Retiree · paycheck started
Reenroll retiree TRICARE (Prime or Select)
Retirement disenrolls Prime. You have 90 days to enroll Prime, Select, or US Family Health Plan — recut from TRICARE.mil Retiring. Miss 90 days and you may request retroactive enrollment up to 12 months. This is not TRR. I will not file it.
01
Confirm you are a retiree with pay — not gray area
Regular retirement (20 years active federal service) or Reserve retired pay that has started (age 60 or reduced). If you have the 20-year letter and no paycheck, this walkthrough is the wrong door — buy TRICARE Retired Reserve.
02
Get the retiree ID and fix DEERS
Book RAPIDS. The CAC is not the retiree card. Family needs cards too. milConnect has to show retired, not active duty, before Beneficiary Web Enrollment will sell the retiree product.
03
Enroll Prime or Select within 90 days
milConnect → Benefits → Beneficiary Web Enrollment. Prime still needs a Prime Service Area. Select is the other CONUS door. US Family Health Plan exists in specific locations. Most retirees pay enrollment fees — confirm the live numbers on TRICARE.mil. Open Season is a later Prime ↔ Select swap, not this first enrollment.
04
If you missed 90 days, use the 12-month retro window
TRICARE.mil still describes a retroactive enrollment request up to 12 months from the retirement date. After that, you lose TRICARE except space-available care at military hospitals and clinics. Call the regional contractor before you guess. East 800-444-5445. West 888-874-9378.
05
Teeth and vision left TDP
FEDVIP dental and vision live on BENEFEDS.gov. Own open season. TDP ended with the uniform. At 65, Medicare Part B is the TRICARE For Life on-switch — a different clock.