For Guard and Reserve Members

	Smart Move
	If you are married and your spouse has an employer health-care plan, you may want to move your family to that plan.

What Happens to My Health-Care Benefits?

The military provides health-care benefits to Reservists and Guard members called to active service. There also is a health-care program called TRICARE for dependents of Reservists or Guard members on active duty for 30 days or more. For more information about TRICARE for Reservists, visit the TRICARE Web site.

With TRICARE, your spouse or child can go to civilian doctors and hospitals that accept patients under this program. That’s the “up” side. The “down” side for dependents is that not all doctors or hospitals accept TRICARE patients. If your spouse or child needs special care, you may not want to interrupt that care by switching doctors and hospitals.

If you already have health-care coverage through an employer’s plan, find out what it will cost to keep it during your deployment. If you can’t stay on your employer’s plan, consider joining your spouse’s health-care plan or using your rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

Stay on Your Employer’s Health-Care Plan

Some employers’ health-care plans stay in effect for as long as employees are on active duty. You probably will have to pay the same portion of the health-care costs you do now. If you fail to pay your share, you can be removed from the plan. If your employer will keep you on your current plan, make arrangements with the human resources department to pay your part of the cost.

Consider a Spouse’s Health-Care Plan

If you are married and your spouse has an employer-sponsored health-care plan, you may want to move your family to that plan. This also may be a good choice if you are divorced and have children covered under your employer’s health-care plan. You cannot join your ex-spouse’s plan, but your children can be covered. Bear in mind, many divorce decrees state which parent must pay for health insurance.

You and your children are legally permitted to join your spouse’s plan within 30 days of the date your old coverage ends. Depending on the health-care plan, you and your children may be able to join a spouse’s plan even sooner.

Of course, you and your spouse (or ex-spouse) should compare the benefits of moving to your spouse’s plan or exercising your USERRA rights. If your spouse’s plan will meet everyone’s needs, consider this coverage. Your family still may have to change doctors and hospitals, but the cost of the spouse’s plan may be lower.

Explore USERRA

If your family lives in an area where few doctors accept patients under the military TRICARE program, or if you don’t want to change doctors, consider exercising your health-care rights under USERRA. These include:

• The right to stay on your employer’s health-care plan, if you pay up to 102 percent of the cost of the plan while on active duty. That’s the full cost of the plan plus a 2 percent administrative fee.



• The right to rejoin an employer’s health-care plan with no waiting period when you return. You then will go back to paying the same amount as every other employee.

After looking over your health-care options and comparing costs, calculate any additional amount you will be paying monthly for health care while on active duty. Write that amount down on your Reserve Fund Worksheet.