Anything above that amount is his choice. She chose not to join him. He hasn't kicked her out or anything like that. In fact, since they aren't technically in a marital separation status, that gets sticky. Please give her this information!  I don't want to see a good Soldier get dragged down by something she could change — especially when it could end up being in her best interest. Thank you. 

 

Understanding and Concerned Wife

Dear Concerned Wife,

Thank you so much for writing and sharing this information with me. Your support to Military.com means a lot to us. Sounds like you’re trying to do a good job coping with deployments and taking care of yourself. 

I agree with your advice to this writer. Many people such as yourself are able to share additional insight and wisdom to our readers. Regarding making parents military dependents with full medical coverage. I’ve never seen this happen. Many of our friends from different branches of service tried to do so unsuccessfully. 

They were told to think about it like this: Do we think the Department of Defense wants to or will take on the medical coverage for our servicemembers parents or in laws? This will never happen. In most cases I’ve seen them receive an ID card that allows the parent access on base or post and commissary/PX/NEX privileges. They have to get their own health insurance coverage or hopefully be of age to receive Medicare or qualify for Medicaid. As we both know, this writer is in a tough situation especially with an aging parent who is not in good health. I hope things work out for her and her marriage. Please keep in touch with me ok.