Wow, check out this comment on existing U.S. single-payer system

[haele]

5. You only have Tricare if you're active duty or officially retired (or a spouse/dependent)

The VA eligibility you get after 90 days.
The above poster is not wrong.

You can be a veteran and not be eligible for Tricare unless you've done 20 years or were an officer who did at least 7 - and retired reservists need to wait until they're 60 (remember to start application at age 59 1/2!).

I'm a retired reservist; I still have 5 3/4 years left to hang on until I can apply for Tricare. However, with changes in the rules, next year I'll be eligible to apply Tricare dental; because of the abysmal understanding of the need for dental care in this country and a lot of people were getting health complications from dental problems, TPTB decided it was okay to start dental eligibility early for reservists.

I'm partially disabled, but don't have service-related disabilities of significant amount to automatically be eligible for VA benefits. I also have access to employer-provided insurance and COBRA. Both of these reduces my eligibility to any VA medical services other than basic emergency/urgent-care type walk-in service. If I stumble in the door and fall down on the floor, clutching my DD214 in one hand and my retired reservist ID card in the other, they can't send me off to a local hospital.
According to the local VA, I have to be unemployed for a year before I can apply and then wait to be processed (retiree has less importance than those who are coming back disabled) to get the VA single-payer services. So I might as well hang on to get Tricare.

Haele