For military families, the cost of keeping a young adult insured just climbed to $794 a month, and the margin to absorb it is gone. According to TRICARE’s official 2026 premium data, monthly costs for Young Adult Prime are now $794. The lower-tier, Select option, sits at $363, both presenting expensive, and for many military families, unaffordable options to keep everyone covered.

That price buys continued coverage for dependents who have aged out of standard eligibility; usually after 21, or 23 if enrolled in college. It also lands squarely on the family, with no additional subsidy layered in.

A Program Built to Fill a Gap Is Now Testing Its Limits

TRICARE Young Adult (TYA) was never designed to mirror traditional military health coverage. Unlike civilian commercial health insurers, which are required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to keep young adult dependents on their parents' plans up to age 26, TRICARE is legally exempt from this mandate. It was built as a bridge, something between full eligibility and the private market. But the bridge is built on stacks of cash families are struggling to keep up with.

Unlike standard TRICARE plans, which operate with heavy government cost-sharing, TYA functions more like a standalone premium product. Families who opt in pay the listed monthly rate, period. No sliding scale. No adjustment based on rank.

The structure stayed the same. The price didn’t. But the $794 figure didn’t appear overnight. It follows a steady climb over recent years, with each annual adjustment pushing the program further out of reach for many families seeking to keep their young adult children covered.

Nobody Prepared You for Military Life

But we can help. Join over 100k spouses already getting the advice, resources, and military tea they need to thrive.

​

Subscribe

Always free. Unsubscribe anytime.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Advocacy groups have been tracking the fallout as costs rise. The National Military Family Association has documented families weighing whether to keep coverage, shift to civilian plans, or go without altogether.

For some families, dropping coverage isn’t a choice, it’s the only option they can afford.

Young adults aging out of eligibility are stepping into a price point that can rival employer-sponsored plans, without the benefit of an employer picking up part of the cost.

What the DoD Confirms and What It Leaves Unsaid

The Defense Health Agency has been precise about one thing… the cost. What it doesn’t do is step into what happens next.

There’s no language about affordability. No acknowledgment of strain. No indication of how many families stay enrolled, or how many walk away. Just the price. No explanation attached.

Where This Leaves Military Families Right Now

For families already balancing PCS moves, childcare costs, and a shifting economy, $794 a month doesn’t go over well when family members gather around the kitchen table, trying to figure out how to afford keeping everyone covered.

Unlike many civilian plans, there’s no employer contribution stepping in to absorb any part of it.

Coverage continues, but only if families can afford to carry it. If they can’t, the fallback isn’t clear, but it is immediate, leaving parents struggling to afford these rates, waiting for answers to their questions on how they’re supposed to care for their kids.

Technically, the program still does what it was designed to do. It keeps young adults insured after they age out. But the cost no longer fits neatly tucked inside the wallets of military families. The coverage is still there, but fewer families can afford to carry it. So where does that leave us? Where does that leave our young adults?

Suggested reads:

• A Bill in Congress Could Give Employers a Tax Credit to Hire Military Spouses
• Military OneSource Will Add Maternal Health Information For Military Families
• Our Military Kids Wants to Celebrate Your Military Kid