If space is not available or if a facility does not exist close to a retired member or a dependent, CHAMPUS provides for partial payment of civilian  health  care.  Through  CHAMPUS, uniformed services retired members and their families have one of the best health plans available anywhere. CHAMPUS shares most health care costs from civilian hospitals and doctors when a person can’t get care through a military hospital or clinic. CHAMPUS covers most health care that is medically necessary. You may want to consider purchasing a supple- mental CHAMPUS insurance plan when you retire, if you do not already have one. Your coverage under CHAMPUS is slightly different from that you had while on active duty; you need to know those differences before using it. Once you retire, CHAMPUS coverage for you and your dependents is limited as follows: Pays up to 75 percent of the outpatient charges for you and your dependents, once a 0 per person or 0 per family deductible is met; pays up to 75 percent of inpatient (hospital) charges, with no deductible Does not cover all health care Pays only for medically necessary care and services provided at an appropriate level of care Does not cover certain people (active-duty service members, parents, parents-in-law, and persons eligible Survivor Benefit Plan A program that assures for survivors of retired for Medicare) financial  protection uniformed service members went into effect on September 21, 1972, as Public Law 92-425. This program, called the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), provides an annuity income for survivors of retired uniformed service members. Until passage of this law, the retired pay of retired members of the uniformed services ended with their death, unless they had elected voluntarily to participate in the Retired Service- man’s  Family  Protection  Plan.  Therefore, surviving members of a retiree’s family often found themselves with little or no income following the retiree’s death. SBP fills that financial gap in the area of service benefits. As a prospective retiree, your family is automatically covered under SBP at the time of your retirement. You may elect SBP coverage to guarantee you family receives 55 percent of your maximum retired pay to a minimum amount designated by law. You also have the option to decline any coverage under this plan. If you have no spouse or dependent child at retirement time, you can join the plan at that time by naming as beneficiary a person who has an insurable interest in you. You can begin participation later if you acquire a spouse or child after retiring. If you elect not to participate in SBP or elect a lesser coverage, your spouse must sign a spousal concurrence statement. Several SBP options are available to you. You may select only one of the following options: Spouse only or former spouse only—These two choices provide a monthly SBP check to your spouse or former spouse for life in the event of your death. If your spouse or former spouse remarries before age 55, the payments are suspended; but if that marriage ends, the SBP payments start again. Former spouse elections must be voluntary. If you agree to make former spouse election as part of a divorce agreement or court decree, then that election can be enforced and you must honor that election. Spouse and children or former spouse and children—In these two cases, your spouse or former spouse is the primary beneficiary; the children are paid an annuity only if your spouse or former spouse remarries before age 55 or dies. Children only—Your children are covered until age 18, or age 22 if full-time students. Disabled children are paid for life if their disability causes them to be incapable of self-support. The disability must have been incurred when the child was under the age of 18 or before age 22 while attending school full time. Persons with insurable interest—You may elect SBP to cover a beneficiary who has a legitimate financial interest in your continued life. This beneficiary is normally a close family member, such as a parent or sibling. The beneficiary receives 55 percent of the retired pay remaining after the premium deduction is made. Since the federal government pays a substantial part of the SBP cost, you give up only a small part of your retired pay to provide maximum coverage for dependents. 5-20