TRICARE Reserve Select 2026: Costs, Eligibility and How to Enroll

• What TRICARE Reserve Select Is
• Who Qualifies for TRS
• TRS Premiums for 2026
• What You Pay for Care
• How to Buy TRS
• TRS and Your Civilian Health Plan
• What Happens When You’re Activated
• Ending TRS and the 12-Month Lockout
• Dental and Vision Are Separate
• TRICARE Retired Reserve: The Next Step
• Coverage for Survivors
• Frequently Asked Questions

If you drill one weekend a month and hold a civilian job, TRICARE Reserve Select may be the cheapest health plan you can get. A Selected Reserve member pays $57.88 a month for individual coverage in 2026, and a family pays $286.66. Few employer family plans come close. The catch is the rules around it: who qualifies, what happens when you mobilize, and a 12-month lockout that catches people who cancel without thinking. This guide covers what TRS costs, who can buy it, how to enroll and how to avoid the mistakes that leave Guard and Reserve families uninsured.

What TRICARE Reserve Select Is

TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS) is a premium-based health plan for members of the Selected Reserve and their families. You buy it month to month, and the Department of Defense covers most of the cost. According to the Congressional Research Service, enrollees pay about 28% of the cost through their premiums, and DoD pays the rest.

TRS works like TRICARE Select. You can see any TRICARE-authorized provider without a referral, though some services need pre-authorization from your regional contractor. Network providers cost less and file your claims for you. Non-network providers cost more, and you may have to file your own claims. TRICARE’s official TRS page sets out these rules.

Two limits are worth knowing up front. You cannot be assigned a primary care manager at a military hospital or clinic, although you can ask for appointments there when space allows. And TRS is separate from your active duty benefits. When you are on orders for more than 30 days, you are covered as an active duty member and TRS stops (covered below).

TRS is one of eight TRICARE health plans. If you’re weighing it against a spouse’s plan, Prime or Select, our comparison of every TRICARE plan puts them side by side.

Who Qualifies for TRS

TRICARE lists four conditions. You must meet all of them on the day coverage starts and keep meeting them:

• You are a member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve. That includes drilling Guard and Reserve members in every branch.
• You are not on active duty orders for more than 30 days.
• You are not covered by the Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP), the free transitional coverage after a qualifying activation.
• You are not eligible for or enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.

Family members can enroll only if the sponsor is enrolled. A spouse who is also a qualifying Selected Reserve member can be covered under your family plan rather than buying separately.

Who Cannot Buy TRS

Members of the Individual Ready Reserve cannot buy TRS, and that includes Navy Reserve Voluntary Training Units. If you transfer from a drilling unit to the IRR, your TRS ends with your Selected Reserve status. IRR members can still buy the TRICARE Dental Program.

Retired Reserve members do not use TRS either. If you have 20 qualifying years and are waiting for retired pay at 60, your plan is TRICARE Retired Reserve, which costs far more. See the section on that plan below. Not sure where you stand on age or service limits? Our guide to National Guard and Reserve age limits covers the cutoffs by branch.

The FEHB Rule for Federal Employees

This is the rule that surprises the most people. If you work for the federal government in a job that makes you eligible for FEHB, you cannot buy TRS for yourself, even if you never enroll in FEHB. Eligibility alone disqualifies you. That includes many dual-status military technicians.

Section 701 of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act removes that bar, but it does not take effect until January 1, 2030. The Servicemember Healthcare Freedom Act of 2025 (H.R. 3547 and S. 1861) would move the date to January 1, 2026. MOAA reported that it would affect about 113,000 reserve-component members. When we checked in October 2026, TRICARE’s TRS page still listed FEHB eligibility as disqualifying, so plan on the current rule until TRICARE says otherwise.

If you become FEHB-eligible while enrolled in TRS, you have 60 days to end your TRS coverage. Do it in that window and no lockout applies. If you don’t, your Reserve Component ends it for you, also without a lockout, but you are responsible for any care received after the coverage end date.

TRS Premiums for 2026

These are the calendar-year 2026 monthly premiums from TRICARE’s 2026 costs and fees fact sheet. They apply from January 1 to December 31, 2026, and TRICARE usually announces the next year’s figures in November.

TRS premiums have risen in each of the last three years: the CRS put 2024 family coverage at $256.87 a month and 2025 at $274.48. Expect 2027 to be higher again. TRS has no annual enrollment fee on top of the premium, and it does not take part in TRICARE Open Season. You can start or change coverage in any month.

To see how TRS compares with what retirees and active duty families pay under other plans, our guide to 2026 TRICARE costs lists every plan’s fees on one page.

What You Pay for Care

Premiums are only part of the bill. When you use care, you also pay a deductible, then copays or cost-shares, up to an annual cap. Here is the rule that trips people up: TRS uses Group B costs for every enrollee, even if your service began before January 1, 2018 and you would be Group A on any other plan.

Annual Deductibles

The deductible depends on the sponsor’s pay grade and resets each calendar year.

Network Copays and Out-of-Network Cost-Shares

Non-network percentages apply to the TRICARE maximum allowable charge. A non-network provider who does not accept that amount can bill you up to 15% above it, which is one more reason to stay in network.

The Catastrophic Cap

The catastrophic cap for TRS is $1,324 per family per calendar year. Once your deductibles, copays and cost-shares for covered care reach that figure, TRICARE pays the full allowed amount for the rest of the year. Premiums do not count toward it.

That cap is what makes TRS strong for a family with a baby on the way or a chronic condition. Your worst-case year on TRS family coverage is about $4,764: $3,439.92 in premiums plus the $1,324 cap. Compare that with the out-of-pocket maximum on your civilian plan, which for a family is often several times higher.

Pharmacy Copays

TRS includes the TRICARE pharmacy benefit. These copays apply from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027:

For maintenance drugs, home delivery is the better deal. You get three times the supply of a retail fill for less than one retail copay.

How to Buy TRS

There is no open season and no qualifying life event needed. You can apply at any time, and coverage starts on the first day of a month.

1. Confirm your status in DEERS. Your unit or personnel office must show you as Selected Reserve, and every family member you want to cover must be registered. Most enrollment problems start here.
2. Apply online or by phone. Use Beneficiary Web Enrollment in milConnect, or call your regional contractor: Humana Military for the East Region at 800-444-5445, or TriWest for the West Region at 888-874-9378.
3. Pay the first two months up front. TRICARE has required the initial payment to cover two months of premiums. For 2026 family coverage that is $573.32.
4. Set up automatic monthly payments. Ongoing premiums must be paid by electronic funds transfer or a recurring debit or credit card charge. An expired card is the most common way people lose coverage.
5. Add new family members on time. A newborn or adopted child must be added within 90 days, or 120 days overseas. Until you enroll the child, the child has no coverage.

Pick your start date with care. If you are leaving an employer plan, line up the first of the month so there is no gap between the two.

TRS and Your Civilian Health Plan

You can keep an employer plan and TRS at the same time. Nothing in the TRS rules bars other civilian coverage; only FEHB eligibility does. When you have both, TRICARE pays last, after your other plan. TRS then covers some or all of what the first plan left, up to TRICARE’s allowed amount.

Many Guard families use TRS as their main plan instead, and drop the employer plan once they compare the numbers. The questions to ask:

• What does your employer charge per month for family coverage, and what is its family out-of-pocket maximum? Compare both with $286.66 a month and the $1,324 cap.
• Are your doctors TRICARE network providers? Check before you switch, not after.
• How often do you expect to be activated? Each activation switches your family to active duty coverage, and your civilian plan may treat a return to it as a new enrollment.
• Would your employer let you rejoin its plan mid-year if you leave the Selected Reserve? Most only allow that after a qualifying event.

Health coverage is one part of the Guard benefits picture. Our guide to National Guard VA benefits covers what you earn toward VA health care, disability and education.

What Happens When You’re Activated

Mobilization changes your coverage in three stages, and TRS fits around each one.

Before Your Report Date: Early Eligibility

If you receive delayed-effective-date orders for more than 30 days for a preplanned mission or a contingency operation, you and your family become eligible for active duty TRICARE up to 180 days before your report date, or from the date you receive the orders if that is later. Your personnel office must update DEERS for this to work. If the orders are canceled, coverage ends on the rescission date, and you may qualify to buy TRS again.

On Orders for More Than 30 Days

Once you’re on active duty for more than 30 days, you are covered as an active duty member. Your family can use TRICARE Prime or Select at active duty family member costs, which means no premiums. TRS ends automatically, and your regional contractor refunds any unused premiums.

After Deactivation: TAMP, Then TRS

If you served more than 30 consecutive days for a preplanned mission or in support of a contingency, you get 180 days of TAMP coverage after you deactivate, with no premiums. According to TRICARE, TRS coverage begins after the TAMP period, so contact your personnel office before TAMP runs out to avoid a gap.

A mobilization often counts toward the qualifying active service for a VA home loan. Our guide to National Guard VA loan eligibility explains when Guard and Reserve service qualifies.

Ending TRS and the 12-Month Lockout

You can end TRS at any time through milConnect or your regional contractor. TRICARE’s ending coverage page spells out what follows, and the timing matters.

• Voluntary disenrollment triggers a 12-month lockout. Once you drop TRS, you cannot buy it again for a year. Don’t cancel because you’re switching jobs for a few months.
• Simply stopping payments is not disenrolling. Your coverage ends for nonpayment, and you still owe premiums already due.
• You have 90 days to reinstate after a missed payment. You must pay every past-due premium, set up automatic payment again and cover any fees. Miss that window and the 12-month lockout applies.
• No lockout for FEHB. Ending TRS within 60 days of becoming FEHB-eligible, or having it ended involuntarily for FEHB, carries no lockout.
• Leaving the Selected Reserve ends TRS automatically. You may be able to buy temporary coverage through the Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP).

The lockout is the most expensive mistake on this list. A family locked out for 12 months has to find other coverage at market rates or go without.

Dental and Vision Are Separate

TRS does not include routine dental or vision care for adults. You buy those separately:

• Dental: Selected Reserve members and their families can enroll in the TRICARE Dental Program, which has its own monthly premiums. When you’re activated, you are covered as active duty, and family members already enrolled continue at the lower active duty family rate.
• Vision: Guard and Reserve members and families enrolled in a TRICARE health plan, including TRS, can buy FEDVIP vision coverage through BENEFEDS. The 2026 Federal Benefits Open Season runs November 9 to December 14, 2026.

Our guide to military dental and vision benefits compares the TRICARE Dental Program and FEDVIP plan by plan.

TRICARE Retired Reserve: The Next Step

When you retire from the Guard or Reserve with a qualifying non-regular retirement but before age 60, you move into the “gray area”: retired, but not yet drawing pay. TRS no longer applies. Your option is TRICARE Retired Reserve (TRR), which costs much more because the premium covers the full cost of care:

TRR also uses retiree costs: a $4,635 catastrophic cap, and network copays of $33 for primary care and $52 for specialty care. Like TRS, it is off-limits if you are eligible for FEHB. At 60, when retired pay begins, you become eligible for TRICARE Prime or Select at retiree rates instead.

Those last years before 60 deserve a plan. Our guide to military retirement benefits covers what reserve retirees receive and when.

Coverage for Survivors

If a sponsor dies while covered by TRS, surviving family members can keep it, and the window is now much longer. Section 702 of the FY2024 NDAA extended survivor TRS coverage, and TRICARE’s survivor page applies it this way:

• Sponsor died on or after October 1, 2025: up to three years of TRS coverage.
• Sponsor died before October 1, 2025: up to six months.
• Family already enrolled: coverage switches to survivor coverage automatically the day after the death.
• Only the sponsor was enrolled: the family can buy TRS within 90 days of the death, with coverage back-dated to the day after.

FEHB eligibility does not affect survivor coverage. Survivors also qualify for the TRICARE Dental Program Survivor Benefit Plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article is provided by USMilitary.org, an independent educational resource. We are not affiliated with the Department of Defense, the Defense Health Agency, TRICARE or any government agency. Figures are 2026 costs from TRICARE.mil and can change; confirm current premiums and eligibility on the official TRICARE Reserve Select page.