[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4551 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4551
To restore health care coverage to retired members of the uniformed
services, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 27, 2010
Mr. Van Hollen (for himself, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr.
Wolf, Ms. Bordallo, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Brady of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Capps, Mr.
Neal of Massachusetts, Mr. Boswell, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Scott of Georgia,
Mr. Delahunt, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Jones, Mr.
Taylor, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mr. Paul, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Mr.
Sestak, Mr. Kagen, Mr. Israel, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. DeFazio,
Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Hare, Mr. McIntyre, and Mr. Gordon of Tennessee)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restore health care coverage to retired members of the uniformed
services, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Keep Our Promise to America's
Military Retirees Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) No statutory health care program existed for members of
the uniformed services who entered service prior to December 7,
1956, and retired after serving a minimum of 20 years.
(2) Statutes enacted in 1956 allowed those who entered
service on or after December 7, 1956, and retired after serving
a minimum of 20 years or by reason of a service-connected
disability to medical and dental care in any facility of the
uniformed services, subject to the availability of space and
facilities and the capabilities of the medical and dental
staff.
(3) Recruiters, re-enlistment counselors, and officers at
all levels of the uniformed services, and other government
officials, as agents of the United States Government, continued
to allow members who entered the uniformed services to believe
they would be entitled to fully paid lifetime health care upon
retirement, despite enactment of statutes in 1956, subsequent
statutes, and the issuance of regulations that defined and
limited the availability of medical care to retired members of
the uniformed services.
(4) After 5 rounds of base closures between 1988 and 1995
and further drawdowns of remaining military medical treatment
facilities, access to ``space available'' health care in a
military medical treatment facility is difficult for many
military retirees and virtually nonexistent for some.
(5) Although provisions in the Floyd D. Spence National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (as enacted into
law by Public Law 106-398) extended coverage under the TRICARE
program to medicare eligible military retirees age 65 and
older, those provisions did not address the health care needs
of military retirees under the age of 65.
(6) The United States should make good on the promises
recruiters made in good faith and reestablish high quality
health care for all retired members of the uniformed services.
SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF MILITARY RETIREES UNDER THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM.
(a) Coverage for Retirees and Dependents.--
(1) Section 1108 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1108. Health care coverage through Federal Employees Health
Benefits program
``(a) FEHBP Option.--The Secretary of Defense, after consulting
with the other administering Secretaries, shall enter into an agreement
with the Office of Personnel Management to provide coverage to eligible
beneficiaries described in subsection (b) under the health benefits
plans offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program
under chapter 89 of title 5.
``(b) Eligible Beneficiaries; Coverage.--(1) An eligible
beneficiary under this subsection is--
``(A) a member or former member of the uniformed services
described in section 1074(b) of this title;
``(B) an individual who is an unremarried former spouse of
a member or former member described in section 1072(2)(F) or
1072(2)(G);
``(C) an individual who is--
``(i) a dependent of a deceased member or former
member described in section 1076(b) or 1076(a)(2)(B) of
this title or of a member who died while on active duty
for a period of more than 30 days; and
``(ii) a member of family as defined in section
8901(5) of title 5; or
``(D) an individual who is--
``(i) a dependent of a living member or former
member described in section 1076(b)(1) of this title;
and
``(ii) a member of family as defined in section
8901(5) of title 5.
``(2) Eligible beneficiaries may enroll in a Federal Employees
Health Benefit plan under chapter 89 of title 5 under this section for
self-only coverage or for self and family coverage which includes any
dependent of the member or former member who is a family member for
purposes of such chapter.
``(3) A person eligible for coverage under this subsection shall
not be required to satisfy any eligibility criteria specified in
chapter 89 of title 5 (except as provided in paragraph (1)(C) or
(1)(D)) as a condition for enrollment in health benefits plans offered
through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program under this
section.
``(4) For purposes of determining whether an individual is a member
of family under paragraph (5) of section 8901 of title 5 for purposes
of paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(D), a member or former member described in
section 1076(b) or 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title shall be deemed to be an
employee under such section.
``(5) An eligible beneficiary who enrolls in the Federal Employees
Health Benefits program under this section shall not be eligible to
receive health care under section 1086 or section 1097. Such a
beneficiary may continue to receive health care in a military medical
treatment facility, in which case the treatment facility shall be
reimbursed by the Federal Employees Health Benefits program for health
care services or drugs received by the beneficiary.
``(c) Change of Health Benefits Plan.--An eligible beneficiary
enrolled in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan under this section
may change health benefits plans and coverage in the same manner as any
other Federal Employees Health Benefits program beneficiary may change
such plans.
``(d) Government Contributions.--The amount of the Government
contribution for an eligible beneficiary who enrolls in a health
benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5 in accordance with this
section may not exceed the amount of the Government contribution which
would be payable if the electing beneficiary were an employee (as
defined for purposes of such chapter) enrolled in the same health
benefits plan and level of benefits.
``(e) Separate Risk Pools.--The Director of the Office of Personnel
Management shall require health benefits plans under chapter 89 of
title 5 to maintain a separate risk pool for purposes of establishing
premium rates for eligible beneficiaries who enroll in such a plan in
accordance with this section.
``(f) Reimbursement for Expenses for Health Care Services Normally
Provided by the Department of Defense Under TRICARE Standard.--The
Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a system to reimburse
an eligible beneficiary who enrolls in a health benefits plan under
chapter 89 of title 5 in accordance with this section for health care
costs incurred by the beneficiary that are not paid under the health
benefits plan but would have been paid by the Department of Defense
under TRICARE Standard.''.
(2) The item relating to section 1108 at the beginning of such
chapter is amended to read as follows:
``1108. Health care coverage through Federal Employees Health Benefits
program.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect on October 1, 2010.
SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRICARE PHARMACY BENEFITS AT TRICARE NETWORK
PHARMACY LEVELS TO CERTAIN MILITARY RETIREES AND
DEPENDENTS IN HARDSHIP CASES.
(a) In General.--In the case of an eligible person who has a
certification described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall
reimburse such person for pharmacy benefits received from a pharmacy
that is not a TRICARE network pharmacy in the same manner and in the
same amounts as the Secretary would reimburse such person for such
benefits received from a pharmacy that is a TRICARE network pharmacy.
(b) Certification.--The certification referred to in subsection (a)
is a certification from an eligible person's physician--
(1) stating that the person does not have access to a
TRICARE network pharmacy due to physical or medical
constraints; and
(2) meeting such other criteria as the Secretary of Defense
considers appropriate.
(c) Eligible Person.--In this section, an eligible person is an
eligible beneficiary as described in section 1108(b) of title 10,
United States Code, who has another insurance plan or program that
provides primary coverage for health benefits.
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