Recently announced changes for those using TRICARE are now in place.

There are currently 9.4 million TRICARE beneficiaries, to include 2.2 million retired servicemembers and 1.4 million active-duty servicemembers.

As of Jan. 1, 2018, the Military Health System implemented changes to modernize TRICARE in response to updates in law and policy, specifically the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.

What follows is an outline of how those changes will affect TRICARE beneficiaries.

First, TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra will merge into a single plan, called TRICARE Select. This is a self-managed, preferred-provider-network plan that works like its predecessors.

Certain enrollees will be able to obtain care from any TRICARE-authorized provider without a referral, and enrollees who obtain services from TRICARE network providers will pay lower cost-share amounts for in-network care.

All TRICARE beneficiaries were automatically enrolled in their respective healthcare plans Jan. 1. Users of TRICARE Prime were automatically enrolled in TRICARE Prime, and those presently enrolled in either Standard or Extra will be automatically enrolled in TRICARE Select. No action is required by beneficiaries, and enrollees can disenroll from any TRICARE plan at any time.

It is important to note that failure to enroll in TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select (unless users are allowing existing coverage to automatically remain in force) will result in termination of coverage for civilian care. Those beneficiaries choosing not to enroll may only receive care at a military clinic or hospital on base, as available.

Beneficiaries can still opt to enroll or change their plan during a yearly open enrollment period (November to December 2018) or following a qualifying life event.

Additionally, TRICARE will continue to provide a range of healthcare plans to meet users' needs, including premium-based plans like Continued Health Care Benefits Program, TRICARE For Life, TRICARE Retired Reserve, TRICARE Reserve Select and TRICARE Young Adult.

Under the new system, TRICARE beneficiaries are divided into two groups based on when a person entered the military.  

Those in Group A (enlisted before Jan. 1, 2018) are grandfathered into the new copay system and will pay slightly higher copays.

Those in Group B (enlisted after Jan. 1, 2018) will pay slightly lower copays.

Detailed costs for 2018 for active-duty military are available online for TRICARE Prime and TRICARE Select users.  

Expenditures for 2018 for retired military, their families and others can be found at https://tricare.mil/costs/healthplancost/ts/ret.

TRICARE will also change from a fiscal year (October to September) period to a calendar year (January to December) period, aligning with the open enrollment period. To protect beneficiaries from additional costs, enrollment fees were prorated for the three-month period between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2017.

Payments that counted toward catastrophic caps and deductibles until Oct. 1 were counted until Jan. 1, 2018. Enrollees who reached their fiscal year 2017 catastrophic caps should not incur additional out-of-pocket costs for authorized TRICARE-covered services during the last three months of 2017.

As to dental coverage, the current TRICARE Retiree Dental Program will end in 2018 and be replaced with the Office of Personnel Management's Federal Dental and Vision Program, which will offer more choices.

Another change is that the three former TRICARE regions have been reduced to two. TRICARE North and TRICARE South have combined to form TRICARE East. TRICARE West remains unchanged.

Be sure to check and update your current information in DEERS, to include contact information and any significant life events such as military activation, separation or retirement, marriage, divorce, or the birth or adoption of a child.

To sign up for benefit updates, visit tricare.mil/changes. And last, make sure to update any payment information if using an electronic pay system.