TRICARE Prescription Relief Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3979 To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Defense to temporarily waive cost-sharing amounts under the TRICARE phar- macy benefits program during certain declared emergencies. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2020 Mr. WICKER (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Defense to temporarily waive cost-sharing amounts under the TRICARE pharmacy benefits pro- gram during certain declared emergencies. 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 ‘‘TRICARE Prescrip- 4 tion Relief Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3979.IS S3979 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3979 IS SEC. 2. TEMPORARY WAIVER OF COST-SHARING AMOUNTS 1 UNDER TRICARE PHARMACY BENEFITS PRO- 2 GRAM DURING DECLARED EMERGENCY. 3 (a) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—Section 1074g of title 10, 4 United States Code, is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)(6)— 6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘In 7 the case’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 8 subparagraph (D), in the case’’; 9 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘For 10 any year’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 11 subparagraph (D), for any year’’; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 13 subparagraph: 14 ‘‘(D)(i) During a covered emergency, the Secretary 15 may waive a requirement for eligible covered beneficiaries 16 to pay cost-sharing amounts under this subsection. 17 ‘‘(ii) In determining whether to waive a requirement 18 under clause (i), the Secretary may consider whether the 19 waiver would— 20 ‘‘(I) increase affordability of all pharmacy alter- 21 natives to military medical treatment facilities for el- 22 igible covered beneficiaries; 23 ‘‘(II) promote prescription adherence by eligible 24 covered beneficiaries; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3979.IS S3979 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3979 IS ‘‘(III) facilitate any policy of the Federal, State, 1 or local government relating to emergency response 2 during a covered emergency.’’; and 3 (2) in subsection (i), by adding at the end the 4 following new paragraph: 5 ‘‘(5) The term ‘covered emergency’ means— 6 ‘‘(A) a period beginning on the date on 7 which the President declares a national emer- 8 gency pursuant to the National Emergencies 9 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) and ending on the 10 date of the termination of such emergency; 11 ‘‘(B) a period beginning on the date on 12 which the Secretary of Health and Human 13 Services declares a public health emergency 14 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 15 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) and ending on 16 the date of the termination of such emergency; 17 ‘‘(C) with respect to geographic areas cov- 18 ered by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 19 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 20 et seq.), a period beginning on the date on 21 which the President designates a major disaster 22 or emergency under such Act and ending on the 23 termination of such major disaster or emer- 24 gency; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3979.IS S3979 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3979 IS ‘‘(D) such other emergency period as de- 1 termined by the Secretary of Defense.’’. 2 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub- 3 section (a) shall apply— 4 (1) with respect to purchases under the phar- 5 macy benefits program established under section 6 1074g of title 10, United States Code, occurring on 7 or after the date of the enactment of this Act; and 8 (2) with respect to covered emergencies (as de- 9 fined in subsection (i) of such section 1074g, as 10 amended by subsection (a) of this section) in effect 11 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3979.IS S3979 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS