Tricare Prime is used by retired veterans who live within a certain radius of a military medical facility. Anyone who lives outside of the radius usually uses Tricare standard.
Veterans on Prime didn’t have to pay medical expenses since they primarily used military health providers. They can see off station health providers, but they must pay a co-pay for service.
Last year congress reduced the radius of coverage for Prime. Thousands of veterans lost coverage with their current off station health providers. They had to apply for Tricare Standard and find new providers that accepted Standard.
I would expect monthly premiums to be the next step.
The government has broken their word so many times since I first joined in 1967 that I am no longer surprised. You give us your life for 30 years, lay it on the line whenever the Country calls and we will … Oh, but not that, we can’t afford that, but we will … Oh, that is too much, we need money to pay for welfare, to pay for a police state, to pay for illegal aliens, to give a decent retirement to valuable members of our society (anyone but you). Big frogging surprise!