Does TRICARE For Life cover nursing homes, respite care and hospice?

Military retirees and their spouses often assume TRICARE For Life will handle whatever care comes later. It is generous coverage, and for hospital and rehab stays it often leaves families owing nothing. But it was built to work with Medicare, and it leaves the same hole Medicare does: everyday help with living.

How TRICARE For Life works

TRICARE For Life, often shortened to TFL, is coverage that pays after Medicare for TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries who have both Medicare Part A and Part B. There is no enrollment form; coverage is automatic once both parts of Medicare are in place. TFL has no enrollment fee or premium of its own, but you must keep paying the Medicare Part B premium (the standard amount is $202.90 a month in 2026).

The rule of thumb is simple. If Medicare and TRICARE both cover a service, you usually pay nothing. If only Medicare covers it, TRICARE pays nothing and you owe Medicare’s share. If neither covers it, you pay the full bill. The yearly catastrophic cap for TFL is $3,000.

What TFL pays, setting by setting (2026)

The custodial care gap

Custodial care is non-skilled personal help: eating, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, moving around and using the bathroom. TRICARE generally excludes it, with an exception only for seriously ill or injured active duty service members. Medicare does not cover it either when it is the only care someone needs.

That means TFL does not pay for assisted living, memory care rent, a long-term nursing home stay that is mainly personal care, or private in-home caregivers. Most families who reach that point use savings, long-term care insurance, VA benefits if the retiree is also an eligible veteran, or Medicaid.

The day 101 detail most people miss

Original Medicare stops paying for a skilled nursing stay after day 100 in a benefit period. TFL can keep paying as the primary payer after that point, but only if the care is still skilled care and TFL has given preauthorization. If your loved one is nearing day 100 and still needs skilled nursing or therapy, call TFL before day 101, not after.

Does TRICARE For Life cover respite care?

Not in the way most caregivers hope. TRICARE’s respite benefit is for primary caregivers of service members who are on active duty, in the Guard or Reserves, seriously injured in the line of duty, homebound, and needing frequent care during the caregiver’s normal sleeping hours. Retirees on TFL generally do not fit that description.

Respite does exist for TFL families in two places. If your loved one is on hospice, Medicare’s hospice benefit includes short inpatient respite stays of up to five days at a time. And if the retiree is enrolled in VA health care, the VA offers respite care for family caregivers.

Hospice with TFL

Medicare pays the full cost of covered hospice care, so TFL pays nothing and you typically owe nothing for the hospice services themselves. Like Medicare, the hospice benefit does not pay room and board at home or in a facility, except during short inpatient or respite stays arranged by the hospice. Our page on hospice room and board explains that in more detail.

If your loved one is also a veteran

Many military retirees are also eligible for VA health care, and the VA covers things TFL does not. Enrolled veterans may qualify for VA home care, adult day health care, respite for family caregivers, and in some cases nursing home care paid by the VA. Wartime veterans and surviving spouses with limited assets may also qualify for a VA pension with Aid and Attendance, which can help pay for assisted living or in-home help. See what long-term care the VA pays for and Aid and Attendance in Utah.

What to do next

1. Make sure Medicare Part A and Part B are both active. Without Part B, TFL does not work.
2. If a rehab stay is approaching day 100, ask the facility to request TFL preauthorization.
3. If daily help is the real need, start pricing assisted living or home care, and check VA eligibility.
4. Find any long-term care insurance policy and read when it starts paying.

Common questions

Does TRICARE For Life pay for nursing home care?

For skilled care, yes. Together with Medicare it typically leaves you owing nothing for the first 100 days of a covered skilled nursing stay, and it can continue after day 100 with preauthorization. For long-term custodial nursing home care, no.

Does TRICARE For Life cover assisted living?

No. Assisted living is mostly housing and custodial care, which neither Medicare nor TRICARE covers.

Does TRICARE For Life pay for respite care?

Generally no. TRICARE’s respite benefit is limited to caregivers of seriously injured active duty, Guard and Reserve members. Hospice patients can get short respite stays through Medicare.

Does TRICARE For Life cover hospice?

Medicare pays for hospice in full, so there is usually no cost for covered hospice services and nothing left for TFL to pay.