Help! My husband is retiring...

[Judique]

Ouch. My wife and I pay $175 a month total for $250,000 each life insurance I am type 2 diabetic and have high blood pressure and I am 63. We've had the policy for 33 years. I WAS on cholesterol meds for a while but all the meds did was raise my bad cholesterol and lower my good cholesterol

That sounds like a great price for your policy. Did the cost start out at $175 or has it risen to that over 33 years? The reason I ask is that the policy I hold more than doubled in cost at age 60. It's still comparatively reasonable as it is old like yours, but the price escalated as the age advanced.

I guess I've been lucky. My cholesterol meds have done their job.

 

[tvguy]

That sounds like a great price for your policy. Did the cost start out at $175 or has it risen to that over 33 years? The reason I ask is that the policy I hold more than doubled in cost at age 60. It's still comparatively reasonable as it is old like yours, but the price escalated as the age advanced.

I guess I've been lucky. My cholesterol meds have done their job.

Price hadn't changed.

 

[brockash]

I have been an active duty spouse for over 20 years. The kids and I have always used civilian doctors via Tricare and have never once had a problem finding providers that take Tricare. It's actually just done under contract with United Healthcare (west region) and Humana (east region).

When my husband retires in 2 years, we will keep our same doctors. Our out of pocket is currently capped at $1000 per year (for all of us) and when we retire, we will pay an annual enrollment fee of $300 for all 4 of us and out out of pocket max will be $3500/year. It's a stellar bargain regardless. With that plan, you can see any doctor you want and self refer for specialty care. It's what we currently do.

I cannot wait until my husband can start seeing civilian doctors. Military and VA healthcare is an absolute joke. He will never step foot into VA hospital again once he has completed all his outgoing VA exams. He has been dealing with a back injury for over 10 years and after spending the entire day in the Naval Hospital ER yesterday, the doctor said "if this happens again MAYBE we can refer you for an MRI."

I'm a very military ignorant spouse lol...but seriously can you tell me more about how you're able to choose your Dr.'s and have always been able to use civilian Dr.'s? Have you just always been lucky enough to be stationed at places during a time that they don't have enough military personal to take you or is having a civilian Dr. actually an option for all dependents etc.?

I really should know these kind of things, but luckily we've all been pretty healthy so I've just been too lazy to really look into it. My DH is active duty military and we've been married for 20 years and in the entire 20 years; only 1 place did I see a civilian Dr. - It was when we were stationed at an AFB (he's Army) in Albuquerque and they didn't have the manpower to see most civilians, so I was able to see a civilian Dr. - I will say at that time the options were a bit limiting, however I'd much prefer a civilian Dr., so if that's an option in the future I should look more into that.

Thank you for any info./input!

 

[iivye]

I would also choose #2. My father received a pension as a retired firefighter and chose the #2 option. He died suddenly at 70 while my mom was 65. Thankfully my mom will still be receiving his pension and my mom's side tend to live into their 90's.

 

[DLgal]

I'm a very military ignorant spouse lol...but seriously can you tell me more about how you're able to choose your Dr.'s and have always been able to use civilian Dr.'s? Have you just always been lucky enough to be stationed at places during a time that they don't have enough military personal to take you or is having a civilian Dr. actually an option for all dependents etc.?

I really should know these kind of things, but luckily we've all been pretty healthy so I've just been too lazy to really look into it. My DH is active duty military and we've been married for 20 years and in the entire 20 years; only 1 place did I see a civilian Dr. - It was when we were stationed at an AFB (he's Army) in Albuquerque and they didn't have the manpower to see most civilians, so I was able to see a civilian Dr. - I will say at that time the options were a bit limiting, however I'd much prefer a civilian Dr., so if that's an option in the future I should look more into that.

Thank you for any info./input!

The short answer is Tricare Select vs Prime. Select is what we have. And yes, all dependents are eligible, just not active duty members.

Long answer: in the very beginning I was assigned to a "Tricare clinic" in the city we lived in (Oceanside, CA...stationed at Camp Pendleton). That was a civilian nurse practitioner under contract with Tricare. I saw her for 3 years. When I got pregnant, I saw my first military doc...an OB at the Naval hospital. She was a complete moron. We PCSed when I was 32 weeks to a location without an MTF within 45 miles. Tricare Prime at the time. I was told "find any civilian provider that takes Tricare." I found a PCM and a new OB and delivered in a civilian hospital in my city. Great experience. When kids were born, same story, civilian docs for them. We then moved to VA 7 years later and the Tricare clinic was full, so again, allowed to choose civilian docs, although my son did see military docs on occasion for specialty care at Walter Reed. Again, bad experiences there. 3 years in, I switched myself and the kids to Tricare Standard (from Prime). That option is now called Tricare Select. It's basically a PPO. You get to see whatever docs you want and self refer for specialty care. There is a deductible ($150/person or $300/family) and cost shares involved for care and Rx meds. HOWEVER, the out of pocket cap for the year is $1000 TOTAL for the family. To me, that is 100% worth it for the ability to choose my own doctors. My son needs lots of specialty care and mental health care and it has been SO easy. We don't even usually hit the $1000 spend every year.

You can switch to Tricare Select once a year in the fall or when you have a qualifying life event. You used to be able to switch at any time. We will keep Select in retirement. Costs slightly more than Prime, but again, completely worth it. Tricare website has all the information about it.

 

[DLgal]

Ouch. My wife and I pay $175 a month total for $250,000 each life insurance I am type 2 diabetic and have high blood pressure and I am 63. We've had the policy for 33 years. I WAS on cholesterol meds for a while but all the meds did was raise my bad cholesterol and lower my good cholesterol

Well, I was off by a bit. We pay a total of $288/month for 4 separate term policies totaling just over $4M. $1.5M of that is on me. But the cholesterol meds on the 30 year term policy we opened up 2 years ago sent my husband into category 3 of 4 based on risk. His active duty status automatically excluded him from the lowest risk category. He has no other health issues.

When we were getting quotes on these new 30 year term plans, we were told "get this done before you turn 40, because the premiums will double at that point and then exponentially go up every year after that."

We need high coverage because of special needs kids who will need support for life. These policies will take us to age 69. By then our investments should be around the amounts the insurance would have paid out.