Prescription Costs for TRICARE Beneficiaries to Increase January 1

The cost of prescription drugs for TRICARE beneficiaries will increase on January 1, 2020.

Effective Jan. 1, 2020, a 90-day supply of generic drugs received through TRICARE’s Express Scripts mail-order pharmacy will increase from $7 to $10. Co-pays on brand-name drugs received through the mail will go from $24 to $29; the price rises from $53 to $60 for non-formulary drugs.

Generic drug prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies will see the cost rise from $11 to $13 for a 30-day supply, while the same supply of brand-name medications will increase from $28 to $33. Non-formulary drugs — those not on Tricare’s list of approved and covered medications — will go up from $53 to $60.

Prescriptions filled on base will continue to be free.

The price increases were mandated by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 in an effort to bring the amount TRICARE beneficiaries pay into line with the actual costs of prescription drugs. Because the US Family Health Plan is a TRICARE Prime program, the prescription drug price increases mandated by Congress will apply to US Family Health Plan beneficiaries.  Annual increases are planned through 2027.