I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4221 To amend title 10, United States Code, to eliminate certain healthcare charges for members of the Selected Reserve eligible for TRICARE Reserve Select, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 2023 Mr. KIM of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. KELLY of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to eliminate certain healthcare charges for members of the Selected Reserve eligible for TRICARE Reserve Select, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Healthcare for Our 4 Troops Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4221 IH SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN HEALTHCARE CHARGES 1 FOR MEMBERS OF THE SELECTED RESERVE. 2 (a) TRICARE RESERVE SELECT.—Section 1076d of 3 title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as fol- 4 lows: 5 ‘‘§ 1076d. TRICARE program: TRICARE Reserve Se- 6 lect coverage for members of the Selected 7 Reserve 8 ‘‘(a) MEMBERS OF SELECTED RESERVE.—(1) A 9 member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of 10 a reserve component of the Armed Forces is eligible for 11 health benefits under TRICARE Reserve Select as pro- 12 vided in this section. 13 ‘‘(2) Eligibility for TRICARE Reserve Select cov- 14 erage of a member under this section shall terminate upon 15 the termination of the service of that member in the Se- 16 lected Reserve. 17 ‘‘(b) TRICARE RESERVE SELECT FAMILY COV- 18 ERAGE.—While a member of a reserve component is cov- 19 ered by TRICARE Reserve Select under subsection (a), 20 the members of the immediate family of such member are 21 eligible for TRICARE Reserve Select coverage as depend- 22 ents of the member. If a member of a reserve component 23 dies while in a period of coverage under this section, the 24 eligibility of the members of the immediate family of such 25 member for TRICARE Reserve Select coverage shall con- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4221 IH tinue for six months beyond the date of death of the mem- 1 ber. 2 ‘‘(c) NO PREMIUMS FOR INDIVIDUAL COVERAGE.— 3 A member of a reserve component covered by TRICARE 4 Reserve Select individual coverage shall pay no premium 5 for such coverage. 6 ‘‘(d) PREMIUMS FOR FAMILY COVERAGE.—(1) A 7 member of a reserve component covered by TRICARE Re- 8 serve Select under this section shall pay a premium for 9 any member of the immediate family of such member cov- 10 ered under TRICARE Reserve Select family coverage. 11 Such premium shall apply instead of any enrollment fees 12 required under section 1075 of this title. 13 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe for the 14 purposes of this section one premium for TRICARE Re- 15 serve Select family coverage of immediate family members 16 of members of the reserve components, that shall apply 17 uniformly to all such immediate family members. 18 ‘‘(3)(A) The monthly amount of the premium in ef- 19 fect for a month for TRICARE Reserve Select family cov- 20 erage under this section shall be the amount equal to 28 21 percent of the total monthly amount determined on an ap- 22 propriate actuarial basis as being reasonable for that cov- 23 erage. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4221 IH ‘‘(B) The appropriate actuarial basis for purposes of 1 subparagraph (A) shall be determined, for each calendar 2 year after calendar year 2009, by utilizing the actual cost 3 of providing benefits under this section to members’ de- 4 pendents during the calendar years preceding such cal- 5 endar year. 6 ‘‘(4) The premiums for TRICARE Reserve Select 7 family coverage payable by a member of a reserve compo- 8 nent under this subsection may be deducted and withheld 9 from basic pay payable to the member under section 204 10 of title 37 or from compensation payable to the member 11 under section 206 of such title. The Secretary shall pre- 12 scribe the requirements and procedures applicable to the 13 payment of premiums. 14 ‘‘(5) Amounts collected as premiums under this sub- 15 section shall be credited to the appropriation available for 16 the Defense Health Program Account under section 1100 17 of this title, shall be merged with sums in such Account 18 that are available for the fiscal year in which collected, 19 and shall be available under subsection (b) of such section 20 for such fiscal year. 21 ‘‘(e) COST-SHARING AMOUNTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) NETWORK INDIVIDUAL COVERAGE.—Ex- 23 cept as provided in paragraph (2), a beneficiary cov- 24 ered by TRICARE Reserve Select individual cov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4221 IH erage shall pay no charge for any healthcare service 1 to which the beneficiary is entitled pursuant to such 2 coverage. 3 ‘‘(2) OUT-OF-NETWORK INDIVIDUAL COV- 4 ERAGE.—With respect to out-of-network healthcare 5 services, a beneficiary covered by TRICARE Reserve 6 Select individual coverage shall be subject to the 7 same out-of-network cost-sharing requirements as 8 those to which beneficiaries described in section 9 1075(c)(1) of this title in the active-duty family 10 member category are subject to for the cor- 11 responding year. 12 ‘‘(3) FAMILY COVERAGE.—A beneficiary cov- 13 ered by TRICARE Reserve Select family coverage 14 shall be subject to the same cost-sharing require- 15 ments as those to which beneficiaries described in 16 section 1075(c)(1) of this title in the active-duty 17 family member category are subject to for the cor- 18 responding year. 19 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, in 20 consultation with the other administering Secretaries, 21 shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this 22 section. 23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4221 IH ‘‘(1) The terms ‘active-duty family member cat- 1 egory’, ‘network’, and ‘out-of-network’ have the 2 meanings given such terms in section 1075(h) of 3 this title. 4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘immediate family’, with respect 5 to a member of a reserve component, means any de- 6 pendents of the member described in subparagraph 7 (A), (D), or (I) of section 1072(2) of this title. 8 ‘‘(3) The term ‘TRICARE Reserve Select’ 9 means— 10 ‘‘(A) medical care at facilities of the uni- 11 formed services to which a dependent described 12 in section 1076(a)(2) of this title is entitled; 13 and 14 ‘‘(B) health benefits under the TRICARE 15 Select self-managed, preferred provider network 16 option under section 1075 of this title made 17 available to beneficiaries by reason of this sec- 18 tion and subject to the cost-sharing require- 19 ments set forth in subsection (e) of this section. 20 ‘‘(4) The term ‘TRICARE Reserve Select fam- 21 ily coverage’ means the coverage under TRICARE 22 Reserve Select of any members of the immediate 23 family of a member of the Selected Reserve of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4221 IH Ready Reserve of a reserve component, as described 1 in subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(5) The term ‘TRICARE Reserve Select indi- 3 vidual coverage’ means the coverage under 4 TRICARE Reserve Select of a member of the Se- 5 lected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of a reserve 6 component, as described in subsection (a).’’. 7 (b) TRICARE DENTAL FOR SELECTED RESERVE.— 8 Section 1076a of title 10, United States Code, is amend- 9 ed— 10 (1) in subsection (a)— 11 (A) in the heading of paragraph (1), by 12 striking ‘‘SELECTED RESERVE AND’’; and 13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(5) PLAN FOR SELECTED RESERVE.—A dental 16 benefits plan for members of the Selected Reserve of 17 the Ready Reserve.’’; 18 (2) in subsection (d)— 19 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 20 paragraph (4); and 21 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 22 following new paragraph: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4221 IH ‘‘(3) NO PREMIUM PLANS.—(A) The dental in- 1 surance plan established under subsection (a)(5) is 2 a no premium plan. 3 ‘‘(B) Members enrolled in a no premium plan 4 may not be charged a premium for benefits provided 5 under the plan.’’; 6 (3) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘a mem- 7 ber of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve 8 or’’; 9 (4) by redesignating subsections (f) through (l) 10 as subsections (g) through (m), respectively; 11 (5) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 12 lowing new subsection (f): 13 ‘‘(f) COPAYMENTS UNDER NO PREMIUM PLANS.—A 14 member who receives dental care under a no premium plan 15 referred to in subsection (d)(3) shall pay no charge for 16 any care described in subsection (c).’’; and 17 (6) in subsection (i), as redesignated by para- 18 graph (4), by striking ‘‘subsection (k)(2)’’ and in- 19 serting ‘‘subsection (l)(2)’’. 20 (c) IMPROVEMENTS TO COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN RE- 21 TIREES.— 22 (1) ADJUSTMENT OF ELIGIBILITY.—Section 23 1074(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is 24 amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 4221 IH ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a member or 1 former member entitled to retired pay for non-regular 2 service under chapter 1223 of this title who is under 60 3 years of age unless such member or former member is in 4 receipt of such pay (or would be in receipt of such pay 5 but for section 5304 or 5305 of title 38).’’. 6 (2) TRICARE RETIRED RESERVE.—Section 7 1076e(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is 8 amended by striking ‘‘but is not age 60’’ and insert- 9 ing ‘‘but is not age 60 and is not in receipt of such 10 retired pay (or would be in receipt of such pay but 11 for section 5304 or 5305 of title 38)’’. 12 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO TRICARE SE- 13 LECT.—Section 1075 of title 10, United States Code, is 14 amended— 15 (1) by amending subsection (c)(3) to read as 16 follows: 17 ‘‘(3) With respect to beneficiaries in the reserve 18 and young adult category— 19 ‘‘(A) for beneficiaries covered by section 20 1076e or 1110b of this title, the cost-sharing 21 requirements shall be calculated pursuant to 22 subsection (d)(1) as if the beneficiary were in 23 the active-duty family member category or the 24 retired category, as applicable, except that the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 4221 IH premiums calculated pursuant to section 1076e 1 or 1110b of this title shall apply instead of any 2 enrollment fee required under this section; and 3 ‘‘(B) for beneficiaries covered by section 4 1076d of this title, the cost-sharing require- 5 ments shall be calculated pursuant to section 6 (e) of such section.’’. 7 (e) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with re- 8 spect to the provision of healthcare under the TRICARE 9 program beginning on the date that is one year after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act. 11 SEC. 3. FORMS AND STUDY RELATING TO IMPROVED COV- 12 ERAGE FOR MEMBERS OF THE SELECTED RE- 13 SERVE. 14 (a) FORMS.—Not later than 180 days after the date 15 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 16 shall develop forms to be used by civilian healthcare pro- 17 viders under the purchased care component of the 18 TRICARE Program for medical and dental care for mem- 19 bers of the Selected Reserve eligible for TRICARE Re- 20 serve Select. Such forms shall include opportunities for the 21 healthcare provider to indicate, with respect to the mem- 22 ber, the following information: 23 (1) Medical Readiness Classification. 24 (2) Dental Readiness Classification. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 4221 IH (3) Fitness for deployment. 1 (4) Any other information the Secretary deter- 2 mines necessary. 3 (b) STUDY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 5 shall conduct a study on— 6 (A) the phasing out of mass medical events 7 and periodic health assessments for members of 8 the Selected Reserve eligible for TRICARE Re- 9 serve Select; and 10 (B) the replacement of such events and 11 processes with the new TRICARE Reserve Se- 12 lect coverage model under section 1076d of title 13 10, United States Code (as amended by section 14 1), and the use of forms by civilian healthcare 15 providers as specified in subsection (a). 16 (2) FINDINGS.—Not later than 180 days after 17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 18 shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 19 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 20 report containing the findings of the study under 21 paragraph (1). 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Aug 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB