TRICARE Disenrollment: Rules, Penalties, and Processes | TRICARE.com

*TRICARE.com is an independent reference site and is not an official government platform. For official policy and enrollment status, please visit TRICARE.mil.*

## Definition Disenrollment is the process of ending your coverage in a specific TRICARE health plan, either voluntarily by choice or involuntarily due to missed payments or loss of eligibility.

## What it means in practice In practice, disenrollment means you are no longer covered by a managed care plan like TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select. If you disenroll, you generally cannot re-enroll until the next annual Open Season or until you experience a Qualifying Life Event (QLE), such as marriage, birth of a child, or a permanent change of station (PCS).

There are two primary types of disenrollment: voluntary and involuntary. * **Voluntary Disenrollment:** This occurs when a beneficiary chooses to leave a plan, often because they have gained employer-sponsored insurance or want to switch from Prime to Select. * **Involuntary Disenrollment:** This is most often caused by a "failure to pay." For 2026, if you are in a plan that requires enrollment fees (such as TRICARE Select for Group B retirees) and you fail to pay your quarterly or monthly premiums, your regional contractor (Humana Military in the East; TriWest in the West) will terminate your coverage.

If you are disenrolled for failure to pay, you face a **12-month lockout period**. During this time, you cannot re-enroll in a TRICARE plan. Furthermore, while disenrolled, you may only receive care at Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) on a "space-available" basis. In these cases, you are responsible for 100% of the costs for any civilian healthcare you receive. To avoid this, retirees and families should ensure their alloted payments or electronic funds transfers (EFT) are updated, especially if switching banks or transitioning between the East and West regions.

## Related terms * **Open Season:** The annual period (usually November to December) when beneficiaries can enroll in, change, or disenroll from TRICARE plans for the following year. * **Qualifying Life Event (QLE):** A specific life change, such as moving or getting married, that opens a 90-day window to change or end your TRICARE enrollment outside of Open Season. * **Failure to Pay:** A specific condition where coverage is terminated because the beneficiary did not pay the required enrollment fees or premiums. * **Lockout Period:** A 12-month penalty phase following involuntary disenrollment during which a beneficiary is ineligible to re-enroll in a TRICARE plan. * **Reinstatement:** The process of requesting to have coverage restored after a disenrollment, usually requiring the payment of all back-fees within a specific timeframe.

## Sources * TRICARE.mil: Ending Coverage [https://www.tricare.mil/LifeEvents/EndCoverage] * Humana Military (East Region): Disenrollment [https://www.humanamilitary.com/] * TriWest Healthcare Alliance (West Region): Enrollment and Payments [https://www.triwest.com/]