TRICARE Expecting Parents: Ensure Your Newborn Has Health Plan Coverage

PHOENIX (February 20, 2026) — For growing families, a newborn arriving into your household is an exciting and hectic time.

Before the excitement begins, TRICARE beneficiaries need to know it’s critical to be sure your newborn is enrolled in your health plan so no coverage gaps cause concern.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) wants TRICARE beneficiaries to understand it’s important that their newborn is covered from day one. Enrolling expected newborns in TRICARE as soon as possible ensures they are smoothly transitioned into coverage, DHA says.

TRICARE enrollment for newborns involves three important steps:

1. Newborn registration in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)
2. TRICARE health plan enrollment
3. Coverage verification

Taking these steps in advance provides parents time to confirm enrollment, understand their options, and avoid care delays, DHA emphasizes.

Learn more: This new TRICARE Newsroom article explains how to enroll your newborn in TRICARE.