Were You Denied TAMP? Guard and Reserve Members May Qualify for Retroactive Reimbursements

Some National Guard and Reserve members who were previously denied transitional health coverage may now qualify for 180 days of premium-free TRICARE coverage under a new Department of Defense policy.

The change, issued August 10, 2026, removes a requirement that had tied eligibility for the Transitional Assistance Management Program, or TAMP, to how a member's active-duty orders were coded in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS.

The policy also allows some members denied TAMP on or after April 24, 2020, to seek reimbursement for certain civilian health coverage premiums and out-of-pocket health care costs.

What Is the Transitional Assistance Management Program?

The Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP) is an existing TRICARE program that provides 180 days of transitional health care coverage to certain service members and their eligible family members after qualifying active-duty service ends. It gives eligible members continued TRICARE coverage for six months after leaving active duty.

TAMP does not require a premium, although regular TRICARE cost-shares and copayments may apply depending on the plan.

National Guard and Reserve members are among the groups that can qualify. TRICARE lists several eligibility categories for Reserve Component members, including certain members who separate after more than 30 days of active duty. Other eligibility categories also apply.

What Changed on August 10, 2026?

The August 10 policy change followed a class-action lawsuit over how the Department of Defense determined TAMP eligibility for certain Reserve Component members.

At issue was an administrative requirement involving the coding of active-duty orders. Before the policy change, certain Guard and Reserve members could be denied TAMP when their orders were not identified in DEERS as supporting a contingency operation.

Plaintiffs argued that federal law does not include this coding requirement and that using it as a condition for TAMP had left some otherwise eligible service members without 180 days of transitional health coverage.

Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Gontarz was among the plaintiffs. He said he was denied TAMP after nearly four years of active-duty service because his orders did not have the required contingency-operation designation.

On August 10, 2026, DoD changed its policy for the affected Reserve Component members. The revised policy removes the contingency-operation coding requirement and calls for corresponding updates to DEERS.

Who May Now Qualify?

The policy is particularly relevant to Reserve Component members who served more than 30 days of active duty under a qualifying statutory authority during a declared national emergency but were denied TAMP because their orders lacked the required contingency-operation coding.

However, the change does not mean every Guard or Reserve member who served more than 30 days automatically qualifies for TAMP. Other eligibility requirements still apply, and individual eligibility is determined by the member's Service and recorded in DEERS.

Checking Your DEERS Eligibility and Retroactive Reimbursement

If the new policy may apply to you, start by checking your TAMP status through milConnect. The eligibility is recorded in DEERS, so this is where everyone can see whether TAMP coverage is listed. If it isn't, contact the Service Personnel Office or the DMDC/DEERS Support Office at 1-800-538-9552 to ask whether your record needs to be reviewed.

Members who were denied TAMP on or after April 24, 2020, may also be able to recover some of the money they spent on health care during a period when they should have had TAMP. This could include:

• Health insurance premiums
• Eligible medical expenses that were paid out of pocket
• Qualifying health care expenses for covered family members

What’s Still Unclear About the TAMP Changes?

The August 10 policy changes how certain Guard and Reserve members qualify for TAMP and provides for reimbursement in qualifying cases. It does not, however, spell out every detail of how those reimbursement requests will be handled.

The available policy information does not specify how long claims will take to process, the full documentation requirements, or what the appeals process will be if a request is denied.

Those details will be important for members seeking reimbursement for expenses from past periods when they were denied TAMP.

We reached out to department officials for additional information about the policy change. We had not received responses by publication time.