TRICARE Open Season: Understanding Who’s Eligible

It’s that time of year again—TRICARE Open Season is here. Open season, which began Nov. 11, runs until Dec. 10. During this period, most beneficiaries with TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select can make changes to their health plan for coverage starting Jan. 1, 2025.

“TRICARE Open Season is your opportunity to make changes to your health plan that match your and your family members’ health needs,” explained Zelly Zim, a health systems specialist with the TRICARE Health Plan Policy & Programs Branch at the Defense Health Agency. “It’s important to know if you’re eligible since it’s the one time of year you can adjust your health plan without a TRICARE Qualifying Life Event.”

There will be changes to TRICARE’s regional contracts starting Jan. 1, 2025. These changes will affect beneficiaries in certain regions. To learn if you’re affected by these changes, visit TRICARE Changes.

Read on to learn more about open season eligibility.

Who’s eligible
Who exactly can take part in TRICARE Open Season? It applies to those eligible for:
• TRICARE Prime
• US Family Health Plan
• TRICARE Prime Remote
• TRICARE Prime Overseas
• TRICARE Prime Remote Overseas
• TRICARE Select
• TRICARE Select Overseas

Note that open season doesn’t apply to everybody. It doesn’t apply to you if you:

• Are an active duty service member
• Have TRICARE For Life
• Have a TRICARE premium-based plan, as described in the TRICARE Plans Overview Fact Sheet. The TRICARE premium-based plans are TRICARE Reserve Select, TRICARE Retired Reserve, TRICARE Young Adult, and the Continued Health Care Benefit Program.

Dental and vision coverage
In addition to TRICARE health plan changes, open season is also when you can enroll or make updates to your dental and vision coverage. The Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, managed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, allows you to make changes to your coverage during Federal Benefits Open Season. Federal Benefits Open Season started Nov. 11. Your eligibility for FEDVIP depends on your TRICARE beneficiary status.

The TRICARE Open Season and Federal Benefits Open Season periods overlap, but they end on different dates. Federal Benefits Open Season ends one day earlier on Dec. 9. Be sure to review your options and make any needed changes before the deadlines.

Open season is also a good time to review your information in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System to ensure everything is up to date. You can also use this time to validate the payment information you have on file.

If you live in the West Region or in a state that’s moving to the West Region on Jan. 1, you may need to provide your payment information to TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the incoming West Region contractor, by Jan. 1. You must do this if you pay by bank electronic funds transfer or debit or credit card. You don’t need to do this if you pay by military pay system allotment. Allotment payments will transfer automatically. You can learn more at tricare.mil/west.

Whether you need to make changes or not, now is the time to review your TRICARE health plan and dental and vision coverage options for the coming year.

Looking for 2025 health plan costs? Read the article, “Check Out Your 2025 TRICARE Health Plan Costs” on the TRICARE Newsroom. You can also download the TRICARE 2025 Costs and Fees Preview.

Would you like the latest TRICARE news sent to you by email? Visit TRICARE Subscriptions, and create your personalized profile to get benefit updates, news, and more.