So if you decide you want to join a Medicare drug plan after you are first eligible, you won't have to pay a late enrollment penalty if you join within 63 days of involuntarily losing your TRICARE coverage.
If you don't lose your coverage and you want to join a Medicare drug plan, you must wait for a valid enrollment period. You will not have to pay a late enrollment penalty.
If you have TRICARE coverage and you choose to disenroll from your Medicare drug plan, you get a special enrollment period to do so.
You should contact TRICARE before making any changes to your drug coverage.
Additional Information:
Although you can have both TRICARE and a Medicare drug plan, the Medicare drug plan will always pay first for Medicare-covered drugs. TRICARE will then pay for TRICARE-covered drugs. Please contact the TRICARE Pharmacy Program at 1-877-363-6337 for more information.
To use the TRICARE Mail Order Program, call 1-866-363-8667, or for the TRICARE Retail Network Pharmacy Program, call 1-866-363-8779.