Congresswoman Elaine Luria has introduced the Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act, which would allow TRICARE dependents to remain on their parents’ policy until age 26 without a premium increase.
“The Affordable Care Act allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26, however, military families do not receive this same benefit under TRICARE,” said Luria, D-Va. “During this public health emergency, it is more important than ever to provide our servicemembers and their families with affordable and accessible health care.”
Luria’s legislation would bring equity to TRICARE beneficiaries by conforming eligibility for dependents with that offered by private insurance plans regulated by the Affordable Care Act. Under the ACA, children up to age 26 can remain on their parents’ health insurance plans at no additional out of pocket cost to the dependent. The Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act would retroactively go into effect January 1, 2020.
Under current law, TRICARE dependents are only permitted to stay on their parents’ policy until they are 21 years old. If the dependent is enrolled in a full-time course of study at an approved institution of higher learning and the parent provides more than half of the dependent’s financial support, the dependent can remain on the TRICARE policy until the age of 23 or until the dependent is out of school, whichever comes first.
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