TRICARE vs. FEHB for military retirees: the same year, side by side

By law, TRICARE pays after all other health insurance, such as FEHB. Your FEHB plan processes the claim first and TRICARE second, and you must follow your FEHB plan's rules. This page prices each one alone. It does not model carrying both. Our TRICARE guide has the details.

OPM says annuitants can apply at any time to suspend FEHB to use TRICARE, and a suspended annuitant can reinstate during Open Season, or right away after involuntarily losing the other coverage. The form comes from OPM's Retirement Information Office, 888-767-6738. Cancelling as an annuitant is permanent. OPM: suspending FEHB.

To keep FEHB in retirement you retire on an immediate annuity and have FEHB for the five years before it starts, or for all your service since your first chance to enroll if that is shorter. OPM says time covered by TRICARE counts toward those five years, as long as you are enrolled in FEHB when you retire. OPM: FEHB eligibility.

Employees pay FEHB premiums before federal income tax and FICA, unless they waive it, so the take-home cost is lower than the premium shown here. Annuitants pay from the annuity after tax. TRICARE retiree enrollment fees are shown as published.

TRICARE is health coverage that is not a high-deductible plan, so you cannot put money into an HSA while it covers you, even with an FEHB high-deductible plan beside it. The FEHB plan gives an HRA instead. The health accounts guide has the rules.

FEHB does not require Medicare Part B, and TRICARE does, if you have Part A. While you are still working, FEHB pays first. As an annuitant, Medicare pays first, and with TRICARE the order is Medicare, FEHB, then TRICARE. The Turning 65 planner gives your dates.

The FEHB figures are 2027 and the TRICARE figures are 2026, because TRICARE had not posted 2027 costs on October 31, 2026. Both are in-network estimates on the same counts and assumed charges. It leaves out out-of-network care, whether your doctors take each plan, whether Prime is offered where you live, drug formularies, dental and vision, and medically retired rates.

Each plan decides coverage and claims under its own rules, and your employing office or OPM handles FEHB eligibility and enrollment. These are estimates under the assumptions on this page, not quotes. It compares cost and shows the rules. It does not say which coverage fits you. Before you change anything, read your plan's brochure and talk to your agency's HR office or OPM. See Full disclosures.