Conferees urged to reject Senate-passed Tricare fee increases

Wow....this will be fun... The Tricare Prime enrollment fee for retirees would jump 21 percent, it says, and retirees using Select would pay a first-ever enrollment fee of $450 for individual coverage and $900 for families. Retirees who use Select with non-network providers would see a new annual deductible of $300 for individual coverage and $600 for family coverage. The annual catastrophic cap on total out-of-pocket costs for retirees would rise by $500 to $3,500.

The Congressional Budget Office, in its cost estimate report for the Senate-passed defense bill, said 450,000 retiree households using Tricare Select would see average out-of-pocket costs for family coverage jump from $1,645 per year to $2,800. Retirees using Select for self-only coverage would see average costs more than double, from $570 per year to $1,160.