TRICARE Young Adult Prime will cost $893 a month in 2027, and TRICARE Young Adult Select will cost $394 a month, Federal News Network reported Oct. 21 in a story updated Oct. 22 with Defense Health Agency comment. That works out to a 12.5% increase for Prime and 8.5% for Select. A full year of Prime will run more than $10,700 in premiums alone, before any copays.
Benefits Alert: the numbers that matter
- TYA Prime: $893 a month in 2027, up from $794 in 2026, or about $10,716 a year.
- TYA Select: $394 a month in 2027, up from $363 in 2026, or about $4,728 a year.
- New rates start Jan. 1, 2027.
- TRICARE Open Season runs Nov. 9 to Dec. 8, 2026. TYA is not part of it, because you can buy TYA at any time of year.
- Coverage is open to unmarried adult children ages 21 to under 26 who can’t get a health plan through their own job.
TRICARE Young Adult rates: 2025, 2026 and 2027
The monthly premium is charged per young adult. Two adult children on TYA Prime means two $893 bills.
| Plan | 2025 monthly | 2026 monthly | 2027 monthly | Change, 2026 to 2027 | 2027 yearly premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TYA Prime | $727 | $794 | $893 | +$99 (12.5%) | $10,716 |
| TYA Select | $337 | $363 | $394 | +$31 (8.5%) | $4,728 |
2025 rates are from the National Military Family Association; 2026 and 2027 rates are from tricare.mil. Yearly totals are simple 12-month math and leave out deductibles, copays and cost-shares.
The long-term climb is steep. Federal News Network found that Select premiums have gone from $228 a month in 2016 to $394 in 2027, while Prime went from $306 to $893 over the same stretch.
Who can buy TRICARE Young Adult
TYA is a premium-based plan for military children who have aged out of regular TRICARE coverage. Under TRICARE’s eligibility rules, you must:
- Be the unmarried adult child of an eligible sponsor.
- Be at least 21 and not yet 26.
- Not be eligible for an employer-sponsored health plan through your own job.
- Not otherwise qualify for TRICARE.
Full-time students are handled differently. If you’re enrolled full time at an approved school and your sponsor provides more than half your support, you keep regular TRICARE coverage. In that case TYA eligibility may not start until you turn 23 or graduate, whichever comes first.
What you can buy depends on your sponsor. Children of active-duty sponsors can pick TYA Prime anywhere in the United States, and command-sponsored young adults can get it overseas. Children of retirees can get Prime only in a Prime Service Area. Where it’s offered, the US Family Health Plan can serve as the Prime option. TYA Prime isn’t available if your sponsor is covered by TRICARE Reserve Select or TRICARE Retired Reserve. TYA Select is open to any eligible adult child. TYA doesn’t cover dental or vision.
Prime assigns you a primary care manager who refers you to specialists, and care without a referral triggers point-of-service fees. TRICARE lists copayments, not a deductible, for Prime. Select lets you see any TRICARE-authorized provider without a referral, though some services need pre-authorization, and you pay an annual deductible and cost-shares. Federal News Network put that deductible at up to $198 in 2026.
Why TYA premiums keep rising
Most TRICARE plans are subsidized. TYA isn’t. Its premiums must cover the full cost of the benefit, and that cost is spread over a small group of enrollees who tend to use a lot of care. Federal News Network reported that nearly 1,300 people were enrolled in TYA Prime as of September, compared with more than 27,600 in Select. A DHA spokesperson told the outlet that Prime’s members are a relatively small group who seek care often, and that pushes the premium up.
“There’s no government subsidy, and so we’ve seen the cost of that plan increase significantly,” Eileen Huck, director of government relations at the National Military Family Association, told Federal News Network. NMFA has asked DHA what specific changes in health care use or costs drove the increases. The group feels DHA has not adequately answered its questions about the cost data, the outlet reported.
Under the Affordable Care Act, civilian plans let children stay on a parent’s coverage until 26, which NMFA notes comes without any additional cost. NMFA wants Congress to give military families the same deal by letting dependents stay on the sponsor’s TRICARE plan until 26. Huck said there is bipartisan legislation in both the House and Senate. The change comes with a cost, she said, and supporters haven’t found a way to overcome it.
How to enroll or switch
You don’t need to wait for Open Season. TYA has open enrollment all year, according to the Air Force benefits library. The tricare.mil Open Season page lists TYA enrollees among those the Nov. 9 to Dec. 8 window doesn’t apply to. Here are the steps:
- Check DEERS. The sponsor must have the young adult listed in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System before anything else can happen.
- Pick Prime or Select. Weigh the premium gap ($499 a month in 2027) against your expected care. Prime makes more sense for someone who sees doctors often and lives where Prime is offered.
- Apply. You can enroll online through milConnect under “Manage health benefits,” by phone through your regional contractor, or by mailing or faxing DD Form 2947-1 (East), 2947-2 (West) or 2947-3 (Overseas), according to the Military Officers Association of America.
- Pay two months up front. The first payment covers two months of premiums and can be made by check, money order, cashier’s check, or credit or debit card. For a 2027 Prime enrollee, that’s $1,786.
- Set up automatic payments. After the first payment, premiums are paid by electronic funds transfer or recurring card charge.
- Get a new ID card. Once your contractor confirms that coverage has started, visit an ID card office. TRICARE says you can enroll before you have a valid card.
Be careful about canceling. If you drop TYA voluntarily, you can’t buy it again for a year. Missing payments ends your coverage and carries the same 12-month lockout. There’s no lockout if your coverage ends because you became eligible for an employer plan. TYA coverage also ends when you turn 26, get married, gain other TRICARE coverage, or when your sponsor loses TRICARE eligibility.
Open Season still matters for the rest of the household. Parents and other family members on TRICARE Prime or Select can enroll or change plans during the window, and changes take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Outside that window, a qualifying life event such as a marriage or a birth opens a 90-day period to make changes.
Cheaper options to compare
NMFA and MOAA both suggest shopping around before paying nearly $900 a month. Compare deductibles and out-of-pocket limits along with the premium.
A parent’s civilian employer plan
If either parent has civilian job-based coverage, a child can generally join or stay on that plan until 26. HealthCare.gov says that applies even if the child is married, lives away from home, isn’t claimed as a tax dependent, or turned down their own job’s coverage. A parent can usually add a child during the employer’s open enrollment or after a special enrollment trigger.
A Marketplace plan
Young adults can buy their own Marketplace plan, and depending on income they may get savings on the premium. Someone claimed as another person’s tax dependent can still buy a plan but won’t get the income-based savings. Marketplace open enrollment generally runs Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, which overlaps TRICARE Open Season.
Medicaid, student plans and the family cap
In states that expanded Medicaid, a low-income young adult may qualify on income alone. Students may be able to join a school health plan. MOAA also flags a TYA detail that’s easy to miss. A young adult’s deductibles and copays count toward the family’s catastrophic cap, but always at Group B rates. That can leave the young adult owing more after the family reaches its cap, though MOAA says the family math can still make TYA cheaper than its premium suggests.
The FEHB program doesn’t solve this for most military families. It covers federal civilian employees and their households, not TRICARE dependents. FEHB enrollees face their own increase of 10.9% on average for 2027, Federal News Network reported.
FAQ
Do I have to wait for TRICARE Open Season to buy TYA?
No. TYA can be purchased any time during the year. The Nov. 9 to Dec. 8 Open Season covers Prime and Select for other beneficiaries, not TYA.
Are the new rates per family or per child?
Per young adult. Each enrolled child pays the full monthly premium, separate from whatever the rest of the family pays for TRICARE.
Can I get TYA if my job offers insurance I don’t want?
No. If you’re eligible for an employer-sponsored plan through your own job, you can’t get TYA, even if you turn that plan down.
When do the 2027 premiums start?
Jan. 1, 2027. Anyone enrolled in TYA pays the new monthly rate starting with January 2027 coverage.
Official links
- TRICARE Young Adult plan page (tricare.mil)
- TRICARE Young Adult premiums, 2026 and 2027 (tricare.mil)
- TRICARE Open Season 2026 (tricare.mil)
- Coverage for young adults under 26 (HealthCare.gov)
Photo: U.S. Army.
