TRICARE PRIME EXPANDS IN ATLANTA AND TAMPA FOR 2026

In 2026, active-duty, military family members, and retirees living in Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, are going to have access to some new TRICARE Prime options. This is going to be effective at the beginning of 2026, and thanks to the award, that is making this possible, as they are running a three-year demonstration project to provide TRICARE Prime for 146,000 eligible beneficiaries in two cities.

TRICARE Prime: Comprehensive Overview

If many of you don’t know, let’s first discuss what TRICARE Prime is. It is basically a health insurance plan for military members, retirees, and their families.

It’s a lot like a civilian HMO (Health Maintenance Organization), and it is where you get most of your care through a network of approved doctors and hospitals.

One thing, though, the biggest benefit of TRICARE Prime is that it offers low-cost or no-cost care when you use approved providers and follow the rules of the program.

So when you enroll in TRICARE Prime, you’ll pick a Primary Care Manager (PCM), and this can be a doctor at a military clinic or hospital, or it might be a civilian doctor who works with TRICARE, which also becomes your main doctor.

Now, let’s see what TRICARE Prime covers:

1. Doctor visits for military families
2. Preventive care, like annual checkups and screenings
3. Hospital stays for military families
4. Emergency care for urgent attention
5. Mental health services
6. Prescriptions for illness
7. Specialist referrals from your main doctor

However, there’s just one important thing to know: TRICARE Prime is available only in certain areas, usually close to military bases, and it is not available to retirees and family members ages 65 and older who use TRICARE For Life and Medicare.

TRICARE Prime Remote: Service Details

Now let’s talk about TRICARE Prime Remote – it’s a version of TRICARE Prime that is perfectly designed for active duty service members and their families who live far away from military hospitals or clinics, at least 50 miles or one hour away.

The nice thing about TRICARE Prime Remote is that it provides the same kind of care and coverage as TRICARE Prime, but with more flexibility to use local doctors in rural or less-populated areas.

If you’re one who qualifies for TRICARE Prime Remote, you still get assigned a Primary Care Manager, but it will be a civilian doctor instead of someone at a military base, and that doctor becomes your main contact for your health care, just like with TRICARE Prime.

There are just a few things you need to know about TRICARE Prime Remote:

1. It's only available to active duty members and their families
2. You must live in a remote area to qualify
3. You’ll use civilian doctors instead of military hospitals
4. Retirees and their families are not eligible

Even though the doctors are civilians, the plan still covers almost everything in the same way TRICARE Prime does because you usually don’t pay anything out of pocket, as long as you go to authorized providers.

TRICARE Prime Enrollment and Costs for 2026

We know the differences between the TRICARE Prime options, and of course, it’s important to know how to enroll and what the cost is.

If you want to sign up for either program, you can follow these steps:

• Step 1: Choose a Primary Care Manager: You may choose a military or network provider as your PCM. If you don’t list a PCM on your enrollment form, they'll choose one for you.
• Step 2: Complete the Enrollment Application: Enroll all family members on one enrollment form and send enrollment fees (if applicable) with your enrollment form.
• Step 3: Get Started with TRICARE Prime: Your regional contractor will notify you when your enrollment is processed. Once enrolled, you can log in to milConnect to download your enrollment card and get your PCM’s name and phone number.

The following are the costs for TRICARE Prime options:

1. Active Duty Service Members
   1. No out-of-pocket costs
   2. No enrollment fees
   3. No network copayments
   4. No point-of-service fees
2. Active Duty Family Members*
   1. Minimal out-of-pocket costs
   2. No enrollment fees
   3. No network copayments
   4. Point-of-service fees if using the point-of-service option
3. Retired Service Members, Their Family Members, and Other Beneficiaries
   1. Annual enrollment fees
   2. Network copayments
   3. Point-of-service fees if using the point-of-service option

There are no deductibles when you stay in the TRICARE Prime network. If you go outside the network without a referral, though, you may have to pay much more.

Expansion to Atlanta and Tampa: Reasons for TRICARE Prime

Until now, families and retirees in Atlanta and Tampa could not enroll in TRICARE Prime unless they lived on or near a military base, and now, the 2026 change adds these cities to the TRICARE Prime service area, which means there are more people who can now enroll in the low-cost, managed-care plan.

It’s actually a big win for retired military families who want better access to affordable care, as well as our active duty families who are tired of long drives to military clinics.

So, the next step for you is to take time to review your current plan, understand the costs, and get ready for open enrollment when the new TRICARE Prime options become available.

Read next:

• Trump Administration Directs Pentagon to Cut Education Programs for Troops
• 25 Fascinating U.S. Army Facts That You've Probably Never Heard
• Hegseth Orders End to Affirmative Action in Military Academy Admissions

Sources:

• Military Patients in Atlanta, Tampa to Have New TRICARE Prime Option in 2026
• The TRICARE Prime Program