Health and dental insurance military retirees
 

Hello,

I have an insurance question that isn’t answered in the other two threads.

For all those retired military people already at Southwest, what is the best strategy for health and dental insurance? Southwest Regular plan with Tricare Retired as a backup or something else?

I start at the end of the month and any info you can provide would be awesome.

Thanks

Regular plan with Tricare secondary. Regular plan has a lot of caveats, but when Tricare is used as a secondary they pick up everything your primary insurance doesn't. With the two together, you'll pretty much have zero medical costs.

FWIW, I just flew a trip with a retired AF guy, he has been on the Regular Plan with Tricare as backup for many years. His only regret is not doing it sooner. I’ve flown with many just like him.

I’m a civ guy that just switched over to the RP, first paycheck of the year and I already saved a premium payment. I’ve tried hard to find “the catch,” but just couldn’t....

Thanks for the responses so far.

Should have highlighted this more in the original post.... what about Tricare Retired Dental? Worth having as a backup or not worth the hassle?

Don’t waste your money on the Tricare dental. You’ll get free dental with the regular plan. I believe each individual is limited to $1000 per year for cleanings, fillings, crowns, etc... so that could add up if they have some unexpected issues.

The only time you should ever get tricare Dental is if you or your family are having major, long term work done that either isn’t covered by the SWA plan (for example, a bunch of crowns that have been previously done and therefore aren’t covered) or if you have a kid(s) in braces to get a double braces payment. You are required to keep it for 12 months after you sign up, and it isn’t cheap.
Regular plan Dental isn’t great, but it is pretty good and well worth the extra money in your pocket.

I just switched from prime/no swa medical to regular/tricare retiree select (formerly standard) and so far it has been great. We have already had some major medical issues with kids this year and just being able to call any doctor without asking your PCM “mother may I” is worth a lot. Working with two insurances can be tricky, but most doctors offices are smart on it.
Tricare is always secondary by law, but it generally pays up to what it would have paid if it were primary which means you end up not paying a whole lot.

If you're happy with Tricare Prime, keep it and don't sign up for SWA medical. SWA will pay you $50/month to not use their medical. That just about pays for Prime (me and spouse). My PCM is at an AFB and it's easy to get appts and free drugs. That will give you time to ask others and, if at some point you want to change, you can change the following January.

If you're not happy with Prime or are moving away, or live away, from military medical care you might be better off with SWA medical (Tricare standard as secondary payer).

I've been Tricare Prime, with no SWA medical, since I retired 17 yrs ago.

PS - Say yes to SWA dental and vision (if you need that). Much cheaper than other options I've seen.

Thank you everyone for the responses.

.....and thanks for this one too.

My main problem is they are changing many things with Tricare, many of the changes haven’t been fully fleshed out yet (admission from tricare experts at my local hospital), and I am retiring right when those changes go into effect. So I might get stuck with multiple enrollment fees for tricare and tricare dental (or not depending on which tricare person I talk to) and no matter what I will be the guinea pig as one of the first to retire under the changes.

Which prompted lots of questions from the wife... and which prompted my post.

Again, many thanks to those that responded and those who contacted me.

Regular Plan!
 

We went with Regular Plan and Tricare Standard (now Tricare Retiree Select as of 1 Jan). Dental and Vision through SWA at minimal cost. My wife's $200K plus cancer bills last year cost us ZERO dollars.