If you are a military retiree and have TRICARE for Life (TFL) you should enroll in Part B as soon as you become eligible. Once you become eligible for TFL, you have to enroll in Medicare. TFL will supplement your Medicare, paying your Medicare deductibles and coinsurance. TFL also offers prescription drug coverage that is better than Medicare's drug coverage. If you not retired, you can have either TRICARE Standard, Extra or Prime.

To learn about how TFL works with the Medicare drug benefit (Part D), click on the link in the GO TO box.

If you do not enroll in Medicare Part B when you first become eligible, you may have to pay a premium penalty when you do enroll.

If however, you, your spouse, widow or dependent children are enrolled in Medicare Part A based on disability or having kidney disease, but declined Part B when they first became eligible for Medicare, they have the right to a one time Special Enrollment Period (SEP) to enroll in Part B. They will not need to pay a penalty for late enrollment if they enroll in Part B during this SEP.

To learn about the Part B premium penalty, click on the link in the GO TO box.

For more information about TFL, click on the link in the LINKS box.