All new enrollees seeking to obtain the waiver should submit a copy of their retirement orders together with their application.

The nation's largest voluntary, all-enrollee-paid dental program continues to offer coverage for diagnostic and preventive services, basic restorative services, periodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, dental emergencies and a separate dental accident benefit with no waiting period. The program currently covers over 800,000 retired members of the uniformed services, including National Guard and Reserve personnel, and their families.

"We are working in partnership with TMA to offer a comprehensive dental program with the fewest possible restrictions in the first year of enrollment," said Lowell Daun, DDS, senior vice president for Delta's Federal Services division. "We are also working to keep premiums affordable for members of the National Guard/Reserve."

Eligibility for the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program extends to all retirees of the Reserve and Guard and their family members, including "gray area" retired Reservists who are entitled to retired pay but will not begin receiving it until age 60. Although eligibility for this group has been in effect since the TRDP first began in 1998, many retired Reserve and Guard members, and even more "gray area" retirees, still do not realize they are eligible. It is important to note that as with all new retirees, the 120-day period during which a "gray area" retired Reservist can enroll in the TRDP to qualify for the 12-month waiting period waiver begins with his/her retirement effective date, not the date he/she reaches age 60.

The TRDP, first authorized by Congress in 1997, continues today to offer one of the few affordable, comprehensive dental benefit programs available to the nation's Uniformed Services retirees, as well as to retirees of the Reserve and Guard. The TRDP is a nationwide, combined fee-for-service/ preferred provider program that offers enrollees access to any licensed dentist in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Canada.
Enrollees may seek care from any licensed dentist, with optimal benefits available when choosing a participating "Delta Dental PPO" dentist in over 80,000 locations nationwide.
The TRDP carries a $50 per person annual deductible. The program also includes a family deductible cap of $150 and an annual maximum amount of $1,200, against which preventive and diagnostic services are not counted. In addition to the annual maximum, the TRDP also has a separate dental accident annual maximum of $1,000 and a lifetime orthodontic maximum of $1,200.

Eligible retirees and their family members can find answers to their questions about the program as well as enroll using Delta's dedicated TRDP web site at www.trdp.org or by calling the toll-free number at 1-866-567-1658.