let me get this straight.....you’re a vet if you spend any time in the service....the people who spend 20 yrs are on Tricare, and as I understand it, you can’t be on VA and tricare, or is that wrong....????
once a retired vet hits 65, they go onto medicare and Tricare ends.
Also, most of the vets seen by VA hospitals and doctors did not retire. the majority served one or two enlistments and then got out. They go to VA because they have a service connected health problem, they are over 65, or don’t have medical insurance.
My husband (a 21 year retiree) and I have Tricare, and he also has Medicare. He sees several civilian specialists in addition to our primary care manager on base, but he needs other services (like respite care) that Medicare and Tricare won’t pay for.
We recently applied for him to get services from a VA clinic, and he was approved. We’ve been assured it won’t interfere with his established system of doctors which he currently uses under the Tricare and Medicare systems. Tricare and Medicare will continue to pay the bills for those services, and he will get additional services from VA.
We haven’t actually started using the VA, as that would require giving them access to his medical records, and input into decisions regarding his medical care. Every time we come close to doing that, we’re reminded that they can’t be trusted, and we chicken out. We really need their services, but we worry about what it could cost us. And I don’t mean money. Things like privacy, autonomy, and health. Dependence on VA services cost one of my brothers his life. We need some of their services, but we’re afraid of the unknown costs.