VA healthcare members can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, with, or without prescription drug coverage. Medicare Advantage enrollment does not interfere with your VA coverage. The VA and Medicare do not coordinate coverage/benefits.

You may be eligible for:

~No Premium

~2nd Provider/Network/Opinion/Access

~Part B Giveback Money

~Dental, Vision, Hearing

~Over the Counter Items

~Silver Sneakers

~Transportation

~Meals

No. Whether or not you have health insurance coverage doesn't affect the VA health care benefits you can get.

Yes. We encourage you to sign up for Medicare as soon as you can. This is because:

- Having Medicare means you're covered if you need to go to a non-VA hospital or doctor-so you have more options to choose from.

- Funding for VA health care could change in the future. We encourage you to sign up for every health care benefit that you're eligible for so you have options if you need them.

- If you delay signing up for Medicare Part B (coverage for doctors and outpatient services) and then need to sign up later because you lose your VA health care benefits or need more choice in care options, you'll pay a penalty. This penalty gets bigger each year you delay signing up-and you'll pay it every year for the rest of your life.

- If you sign up for Medicare Part D (coverage for prescription drugs), you'll be able to use it to get medicine from non-VA doctors and fill your prescriptions at your local pharmacy instead of through the VA mail-order service. There's no penalty for delaying Medicare Part D as long as you enroll when you're first eligible or within 63 days of when you no longer have VA health care or other creditable prescription drug coverage. Learn more about how to avoid the Part D penalty on the Medicare website

In addition, to Tricare for Life or CHAMP VA, you can still enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and may receive extra benefits .

It is recommended that you enroll in a MA plan without prescription drug coverage. Therefore, not interfering with Express Scripts or Meds by Mail.

Your Medicare Advantage plan will now be automatically billed first instead of your Original Medicare. Then you will need to tell your provider to bill Tricare for Life or CHAMPVA. It is not done automatically.

Because you have TFL, you may disenroll from a Medicare Advantage Plan at any time. You can call Medicare or your Medicare Advantage Plan or to request disenrollment. You'll automatically be back in Original Medicare.

No. Medicare Advantage Plans, sometimes called "Part C" or "MA Plans," are an "all in one" alternative to Original Medicare. Private companies approved by Medicare offer these plans. These "bundled" plans include:

- Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance);

- Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance); and

- Additional benefits (For example: Part B Givebacks, dental, Vision, prescriptions, fitness)

If you enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you still have Medicare. Medicare is still your primary coverage, and TRICARE For Life is the second payer for TRICARE-covered services.

The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) is a VA program. CHAMPVA is for the spouses, dependents, and survivors of Veterans and service members who meet certain service-connected disability requirements.

TRICARE is a Defense Department (DOD) program. TRICARE (formerly called CHAMPUS) is for active-duty and retired service members, their families, and their survivors.

If you're eligible for TRICARE, you can't get care through CHAMPVA.

Yes. Medicare Advantage plans (also called Medicare Part C) include original Medicare (also called Medicare Parts A and B). If you're eligible for Medicare, you must have Medicare Parts A and B to get CHAMPVA. A Medicare Advantage plan meets this requirement.

CHAMPVA is the secondary payer to Medicare. This means that your Medicare Advantage plan will pay for your care first. Then, CHAMPVA may cover costs that you still owe after Medicare pays.