Transition

Health and Life Insurance After You Separate

This guide is for service members in their last year in uniform, recently separated veterans, and their families. If you are not retiring, TRICARE generally ends at 11:59 p.m. on your last duty day, and free SGLI life insurance ends 120 days after you leave. Here is when each kind of coverage stops, which bridge programs you may qualify for, what they cost in 2026, and the deadlines for health, dental and life insurance.

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Transition · Updated October 2026 · 15 min read

Before you rely on this

This guide is general information, current as of October 2026. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Your status, dates and family situation decide which rules apply, so confirm the details with TRICARE, VA, OSGLI or BENEFEDS before you act.

Several figures change on a schedule. TRICARE enrollment fees and premiums, TRICARE Reserve Select and Retired Reserve premiums, and CHCBP premiums shown here are calendar year 2026 amounts; check for 2027 amounts before January. VGLI rates are VA's rates as of July 1, 2025. The VGLI premium holiday runs from November 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027, and does not waive the first premium on new coverage.

Count every deadline from your own separation or retirement date, check your TAMP eligibility on milConnect, and keep your DD214 and any coverage letters where you can find them. Special situations, such as medical retirement, the Temporary Disability Retired List, Guard and Reserve status changes, divorce or living overseas, can change which rules apply.

As of late September 2026, TRICARE's CHCBP page warned that a system problem was causing some CHCBP claims to route incorrectly, deny by mistake or process the wrong way. If a CHCBP claim looks wrong, call Humana Military at 800-444-5445.

Free help is available. Accredited Veterans Service Organization representatives help with VA benefit claims at no charge, County Veterans Service Officers and your installation's legal assistance office can also help, and VA's health benefits line (877-222-8387), the VA Life Insurance Center (800-669-8477) and OSGLI (800-419-1473) answer program questions.

Watch for scams and paid help. You can apply for TRICARE plans, CHCBP, VA health care, VGLI and VALife yourself through the official sites and phone numbers in this guide. Be wary of anyone who pressures you to buy a policy or pay a fee during your transition, and if a caller says they are from VA's insurance office, hang up and call the official number yourself. To check whether someone is VA-accredited, use the Office of General Counsel's accreditation search on VA.gov.

When your TRICARE coverage ends

If you are leaving active duty without retiring, TRICARE says your eligibility generally ends at 11:59 p.m. on your last duty day. Your family's TRICARE through you ends with your separation too (unless they are eligible through another sponsor); TAMP, if you qualify, covers you and them for 180 more days. Terminal leave still counts as active duty: you keep active duty benefits, and your family stays covered, until it runs out.

Retiring works differently. You and your family can stay in TRICARE, but retirement ends your active duty enrollment, and you must enroll in a retiree plan within 90 days after your retirement date to avoid a break in coverage. Guard and Reserve members leaving active orders are covered in the next section.

Separation is not a TRICARE Qualifying Life Event for you. It becomes one if your spouse is a TRICARE sponsor in their own right; your family then has 90 days from your separation date or the end of TAMP to change plans.

Before you go, schedule your Separation History and Physical Examination (SHPE) 90 to 180 days before your end date. DoD and VA use this exam to capture your complete medical history.

Bridge coverage: TAMP, then CHCBP

The Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP) gives you and your eligible family members 180 days of TRICARE after regular coverage ends, with no premiums. The 180 days begin when you separate, not during terminal leave. Your service decides who qualifies and records it in DEERS (the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System); check your status on milConnect. The qualifying groups are listed below.

During TAMP you can use TRICARE Prime where available, TRICARE Select, the US Family Health Plan in designated areas, or the overseas versions of Prime and Select. If you had TRICARE Prime, the US Family Health Plan or TRICARE Prime Overseas on active duty, you must re-enroll to keep it during TAMP; TRICARE says to send the enrollment before you leave active duty so there is no break, and enrollment is backdated to your separation date. Children covered through TAMP lose TRICARE when the 180 days end. Guard and Reserve members who stay in the Selected Reserve may then qualify to buy TRICARE Reserve Select: $57.88 a month for the member only or $286.66 for member and family in 2026.

The Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) is the paid follow-on. It gives the same coverage as TRICARE Select, including prescriptions, and counts as minimum essential coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Your separation must be under other than adverse conditions. Former service members, and family members on their family plan, can keep CHCBP for up to 18 months after TRICARE or TAMP ends. Up to 36 months is available to family members who lose TRICARE on their own, such as a child who ages out or an unremarried former spouse.

You have 60 days to buy CHCBP. TRICARE counts from the day you lose TRICARE or TAMP; the regulation starts the clock on the latest of your separation date, the end of TAMP, or the date you are notified of your CHCBP rights. Counting from the day coverage ends is the safe reading. Coverage is backdated to the day after TRICARE or TAMP ended. A baby born or adopted after you separate can't be added to DEERS but can be enrolled in CHCBP.

For 2026, CHCBP premiums are $2,103 per quarter for individual coverage and $5,339 per quarter for family coverage, plus deductibles and cost-shares. Under the regulation, a premium 30 or more days late (counted from the start of the quarter) ends your enrollment, with no option to re-enroll. Humana Military runs CHCBP: 800-444-5445.

Involuntary separation from active duty under honorable conditions, including members who receive a voluntary separation incentive, or voluntary separation pay without retired or retainer pay.
Guard or Reserve release from more than 30 consecutive days of active duty for a preplanned mission or in support of a contingency operation, or Guard release from more than 30 consecutive days of qualifying Title 32 section 502(f) orders.
Separation after stop-loss, or after a voluntary agreement to stay on active duty for less than one year, in support of a contingency operation.
A sole survivorship discharge.
Joining the Selected Reserve the day after leaving regular active duty.

Retiring: TRICARE Prime, Select, Retired Reserve and TFL

Retiring ends your active duty TRICARE Prime enrollment. To keep coverage with no break, you and your family must enroll in a retiree plan within 90 days after your retirement date. Miss that and you can request retroactive enrollment within 12 months of retirement, paying enrollment fees back to the retirement date. After 12 months you must wait for TRICARE Open Season or a Qualifying Life Event, and until then you can use military hospitals and clinics only if space is available.

Options are TRICARE Prime (only in Prime Service Areas), TRICARE Select, the US Family Health Plan or TRICARE Prime Demo in certain locations, TRICARE Select Overseas, and TRICARE For Life once you have Medicare Part A and Part B. Some benefits end at retirement, including chiropractic care, hearing aids (except for some children), Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) services for family members, and eye exams outside TRICARE Prime.

Retirees pay annual enrollment fees by group. Group A means your initial enlistment or appointment began before January 1, 2018; Group B means it began on or after that date. The 2026 fees are below. Group A medical retirees, their families and survivors follow different fee rules.

If you retire from the Guard or Reserve, TRICARE Reserve Select ends the day you transfer to the Retired Reserve. Until 60 you may be able to buy TRICARE Retired Reserve: $645.90 a month for the member only or $1,548.30 for member and family in 2026. At 60, once you draw retired pay and DEERS shows it, you can enroll in TRICARE Prime or Select; the deadline is typically 90 days from your 60th birthday.

If you or a family member becomes eligible for Medicare, including before 65 because of a disability, you must have Medicare Part B to keep TRICARE.

Group A, TRICARE Prime: $381.96 a year for an individual, $765 for a family.
Group A, TRICARE Select: $186.96 individual, $375 family.
Group B, TRICARE Prime: $462.96 individual, $927 family.
Group B, TRICARE Select: $594.96 individual, $1,191 family.

Other routes: VA care, a new job, the Marketplace and Medicaid

VA says you may be eligible if you served in the active military, naval or air service and did not receive a dishonorable discharge, subject to minimum-service rules with exceptions. If you meet those basics and were exposed to toxins or other hazards, you are eligible; VA says that includes everyone who served in the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other combat zone after 9/11. Combat veterans discharged on or after September 11, 2001, qualify for enhanced eligibility, meaning a higher priority group, and it lasts 10 years after discharge, so apply right away.

You can apply once you have separation or retirement orders. VA's health benefits line is 877-222-8387. Dependents who aren't eligible for VA care can get Marketplace coverage, HealthCare.gov notes.

Starting a civilian job? Ask when its health coverage begins and keep bridge coverage until then. If your spouse has health coverage through work, ask that plan before you separate whether losing TRICARE lets your family join outside open enrollment, how many days you have to ask, and what proof it needs.

HealthCare.gov treats TRICARE and VA health care as qualifying coverage. You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you lost qualifying coverage in the past 60 days or expect to lose it in the next 60 days. You may need documents showing when coverage ended.

Depending on household size and income, you may get lower Marketplace costs, or free or low-cost coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Dental and vision after you leave

Most military dental coverage ends when you leave. Family members already enrolled in the TRICARE Dental Program can stay in it until their eligibility ends after your final separation, and must keep paying premiums until then; ask the TRICARE Dental Program contractor for the exact end date. If they weren't enrolled before you qualified for TAMP, they can't enroll now. On TAMP after active duty, you can use military dental clinics only if space is available; the Active Duty Dental Program doesn't cover you.

Guard and Reserve members on TAMP after contingency orders keep active duty dental benefits for the 180 days, but orthodontics, implants and certain complex treatment must be finished within that time. An earlier TRICARE Dental Program enrollment resumes when TAMP ends.

Most retirees and their families can buy dental coverage through the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), plus vision coverage if enrolled in a TRICARE health plan. If you retire from active duty, you can enroll on BENEFEDS from 31 days before to 60 days after your retirement date; enrolling before you retire avoids a gap. Miss the 60 days and you wait for the Federal Benefits Open Season, which runs from the Monday of the second full week of November through the Monday of the second full week of December. BENEFEDS: 877-888-3337.

VA offers one-time dental care if you served at least 90 days of active duty during the Persian Gulf War era (which began August 2, 1990, and has no end date set yet), were not dishonorably discharged, your DD214 doesn't show a complete dental exam and all needed treatment before discharge, and you apply within 180 days of discharge. VA's regulation adds that the care is a one-time fix for dental problems that existed when you left service, and that the VA dental exam must be done within 6 months of discharge unless the delay isn't your fault. You start by applying for VA health care.

Enrolled in VA health care or CHAMPVA but not eligible for VA dental care? You may be able to buy reduced-cost dental insurance through the VA Dental Insurance Program (VADIP).

SGLI and VGLI: the 120-day and 240-day clocks

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) covers up to $500,000 and stays in force free for 120 days after you leave. If you are totally disabled when you separate, apply on form SGLV 8715 for the SGLI Disability Extension, which keeps coverage free for up to 2 years or until you are no longer totally disabled, whichever comes first. If you join a drilling Guard or Reserve unit after active duty (one that schedules at least 12 drill periods a year), you can keep full-time SGLI while you serve there.

Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) lets you keep group term coverage as a civilian: $10,000 to $500,000, in $10,000 steps, but not more than the SGLI you had when you left. Apply within 240 days and there is no health review. After that you must submit evidence of good health, and the final deadline is 1 year and 120 days after separation.

If your application and first premium are mailed or delivered to the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (OSGLI) by day 120, VGLI starts on day 121, right after free SGLI ends. Apply later and coverage starts only on the date OSGLI receives an acceptable application and premium, leaving a gap. OSGLI usually sends VGLI information 45 to 60 days after you separate, but you don't have to wait for it: apply online through OSGLI's Prudential website or on form SGLV 8714. OSGLI: 800-419-1473.

Premiums depend only on age and coverage amount, not gender or tobacco use, and rise as you move into each older age bracket. As of July 1, 2025, VA's monthly rates for $500,000 were $30.00 at 29 and younger, $70.00 at 40 to 44, $145.00 at 50 to 54 and $425.00 at 60 to 64; see VA.gov's VGLI rate tables for your age and amount. VA has also announced a premium holiday: VGLI members whose coverage is active on November 1, 2026, pay no premiums from November 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027. The first premium that starts new coverage is always due, so VGLI that starts in November or December 2026 gets fewer free months, and VGLI that starts on or after January 1, 2027 gets none.

If you start below the maximum, you can add $25,000 one year after you get VGLI and every 5 years after that, without a health review, up to $500,000, until age 60. VGLI has no cash or loan value. You can convert it at any time to a permanent policy, such as whole life, with a participating insurer, without proving good health; SGLI itself can be converted that way within 120 days of leaving.

VALife, spouse coverage and TSGLI

Veterans Affairs Life Insurance (VALife) is guaranteed-acceptance whole life insurance for veterans with a VA service-connected disability rating, even 0%. At 80 or younger there is no deadline after your rating. At 81 or older you qualify only if you applied for compensation before 81, were rated after 81, and apply within 2 years of the rating notice. Coverage goes up to $40,000 in $10,000 steps. The premium is set by your age when you apply and never increases while you keep the policy; cash value starts 2 years after approval. There are no loans or premium waivers.

The tradeoff is a 2-year waiting period: full coverage starts 2 years after you apply, and you pay premiums meanwhile. If you die during those 2 years, VA pays your beneficiaries the premiums paid plus interest. VA Life Insurance Center: 800-669-8477.

Family SGLI (FSGLI) for your spouse, up to $100,000 and never more than your own SGLI, ends 120 days after you separate. Within those 120 days your spouse can convert it to a permanent individual policy, such as whole life, with a participating insurer, using your most recent Leave and Earnings Statement and your separation document. It can't become VGLI. Your children's free $10,000 coverage also ends and can't be converted.

Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI), part of SGLI, pays $25,000 to $100,000 for qualifying traumatic injuries. It is not in effect during the 120 days of free SGLI after separation. If you were seriously injured while serving, ask your service branch about a claim.

Choosing life coverage: VGLI, private term or VALife

Start with two questions: how much money your family would need if you died, and for how long. Then count what you already have, such as a spouse's policy or a new employer's group life insurance.

VGLI's strength is access: no health review within 240 days, rates based on age and amount rather than health, gender or tobacco use, and coverage you can keep for life as long as you pay premiums. The cost rises with age: for $500,000, $30.00 a month at 29 and younger and $425.00 at 60 to 64, and more after that.

Private term life covers a fixed period, usually 10 to 30 years, with a payment that doesn't change during the term. VA notes you may need a health review or medical exam, insurers often price by gender and tobacco use, and coverage ends with the term.

VALife is narrower: only for veterans with a service-connected rating, capped at $40,000, with a 2-year wait, but acceptance is guaranteed if you qualify and the premium never rises. Whatever you weigh, mind the VGLI deadlines above: if they pass before a private policy is approved and in force, you can be left without coverage.

Health conditions? VGLI within 240 days has no health review; private insurers may require one.
Need coverage for a set number of years, or for life? Private term ends with its term; VGLI can be renewed for life at rising rates.
Any VA service-connected rating, even 0%? If you are 80 or younger, VALife has no application deadline.

Your timeline: what to do and when

Count each window from your own separation or retirement date and put the dates on a calendar now. Several clocks run at once, so the first 120 days are the busiest.

Keep copies of every application, letter and payment, with the date you sent it.

Before you separate: schedule your SHPE 90 to 180 days out, check TAMP status on milConnect and send any TRICARE Prime re-enrollment for TAMP, apply for VA health care once you have orders, ask a spouse's employer plan about adding the family, enroll in FEDVIP up to 31 days early if retiring, and plan how to replace SGLI and FSGLI.
On separation day: unless you are retiring, TRICARE ends at 11:59 p.m. on your last duty day; TAMP's 180 days begin if you qualify; free SGLI continues.
Within 60 days: buy CHCBP (60 days after TRICARE or TAMP ends), pick a Marketplace plan (60 days), and enroll in FEDVIP if you retired (60 days).
Within 120 days: retirees enroll in TRICARE Prime or Select (90 days); get your VGLI application and first premium to OSGLI so coverage starts on day 121; convert SGLI or FSGLI to an individual policy if you choose to.
Within 240 days: apply for VA's one-time dental care (180 days after discharge, with the VA dental exam within 6 months), buy CHCBP within 60 days after TAMP ends at day 180, and apply for VGLI without a health review.
Within 1 year and 120 days: last chance for VGLI, with evidence of good health. Retirees who missed the 90 days can request retroactive TRICARE enrollment within 12 months.

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these sources. Figures and rules change, so check the current source before you act.

Questions

Common Questions

How long does TRICARE last after I get out of the military? +

If you are separating without retiring, TRICARE generally ends at 11:59 p.m. on your last duty day; terminal leave counts as active duty. If you qualify for the Transitional Assistance Management Program, you and your family get 180 more days with no premiums. After that, or without TAMP, you can buy the Continued Health Care Benefit Program for up to 18 months if you enroll within 60 days. Retirees can stay in TRICARE but must enroll in a retiree plan within 90 days after retiring to avoid a gap.

Do I get TAMP if I separate voluntarily at the end of my enlistment? +

Usually not. TAMP covers specific groups: involuntary separations under honorable conditions (including some members receiving voluntary separation pay or incentives), Guard and Reserve members leaving more than 30 consecutive days of orders for a preplanned mission or contingency operation, stop-loss separations, sole survivorship discharges, and members who join the Selected Reserve the next day. A routine end of enlistment is not on the list. Your service decides, and you can check on milConnect.

How much does CHCBP cost in 2026? +

For calendar year 2026, CHCBP premiums are $2,103 per quarter for individual coverage and $5,339 per quarter for family coverage. You also pay an outpatient deductible, plus copayments and cost-shares that follow TRICARE Select Group B costs. Amounts are set by calendar year, so check TRICARE's CHCBP costs page for 2027. You must enroll within 60 days of losing TRICARE or TAMP, and a premium 30 or more days late can end coverage for good.

What is the deadline to convert SGLI to VGLI? +

You have 1 year and 120 days from separation to apply for VGLI, with no health review if you apply within 240 days. If your application and first premium are mailed or delivered to OSGLI within 120 days, VGLI starts on day 121, right after free SGLI ends, so there is no gap. After 240 days you must submit evidence of good health. Apply online through OSGLI's Prudential website or by mail or fax on form SGLV 8714. VA's November 2026 to January 2027 premium holiday does not waive that first premium.

Can my spouse keep FSGLI after I leave the military? +

Not as FSGLI. Spouse and child coverage ends 120 days after you separate. Within those 120 days your spouse can convert the spouse coverage to a permanent individual policy, such as whole life, with a participating private insurer, using your most recent Leave and Earnings Statement and your separation document. Spouse coverage can't be converted to VGLI, and children's coverage can't be converted at all.

Can I get VA dental care after I get out? +

Possibly, once. VA offers one-time dental care if you served at least 90 days of active duty during the Persian Gulf War era, were not dishonorably discharged, your DD214 doesn't show a complete dental exam and all needed treatment before discharge, and you apply within 180 days of discharge. VA's regulation also requires the VA dental exam within 6 months of discharge unless the delay isn't your fault. Veterans with a compensable service-connected dental condition or a 100% service-connected rating (not a temporary one) can get any needed dental care. Start by applying for VA health care.

Is VALife better than VGLI? +

They do different jobs. VGLI is term coverage of up to $500,000 for separating members who had SGLI, with no health review within 240 days and premiums that rise with age. VALife is whole life coverage of up to $40,000 for veterans with a service-connected rating, with guaranteed acceptance for those who qualify, a premium that never increases, and a 2-year wait for full coverage. OSGLI (800-419-1473) and the VA Life Insurance Center (800-669-8477) can answer program questions.

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