With Tricare open season underway and news of cost increases in the 4% range, military families should review their healthcare costs in the military system and their needs for 2027.
This year’s Tricare open season started Monday and ends Dec.8. Military families can compare their options through Tricare Prime and Tricare Select, with the help of cost information released by Tricare officials last week.
Generally, those who have been paying out-of-pocket for healthcare under Tricare in 2026 will pay extra in 2027, according to the new fee schedules. Overall, for these groups, the co-payment increases are about 4%, or $1 to $3 for outpatient visits. Increases of another 4% apply to enrollment fees for retirees and their families who aren’t yet Medicare-eligible. The largest enrollment fee is for certain retirees in Tricare Select, who will pay $1,233 to enroll their family in 2027, up from $1,191 in 2026.
Active-duty families, whether in Tricare Prime or Tricare Select, don’t pay enrollment fees.
Open season applies to those enrolled in or eligible for Tricare Prime or Tricare Select. Beneficiaries can make changes to their health coverage, such as switching from Tricare Prime to Tricare Select, or moving from individual to family enrollment. Depending on the plan, Tricare costs may include enrollment fees, premiums, cost-shares and co-payments.
It’s also the 2026 Federal Benefits Open Season, beginning Monday and ending Dec. 14.
Some Tricare beneficiaries are eligible for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, or FEDVIP. In addition, active-duty service members can enroll in and make their annual selections for the dependent care flexible spending program and healthcare flexible spending program — two tax-saving programs that can help defray some of the costs of childcare and healthcare. This is the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program, or FSAFEDS.
Both FSAFEDS and FEDVIP are administered by BENEFEDS for the Office of Personnel Management.
Any changes made to Tricare plans, FEDVIP or FSAFEDS will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. If you’re eligible for these plans, now is the time to enroll; otherwise, you’ll have to wait until a qualifying life event, such as the birth or adoption of a child, marriage, divorce, moving or changes to other health insurance.
Those who are satisfied with their current Tricare or FEDVIP plan don’t need to take action.
Open season doesn’t apply to individual active-duty service members, or to Tricare for Life, or to the premium -based plans of Tricare Reserve Select, Tricare Retired Reserve and Tricare Young Adult. These premium-based plans can be purchased at any time during the year, but those in Tricare Young Adult with either the Prime or Select options can change plans only during open enrollment or a qualifying life event.
Visit Tricare.mil/openseason to find information about making changes online, by phone or by mailing an enrollment form to the regional contractor.
The plans
Tricare Prime is a health maintenance organization-style plan in which you get most of your care from a primary care manager, with referrals required for specialty care. There is no deductible.
Active-duty service members, their family members and transitional survivors don’t pay enrollment fees or out-of-pocket costs for covered services in Prime, unless they get non-emergency care without a referral, use non-network providers without authorization or use a pharmacy other than a military pharmacy.
Retirees, their families and all others pay enrollment fees and out-of-pocket costs for covered services except for preventive care.
Meanwhile, Tricare Select is a preferred provider organization-style plan in which you choose your Tricare-authorized provider and aren’t required to get referrals for most services. There are deductibles, co-payments and cost shares.
The costs
By law, there are differences in some costs based on when the sponsor entered the military. Those who entered before Jan. 1, 2018, are part of Group A, while those who enter on or after Jan. 1, 2018, are part of Group B.
Active-duty service members don’t have out-of-pocket costs for Tricare, but their family members may, depending on their health plan, the sponsor’s pay grade and group, the type of care and where they get their care.
There aren’t co-payments for any group for preventive care visits. For other covered services, such as primary care visits and specialty care outpatient visits, some co-pays will increase by $1 to $3 per visit, with some outliers.
For example, for some of those in Tricare Select, emergency room visit costs will go up by $4 or $5. For active-duty family members in Group A using Tricare Select, the cost per emergency room visit increases by $4, from $103 in 2026 to $107 in 2027.
Active-duty members, family members and transitional survivors don’t pay annual enrollment fees. But for retirees and their family members, the fees increase by about 4% in 2027. They’ll range from $396 for an individual Group A retiree in Prime to $1,233.96 for a Group B retiree plus their family in Tricare Select.
For active-duty family members in Tricare Prime, there’s no annual deductible, which is the out-of-pocket cost required before Tricare kicks in.
Those in Tricare Select have annual deductibles, which have increased by about 4% for those in Group B, who entered the military after Jan. 1, 2018. For example, for a family whose service member is E4 and below, the annual deductible increases by $5, to $137. Families of those in the ranks of E5 and above will see their deductible increased by $14, to $411.
Pharmacy costs won’t change in 2027. Beneficiaries can get most prescriptions filled at military pharmacies at no cost, and they can also get prescriptions through the Tricare Pharmacy Home Delivery program and at retail pharmacies in the Tricare network.
The largest cost increases, announced earlier, are in the premium-based plans. Those include:
- Tricare Young Adult Prime, for members’ unmarried adult dependents ages 21 to 26: Costs increase by 12.5 % to $893 per month in 2027, compared to $794 in 2026.
- Tricare Young Adult Select: Costs increase by 8.5% to $394 per month in 2027 from $363 in 2026.
- Tricare Reserve Select, for qualified Selected Reserve and their family members: Costs increase by 4.5% for service members only to $60.54 per month in 2027 from $57.88 in 2026. Adding family, the cost is $307.48, up 7.2% per month from $286.66 in 2026.
- Tricare Retired Reserve: $707.59 per month for service members only, up 9.5% from $645.90 in 2026. Adding family, costs total $1,697.70, up 9.6% from $1,548.30 in 2026.
Dental and vision
Families of active duty, National Guard and Reserve service members, as well as Guardsmen and reservists who aren’t on active duty, are eligible for the Tricare Dental Program. That program requires a separate enrollment. The premiums will stay the same through Feb. 28, 2027.
Most retirees and their family members are eligible for dental coverage under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, or FEDVIP. Visit benefeds.gov to compare choices of dental plans available by ZIP code and to enroll or make changes to an existing plan. FEDVIP open season ends Dec. 14.
Active-duty family members, retirees and their eligible family members and Selected Reserve members and their families are eligible for FEDVIP vision coverage. They must be enrolled in a Tricare health plan to be eligible. Visit benefeds.gov.
Flexible spending accounts
Flexible spending accounts can be used to defray the costs of healthcare, as well as dependent care. Troops set aside pre-tax money to reduce the amount of taxable income.
The accounts are sponsored by the Office of Personnel Management through the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program. The open season sign-up for these accounts ends Dec. 14.
For more information and to set up accounts for 2027, visit fsafeds.gov.
Officials advise troops to take advantage of the Defense Department’s free counseling and advice from personal financial management counselors at many military installations, and tax counselors available all year through DoD’s Military OneSource. FSAFEDS also offers free benefits counseling.
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