Financial Readiness
Reserve Select, what activation does to your coverage, and the drill-weekend question, for part-time members and families.
Army Reserve Soldiers train during a battle assembly weekend, July 2021. U.S. Army Reserve photo by Staff Sgt. Erika F. Whitaker, DVIDS (public domain).
Your TRICARE depends on your status. If you are drilling but not on active orders, you can buy TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS), a premium plan for drilling reservists that works like TRICARE Select. If you get activated on orders for more than 30 days, you and your family move onto active-duty TRICARE at active-duty cost, which means $0 out of pocket for you.
TRS in 2026 runs $57.88 a month for member-only coverage and $286.66 a month for member and family. For many drilling reservists, that is the cheapest comprehensive coverage they can find.
Unlike active duty, where coverage is one steady thing, Guard and Reserve coverage shifts as your orders shift. There are three lanes. Know which one you are in.
TRICARE Reserve Select, 2026
Premiums reset every January. Check the current year before you enroll.
TRS is the cheapest comprehensive coverage many drilling reservists can find.
Source: TRICARE.mil · 2026 premiums
Yes, but the version you get tracks your status. There are basically three lanes: not activated, where you buy TRS; activated for more than 30 days, where you get active-duty TRICARE; and after you come off orders, where a transition window leads back to TRS. What matters is knowing which lane you are in and not assuming you are covered when you are between them.
TRS is a premium plan for members of the Selected Reserve who are not on active-duty orders and are not eligible for the federal civilian health program (FEHB). It looks and works like TRICARE Select: you see TRICARE-authorized providers and pay a deductible and copays. The difference is the monthly premium you pay to hold it, which active-duty plans do not have. Those premiums do not count toward your catastrophic cap, but they stay far below most civilian plans for the coverage you get.
When you get orders to active duty for more than 30 days in a row, you become an active-duty service member for TRICARE purposes. Your covered care drops to $0 out of pocket, and your family becomes eligible for active-duty family coverage under Prime or Select. In some cases your family's coverage can start before your orders begin, once you are issued qualifying delayed-effective-date orders. Get your family enrolled the moment you are eligible, not the week care is needed.
Here is why the gaps between activations matter in uniform.
Your coverage moves with your orders. The danger is the everyday days in between, when you may not be on active-duty TRICARE and may assume you are.
The gap: On a normal drill weekend you are NOT on active-duty TRICARE. Without TRS and without a civilian plan, you are exposed on the days you are not on orders.
One exception: Hurt in the line of duty during inactive-duty training? Inactive-duty training is a normal drill weekend, and that specific injury is handled through line-of-duty care, which covers an injury that happens during drill.
When orders change
Know which lane you are in, and do not assume you are covered between them.
Source: TRICARE.mil · Activating · TAMP
When you come off active-duty orders, you may qualify for the Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP), a 180-day post-activation coverage window with no premium. After TAMP, drilling members can go back to TRS, or buy CHCBP if needed. We cover the full transition, including who qualifies for TAMP and what CHCBP costs, in our separation guide (see BN-05).
You do not have to sort this out alone. Walk into your nearest military hospital or clinic and ask at patient registration or the TRICARE Service Center; they fix enrollment, referrals, and DEERS questions in person. Your regional contractor can help by phone: TRICARE East is run by Humana Military, and TRICARE West is run by TriWest. You can check and fix your eligibility yourself through milConnect and DEERS, and your unit S-1 or finance office handles DEERS updates, ID cards, and life-event paperwork. TRICARE.mil has the official plan finder, cost comparison, and fact sheets. All of these are linked in Sources below.
How much is TRICARE Reserve Select?
For 2026, $57.88 a month for member-only coverage and $286.66 a month for member and family. Premiums reset every January, so check the current year.
Am I covered on a drill weekend?
Not for everyday care. A normal drill weekend does not put you on active-duty TRICARE. An injury or illness in the line of duty during inactive-duty training is handled through line-of-duty care. Day-to-day coverage between activations is what TRS is for.
What happens to my family's coverage when I deploy?
On orders over 30 days, your family becomes eligible for active-duty family TRICARE under Prime or Select. Get them enrolled in DEERS and on a plan right away.
Do I keep TRICARE after I demobilize?
Often yes. If you qualify, TAMP gives you 180 days of premium-free coverage, then you go back to TRS or onto CHCBP. See BN-05.
