TRICARE Reserve Select Enrollment

Overview

The TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS) program is a premium-based health plan qualified Selected Reserve* members may purchase. The TRS benefit is a TRICARE Select benefit and TRS members have the same costs as active duty family members. You can receive covered services from any TRICARE-authorized provider, as well as military hospitals and clinics if space is available.

• Learn more about the TRS program on TRICARE's TRS page.
• Learn about using TRS on our Getting Care – TRICARE Select Programs (Including TRICARE Reserve Select and TRICARE Retired Reserve) page.

*Selected Reserve refers to National Guard and Reserve members, which includes the Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve.

Eligibility

• Eligibility for TRS is maintained in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). Your Reserve Component determines eligibility for TRS. Please contact your Reserve Component’s point of contact for eligibility questions. The Reserve Component points of contact listing is provided by Reserve Affairs.
• You do not have to be activated in response to a contingency operation to be eligible for TRS.
• If you are eligible for or enrolled in the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program under your own eligibility, you are not eligible for TRS.
• You must be enrolled in TRS for your family members to enroll.
• Events that result in loss of eligibility must be processed through your reserve component’s unit or personnel office. Unused monthly premium payments are refunded automatically.

Enrolling in TRS

If you would like to enroll in TRS or add a family member, you must first make sure you and your family members are registered in DEERS. You can register in DEERS by visiting a RAPIDS site.

• To register a family member in DEERS, complete a DD Form 1172* and bring supporting documentation, such as a marriage certificate, dependency determination, birth certificate, certificate of live birth from the hospital, or record of adoption or letter of placement by a recognized placement or adoption agency, or the court.

You may enroll in TRS by:

• Beneficiary Web Enrollment (BWE)
• Telephone at 1-844-866-WEST (9378), Monday through Friday, 5:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. (PT). 

You must also: 

• Certify your non-eligibility or enrollment in the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program.
• Select an ongoing automatic payment method. To use electronic funds transfer (EFT), submit the TRICARE Reserve Select and TRICARE Retired Reserve EFT or RCC form.
• Make a two-month premium payment. (See premium information below.) When adding a family member, a two-month member and family premium is only required when a change in coverage occurs (for example, member only to member and family).

For more information about qualifying for or purchasing TRS coverage, contact your reserve component.

*Handwritten forms are not accepted.

Effective Dates

New enrollment: Enrollment is effective the date of the request (up to 90 days in the future). 

Continuous coverage: You have 90 days following the end of previous TRICARE coverage (as a sponsor) to request continuous coverage.

• The request must be received within 90 days of the change in status to qualify for enrollment without a break in coverage.
• If you miss the 90-day retroactive enrollment period, you may still enroll in TRS any time throughout the year. 
• You may also request continuous coverage by submitting a request within 90 days prior to coming off other TRICARE coverage.

Premium and Payment Information

All eligible members are offered the same level of benefits for one monthly rate.

Rates for TRS are subject to change every calendar year (Jan. 1–Dec. 31). Monthly premium payments are not applied toward the annual catastrophic cap.

Your initial monthly premium payment can be made with a check, money order, cashier's check, or Visa® or MasterCard® credit, debit or prepaid cards. Ongoing monthly premium payments must be established during enrollment and made by an automatic payment method:

• electronic funds transfer (EFT)
• recurring credit (or debit) card (RCC) 

Learn more about payment method options. 

If you fail to pay the total premium amount due, you will be disenrolled from TRS, effective the day following your policy paid-through date. Claims for services after your disenrollment date will not be paid under your TRS coverage. TRICARE policy requires a 12-month TRS lockout period if you are disenrolled for nonpayment.

If your payment is declined, you will be charged a $20 administrative fee in addition to the outstanding payment amount. The replacement payment is first applied to the $20 fee with the remaining amount applied to the monthly premium payment. Therefore, if you only send the amount of the monthly premium payment after being charged an administrative fee, you will be short on the payment and subject to disenrollment.

Qualifying Life Events

Visit our Qualifying Life Events page to learn how a change in your or a family member's life may affect your TRICARE enrollment options.

Disenrolling from TRS

Voluntary disenrollment: You may voluntarily disenroll from TRS by:

• Beneficiary Web Enrollment (BWE)
• Telephone at 1-844-866-WEST (9378), Monday through Friday, 5:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. (PT). 

You may request a coverage termination date up to 90 days in the future. If you gain other TRICARE eligibility under a family member, you may voluntarily disenroll without being locked out. All other disenrollment requests are subject to a 12-month lockout.

Nonpayment: If HNFS does not receive your TRS monthly premium payments within 30 days from the due date, you will be disenrolled for failure to pay. If you are disenrolled for failure to pay, you will be suspended from TRS effective your paid-through date and any claims for services after your suspension date will not be paid under your TRS coverage. 

Loss of eligibility: Events that result in loss of eligibility must be processed through your reserve component’s unit or personnel office. You do not need to submit an RC Request Form and unused monthly premium payments will be refunded automatically.

Reinstatement

If you have been disenrolled for failure to pay or failure to comply with monthly automatic payment requirements for less than 90 days, you may be reinstated. Full payment is required to bring the policy current and you must establish automatic payments for future withdrawals. If disenrolled greater than 90 days, there is a 12-month lockout period.