[OldSmaj]

Medical benefits tied to her retired husband’s U.S. Army service had expired...

Uh, folks, this is bullshit.

If her husband is retired and they are still married in good faith, etc, her medical is still good, especially in an Army Hospital, assuming of course that the payments for the lifetime free medical has been kept up.

She had been led to believe her health care expired on Jan. 30, six months after her husband’s injuries discharged him from service.

Well, that's a new one on me.

If he was medically discharged, in lieu of retirement, she may not be eligible, but if he was retired and the premiums for Tricare Prime have been maintained, she is fully eligible, even if he has died as long as she has not remarried and the premiums have been maintained.

There is something else going on here...we have not been told the whole story.

[Hulka]

I use Tricare Standard. . .higher deductibles but much better flexibility and no need for the hassle of ‘referrals.’

[GreyFriar]

Sgt Maj & Nick;

Another player in this is whether or not her retired husband and/or she is 65 and has or has not signed up for medicare. Under Tricare Prime, a monthly premium is paid. When one turns 65 Tricare Prime ends and one is automatically converted to “Tricare for Life” which requires that one is enrolled in Medicare. I just when through that drill a couple of years ago. And under Tricare for Life, you are no longer seeable by military doctors unless you get on a hospital’s list of the limited numbers of retirees they are permitted to provide medical services too. I got that set up for me, and am now having to do it for my wife, which will not be fun as all Tricare is done online because the hospital/base/post ‘Tricare service centers’ were closed a year ago to ‘save costs.’

[Alas Babylon!]

Even if they didn’t pay for Tricare Prime, Tricare Standard would apply...

I don’t think he was retired. That’s probably just what the dumb journalist thought.

[Domangart]

Rifed? medical two times service years and you are done.

[Shimmer1]

Tricare Prime has a cost, but Tricare Standard does not but does have a copay and deductible.

[Senior Chief]

Agree. If her husband retired from the military there is no way they would have “lost” their insurance. Even if he did not sign up for TRICARE Prime, he would have automatically been enrolled in TRICARE Standard through DEERS. That said, even if he did not pay the Prime premiums he would have been automatically enrolled in Standard...that is IF he retired. If he was medically discharged that would be a diferent story but there is not enough information in the article to determine what is what. It sounds like a conflation of circumstances intermingled to provoke a predetermined reaction from readers.