Medicare with VA or TRICARE benefits: what veterans should know

VA health care and Medicare

You can have both

You choose which to use each time you get care.

VA pays for

Care at VA facilities, and outside care VA has authorized, such as a community care referral.

Medicare pays for

Medicare-covered care from non-VA doctors and hospitals that accept Medicare. Never care at a VA facility.

One bill, two payers?

Generally no. The same service is paid by one or the other, and VA doesn't bill Medicare.

Drug coverage

VA drug coverage counts as creditable, so you can wait to join a Medicare drug plan without a penalty. You can't use VA and a Medicare drug plan for the same drug at the same time.

Should you sign up for Part B?

VA recommends signing up for Medicare, Part B included, when you're first eligible: Medicare covers you outside VA, and your VA priority group, wait times or needs could change.

• VA coverage isn't job-based coverage, so it doesn't give you a special window to sign up for Part B later. If you wait, you may have to sign up in January to March and pay 10% more for each full year you went without, usually for as long as you have Part B.
• If you lose VA drug coverage, join a Medicare drug plan within 63 days to avoid the Part D penalty.

TRICARE For Life

Who it's for

Uniformed services retirees, their eligible family members and survivors, and certain former spouses, who have Medicare Part A and Part B.

Part A and Part B

Both are required. Coverage starts automatically the day you have both; there's no separate sign-up.

How it pays

Medicare pays first, then TRICARE For Life. For services both cover, you generally pay nothing.

Drugs

Included through the TRICARE Pharmacy Program, so you usually don't need Part D. If you join one, it pays first.

Weight-loss drugs

TRICARE stopped covering weight-loss drugs for TRICARE For Life members when obesity is the main diagnosis. Since July 2026, a temporary Medicare program covers certain of these drugs for people with Medicare drug coverage who meet medical criteria, which TRICARE lists as a reason some members may want Part D.

Medicare Advantage for veterans

A veteran can join a Medicare Advantage plan and keep VA care. VA notes some veterans choose one for dental, vision or hearing benefits, or as backup for care outside VA. But the plan won't pay for care at VA facilities, and you still pay the plan premium and the Part B premium. There's no official category of "veteran plans": a plan marketed to veterans follows the same rules as any other.

Before you join, ask the agent how the plan works with your VA or TRICARE benefits, and check their license. A plan with drug coverage counts as a Medicare drug plan, so the VA drug limits above apply.

Common questions

Keep reading

• Turning 65: a Medicare checklist, month by monthWhat to do before and after your 65th birthday: when to sign up, what to do if you're still working, your one-time Medigap window, and the deadlines that carry lifelong penalties.
• Medicare with retiree, COBRA or a spouse's job coverageWho pays first, whether you need Part B, and the mistakes that cost people their retiree benefits or a lifelong penalty. For anyone with retiree coverage, COBRA, or a working spouse's plan.
• Medicare Advantage or Medigap? The questions that decide itNeither is better for everyone. How the two common Medicare set-ups differ, the questions that point to one or the other, and why the first choice is the hardest to undo.