Military kids deserve to stay on their parents’ Tricare plan until 26 

Every person who chooses to serve in the United States military has a different and unique experience.

Recognizing this individuality, we as elected officials try to smooth out the highs and lows that impact veterans and service members and assess the potential unintended consequences of our legislative initiatives.

It’s these “unintended consequences” that have become a recurring theme of the Veterans and Military Advisory Council, or VMAC, that I established to help inform me on the issues facing veterans, military service members and their families. The VMAC is an ad hoc and evolving group of elected officials, veterans, concerned citizens and veteran advocates from Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier, and Prince William Counties) that meets quarterly to discuss state and federal issues affecting veterans and determine how we can affect positive change.

At our most recent meeting, we turned our attention to an inconsistency between the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, and Tricare’s treatment of dependent children.

Nationally, the ACA prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher rates based on preexisting conditions. In Virginia, Medicaid expansion, finally enacted in 2019, has provided health care access to approximately 500,000 Virginians who previously did not have coverage. The ACA also made a significant step forward in ensuring that young adults have access to health insurance during their transition from teenagers to adult independence.

One of the most widely recognized provisions of the ACA is the requirement that health care plans allow dependent children to remain on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26. This provision has provided millions of young Americans with a safety net, including my two daughters, allowing them to focus on their education or early professional careers without the additional burden of securing their own, and potentially expensive, health insurance.

Surprisingly, this protection is not extended equally to all American families, particularly those who serve in our military.

Under current regulations, military service members who rely on Tricare for their health care face a different reality. Once a dependent child turns 21, they are no longer eligible for coverage under Tricare Prime unless they are enrolled in a university, in which case coverage can be extended, but only until age 23.

After this, the only option available to them is Tricare Young Adult, which requires premiums and has a deductible. This option is not only more expensive, but it is also more administratively burdensome. The result is a situation where the children of those who have dedicated their lives to serving and protecting our country are left with higher costs compared to their civilian counterparts.

For many military families, the additional premiums and deductibles required under Tricare Young Adult are not just a financial inconvenience — they are a significant burden. This is especially true when compared to the no-cost or low-cost coverage their dependents enjoyed under Tricare Prime.

The disparity is glaring: While civilian children can stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26 without additional costs, military families — who often endure frequent relocations, deployments and other unique stressors — must face a higher financial burden for their children’s health care during this critical, transitional time in their lives.

The solution to this problem is both simple and just: We must encourage our congressional delegations across the nation to extend the same protections to military families that we afford to civilian families under the ACA. Specifically, dependent children of military service members should be allowed to remain on their parents’ Tricare plan until they turn 26, without the need to transition to a more costly health care plan like Tricare Young Adult.

This simple reform would not only alleviate the financial burden on military families but also ensure that the children of service members have the same opportunities for stability and success as other young Americans. It is a matter of fairness, of ensuring that those who serve our nation are not disadvantaged simply because of their service. From a legislative perspective, this should be considered “low hanging fruit” to correct an unintended consequence.

Del. David Reid has represented the 28th District in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2017. He has served for five years as co-chair of the General Assembly’s Military and Veterans Caucus (GAMVC) and is the vice chair of the House Transportation Committee. He served 23 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer, where he was awarded the prestigious Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal on three occasions, and retired as a commander.