can register family members in DEERS at the nearest military personnel office or uniformed services identification card issuing office. The following forms are required to register a child in DEERS:

• Certificate of live birth issued by the hospital/birthing center or finalized adoption forms.
• DD Form 1172: Application for Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card. The sponsor's signature is required to register the adoptee/stepchild in DEERS. If the sponsor is not able to sign the DD Form 1172 in person, the form must be notarized.
• Legal forms, as specified by the member's branch of service, for pending or permanent adoptions.
• If a child is not registered in DEERS after one year of birth or adoption, TRICARE will not extend their health benefits until they are registered.

TRICARE wants all beneficiaries to remain eligible for health coverage within the MHS. For more information about how to enroll children in DEERS to ensure TRICARE eligibility, go to www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/home/overview/Eligibility.