Protecting Our Servicemembers’ Care Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7081 To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on lapses in coverage under the TRICARE program for certain members of the National Guard and reserve components. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2020 Mr. ROUDA (for himself, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. FOXX of North Carolina, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. PAPPAS, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CASE, Mr. BABIN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CORREA, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. CA´RDENAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on lapses in coverage under the TRICARE program for certain members of the Na- tional Guard and reserve components. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our 4 Servicemembers’ Care Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7081.IH H7081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7081 IH SEC. 2. REPORT ON LAPSES IN TRICARE COVERAGE FOR 1 MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RE- 2 SERVE COMPONENTS. 3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 5 the United States shall submit to the appropriate congres- 6 sional committees a report containing an analysis of each 7 of the following: 8 (1) Any lapses in coverage under the TRICARE 9 program for a member of a reserve component that 10 occurred during the eight year period ending on the 11 date of the enactment of this Act and were caused 12 by a change in the duty status of such member, in- 13 cluding an identification of the total number of such 14 lapses. 15 (2) The factors contributing to any such lapses, 16 including— 17 (A) technological factors, including factors 18 relating to outdated systems; 19 (B) human errors in processing changes in 20 duty status; and 21 (C) shortages in the level of administrative 22 staffing of the National Guard. 23 (3) How factors contributing to any such lapses 24 were identified under paragraph (2) and whether ac- 25 tions have been taken to address the factors. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7081.IH H7081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7081 IH (4) The effect of any such lapses on— 1 (A) the delivery of health care benefits to 2 members of the reserve components and the eli- 3 gible dependents of such members; or 4 (B) force readiness and force retention. 5 (5) The parties responsible for identifying and 6 communicating to a member of a reserve component 7 issues relating to eligibility under the TRICARE 8 program. 9 (6) The methods by which a member of a re- 10 serve component, an eligible dependent of such mem- 11 ber, or the Secretary of Defense may verify the sta- 12 tus of enrollment in the TRICARE program regard- 13 ing the member before, during, and after a deploy- 14 ment of the member. 15 (7) The comparative effectiveness, with respect 16 to the delivery of health care benefits to a member 17 of a reserve component and eligible dependents of 18 such member, of— 19 (A) continuing the current process by 20 which a previously eligible member must transi- 21 tion from coverage under TRICARE Reserve 22 Select to coverage under TRICARE Prime after 23 a change to active service in the duty status of 24 such member; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7081.IH H7081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7081 IH (B) establishing a new process by which a 1 previously eligible member may remain covered 2 by TRICARE Reserve Select after a change to 3 active service in the duty status of such mem- 4 ber (whether by allowing a previously eligible 5 member to pay a premium for such coverage or 6 by requiring the Federal Government to provide 7 for such coverage). 8 (8) Whether the current process referred to in 9 paragraph (7)(A) negatively affects the delivery of 10 health care benefits as a result of transitions be- 11 tween network providers. 12 (9) The actions necessary to prevent future oc- 13 currences of such lapses, including legislative ac- 14 tions. 15 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) The term ‘‘active service’’ has the meaning 17 given that term in section 101(d) of title 10, United 18 States Code. 19 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 20 mittees’’ means the congressional defense commit- 21 tees (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United 22 States Code) and the Committees on Veterans’ Af- 23 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Sen- 24 ate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7081.IH H7081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7081 IH (3) The term ‘‘eligible dependent’’ means a de- 1 pendent of a member of a reserve component— 2 (A) described in subparagraph (A), (D), or 3 (I) of section 1072(2) of title 10, United States 4 Code; and 5 (B) eligible for coverage under the 6 TRICARE Program. 7 (4) The term ‘‘previously eligible member’’ 8 means a member of a reserve component who was el- 9 igible for coverage under TRICARE Reserve Select 10 pursuant to section 1076d of title 10, United States 11 Code, prior to a change to active service in the duty 12 status of such member. 13 (5) The terms ‘‘TRICARE Prime’’ and 14 ‘‘TRICARE program’’ have the meanings given 15 those terms in section 1072 of title 10, United 16 States Code. 17 (6) The term ‘‘TRICARE Reserve Select’’ has 18 the meaning given that term in section 1076d(f) of 19 title 10, United States Code. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7081.IH H7081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS