How Much Will TRICARE Costs Increase In 2024?
How much should you expect in TRICARE fee increases in 2024?
TRICARE open season for 2024 runs between November 13 and December 12 2023. During open season, servicemembers and their families can start, modify, or cancel health insurance without needing a qualifying life event.
But even if you don’t need to add or change your TRICARE benefits, reviewing your existing coverage is still a good idea, as your costs may change from year to year. In 2024, TRICARE costs are higher for some beneficiaries. Do you know how much your plan may change cost-wise in 2024?
Related: Ultimate TRICARE Guide
What To Know About TRICARE
TRICARE.mil notes that your beneficiary category and beneficiary group determine the amount of your TRICARE enrollment fees, premiums, and copays you may be responsible for. You are assigned either TRICARE Group A or Group B. According to the TRICARE official site,
- Group A is for those with those eligible for TRICARE before Jan. 1, 2018.
- Group B is for those eligible for TRICARE on or after Jan. 1, 2018.
Those in a TRICARE premium-based health plan should use “Select Group B deductibles and applicable copayments and cost-shares” for:
- TRICARE Reserve Select
- TRICARE Retired Reserve
- TRICARE Young Adult
- Continued Health Care Benefit Program
TRICARE Enrollment Fee Increases in 2024
Active duty military members don’t pay out of pocket for TRICARE costs. Family members may have a co-pay for covered services. In general, the increase for copays is up to 3%. Enrollment fees and deductible amounts for TRICARE Prime and Select may increase in 2024
TRICARE Group A retirees who use TRICARE Select will have higher enrollment fees. In 2024, they go from $345 to just over $355 with dependents and from approximately $171, increasing to $177 for individuals.
Tricare Prime Group A retirees will see higher rates for family plans, an increase from $703 to $726, with the single version of this plan increasing to $363 a year.
Retirees in Tricare Group B should expect about the same. Family plans will increase to $879; individual TRICARE Group B plans increase to $438 in 2024.
Higher TRICARE Deductibles and Copays in 2024
TRICARE active duty beneficiaries in Group A will have no increase to deductibles, while Group B will experience modest increases from four dollars to $12.
Group B will see similar modest increases depending on rank, with E5s and above getting the highest increase of $6. Copays are increasing modestly, too. Group A will pay $2 more for primary care copayments but Group B remains the same as in 2023. TRICARE Select increases copays for primary care visits from $34 to $36, and TRICARE Prime copays increase by $1 in 2024.
TRICARE Catastrophic Cap Cost Increases in 2024
A “catastrophic cap” is the maximum you can pay out of pocket as a TRICARE member each year. The cap is typically intended to be used after a major injury or illness, hence the name. Under these plans, your health insurance covers all qualifying expenses above and beyond the catastrophic cap.
Active-duty family members in Group A with Select or Prime will see no changes to the cap, but TRICARE Group B members will see a cap increase from $1,217 to $1,256.
In 2024, Group A retirees in Select will experience a catastrophic cap increase $4,028 to $4,157.
Related: Federal Benefits Open Season
TRICARE Young Adult, Reserve Select and Retired Reserve Costs 2024
Here are the TRICARE fee increases for premium-based plans in 2024:
- TRICARE Young Adult was $570 in 2023, increased to $637 a month in 2024.
- TRICARE Young Adult Select premiums increase from $291 monthly to $311.
- TRICARE Reserve Select monthly premiums increase from $48 to $51 individually and up from $239 to $256.87.
- TRICARE Retired Reserve from $549 to $585. For TRICARE Retired Reserve family members, the increase is from $1320 to $1,406.
Related:
- Ultimate TRICARE Guide
- VA Pauses Home Loan Foreclosures
- Army Pauses Student Loan Benefit Payments
- VA Studies Racial Disparities in Benefit Payments
- Thrift Savings Plan Lawsuit
- TRICARE Pharmacy Increases in 2024
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
