Hospital coverage
Hospital stays, skilled nursing care after a stay, and hospice.
- What you pay
- Most people pay no monthly premium.
- For veterans
- You need Part A and Part B together to have TRICARE For Life.
Medicare basics
Medicare, in plain English.
Nobody hands you a manual when you turn 65. This page walks through the pieces in order, written for veterans and spouses who have TRICARE For Life, CHAMPVA or VA care.
The four parts
A, B, C and D. One job each.
Medicare comes in four parts. If you have TRICARE For Life, you already have two of them.
Doctors and outpatient care
Doctor visits, outpatient care, lab work and medical equipment.
- What you pay
- A monthly premium. $202.90 for most people in 2026, usually taken out of Social Security.
- For veterans
- This is the premium you keep paying to keep TRICARE For Life. It is also the one a veteran plan can lower.
Medicare Advantage
A plan from a private carrier, approved by Medicare, that delivers your Part A and Part B. Many add dental, vision and hearing.
- What you pay
- It depends on the plan. The veteran plans we work with typically have no monthly plan premium.
- For veterans
- The veteran plans are Medicare Advantage plans. This is the layer you add.
Prescription drugs
Coverage for the medications you fill at a pharmacy.
- What you pay
- Usually a monthly premium, when a plan includes it.
- For veterans
- TRICARE For Life, CHAMPVA and the VA already cover prescriptions. Veteran plans leave Part D out on purpose.
Two ways to get it
Original Medicare, or Medicare Advantage.
Everyone with Medicare gets Part A and Part B one of two ways. Either way you are still in Medicare, and you still pay for Part B.
Original Medicare
Part A and Part B, straight from Medicare. This is where most veterans start.
- See any doctor in the country who takes Medicare.
- TRICARE For Life pays second.
- No routine dental, vision or hearing coverage.
- You pay the full Part B premium every month.
Medicare Advantage
A plan approved by Medicare that delivers the same Part A and Part B benefits.
- Covers everything Part A and Part B cover.
- TRICARE For Life still pays second.
- Usually adds dental, vision and hearing.
- Some plans lower your Part B premium.
- Uses a network of doctors. More on that below.
The veteran plans on this site are Medicare Advantage plans. They leave out drug coverage because your prescriptions are already handled.
Why Part B matters
TRICARE For Life runs on Part B.
TRICARE For Life is not something you sign up for. It starts on its own once you have Medicare Part A and Part B.
The other side of that is you have to keep both. If Part B stops, TRICARE For Life stops with it. That is why a Part B premium comes out of your Social Security every month.
Most people pay $202.90 a month for Part B in 2026. A veteran plan with a premium reduction lowers that amount, while everything else you have stays in place.
The Part B premium reduction
How the premium actually goes down.
You may hear it called a giveback. No check comes in the mail. The premium itself gets smaller.
-
1
You enroll in a plan that includes a reduction.
Not every plan has one. We tell you which plans in your county do.
-
2
The plan tells Medicare.
It reports how much of your Part B premium it is covering.
-
3
Social Security takes out less.
Your Part B deduction drops by that amount. You do not file anything.
-
4
Your monthly deposit is higher.
It can take a couple of months to first show up. Social Security sends you a letter when it does.
The amount depends on your county.
Medicare plans are approved one county at a time. Some counties have a plan that takes up to $185 a month off. Some have a smaller reduction. Some have none. We look up yours before we say a number.
Check my countyPPO or HMO
Two kinds of network. The difference matters for veterans.
Every Medicare Advantage plan has a network of doctors and hospitals. How strict that network is depends on the type of plan.
| HMO | PPO | |
|---|---|---|
| Doctors outside the network | Generally not covered, except in an emergency | Covered. You can go in or out of network. |
| Referral to see a specialist | Often required | Not required |
| Alongside TRICARE For Life | Can cause problems | Built to work with it |
| The veteran plans we work with | No | Yes. All of them are PPOs. |
Most of the bad stories people hear about Medicare Advantage are about HMOs. Even with a PPO, we look up each of your doctors by name before you enroll.
