I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3474

To restore health care coverage to retired members of the uniformed services, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2003

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. MILLER of Florida, and 

Mr. CUNNINGHAM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on 

Government Reform, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce, 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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep Our Promise to 

5 America’s Military Retirees Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) No statutory health care program existed 

2 for members of the uniformed services who entered 

3 service prior to December 7, 1956, and retired after 

4 serving a minimum of 20 years. 

5 (2) Recruiters, re-enlistment counselors, and of6 ficers at all levels of the uniformed services, and 

7 other government officials, as agents of the United 

8 States Government, used recruiting tactics that al9 lowed members who entered the uniformed services 

10 prior to December 7, 1956, to believe they would be 

11 entitled to fully paid lifetime health care upon retire12 ment. 

13 (3) In the United States Court of Appeals for 

14 the Federal Circuit decision of November 18, 2002, 

15 in Schism v. United States (No. 99–1402), the 

16 Court said: ‘‘Accordingly, we must affirm the dis17 trict court’s judgment and can do no more than 

18 hope Congress will make good on the promises re19 cruiters made in good faith to plaintiffs and others 

20 of the World War II and Korean War era—from 

21 1941 to 1956, when Congress enacted its first 

22 health care insurance act for military members, ex23 cluding older retirees . . . . We cannot readily 

24 imagine more sympathetic plaintiffs than the retired 

25 officers of the World War II and Korean War era 
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1 involved in this case. They served their country for 

2 at least 20 years with the understanding that when 

3 they retired they and their dependents would receive 

4 full free health care for life. The promise of such 

5 health care was made in good faith and relied upon. 

6 Again, however, because no authority existed to 

7 make such promises in the first place, and because 

8 Congress has never ratified or acquiesced to this 

9 promise, we have no alternative but to uphold the 

10 judgment against the retirees’ breach-of-contract 

11 claim. . . . Perhaps Congress will consider using its 

12 legal power to address the moral claims raised by 

13 Schism and Reinlie on their own behalf, and indi14 rectly for other affected retirees.’’. 

15 (4) Only the United States Congress can make 

16 good on the promises recruiters made in good faith 

17 to plaintiffs and others of the World War II and Ko18 rean War era. 

19 (5) Statutes enacted in 1956 allowed those who 

20 entered service on or after December 7, 1956, and 

21 retired after serving a minimum of 20 years or by 

22 reason of a service-connected disability to medical 

23 and dental care in any facility of the uniformed serv24 ices, subject to the availability of space and facilities 

25 and the capabilities of the medical and dental staff. 
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1 (6) Recruiters, re-enlistment counselors, and of2 ficers at all levels of the uniformed services, and 

3 other government officials, as agents of the United 

4 States Government, continued to allow members who 

5 entered the uniformed services to believe they would 

6 be entitled to fully paid lifetime health care upon re7 tirement, despite enactment of statutes in 1956, 

8 subsequent statutes, and the issuance of regulations 

9 that defined and limited the availability of medical 

10 care to retired members of the uniformed services. 

11 (7) After 4 rounds of base closures between 

12 1988 and 1995 and further drawdowns of remaining 

13 military medical treatment facilities, access to 

14 ‘‘space available’’ health care in a military medical 

15 treatment facility is difficult or virtually nonexistent 

16 for many military retirees. 

17 (8) The failure to provide adequate health care 

18 upon retirement is preventing the retired members 

19 of the uniformed services from recommending, with20 out reservation, that young men and women make a 

21 career of any military service. 

22 (9) Although provisions in the Floyd D. Spence 

23 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

24 2001 (as enacted into law by Public Law 106–398) 

25 extended coverage under the TRICARE program to 
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1 medicare eligible military retirees age 65 and older, 

2 those provisions did not address the health care 

3 needs of military retirees under the age of 65. 

4 (10) The United States should make good on 

5 the promises recruiters made in good faith in the 

6 World War II and Korean War era and reestablish 

7 high quality health care for all retired members of 

8 the uniformed services. 

9 SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF MILITARY RETIREES UNDER THE 

10 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS 

11 PROGRAM. 

12 (a) COVERAGE FOR RETIREES AND DEPENDENTS.—

13 (1) Section 1108 of title 10, United States Code, is 

14 amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘§ 1108. Health care coverage through Federal Em16 ployees Health Benefits program 

17 ‘‘(a) FEHBP OPTION.—The Secretary of Defense, 

18 after consulting with the other administering Secretaries, 

19 shall enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel 

20 Management to provide coverage to eligible beneficiaries 

21 described in subsection (b) under the health benefits plans 

22 offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits 

23 program under chapter 89 of title 5. 

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIES; COVERAGE.—(1) An 

25 eligible beneficiary under this subsection is—
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1 ‘‘(A) a member or former member of the uni2 formed services described in section 1074(b) of this 

3 title; 

4 ‘‘(B) an individual who is an unremarried 

5 former spouse of a member or former member de6 scribed in section 1072(2)(F) or 1072(2)(G); 

7 ‘‘(C) an individual who is—

8 ‘‘(i) a dependent of a deceased member or 

9 former member described in section 1076(b) or 

10 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title or of a member who 

11 died while on active duty for a period of more 

12 than 30 days; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a member of family as defined in sec14 tion 8901(5) of title 5; or 

15 ‘‘(D) an individual who is—

16 ‘‘(i) a dependent of a living member or 

17 former member described in section 1076(b)(1) 

18 of this title; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) a member of family as defined in sec20 tion 8901(5) of title 5. 

21 ‘‘(2) Eligible beneficiaries may enroll in a Federal 

22 Employees Health Benefit plan under chapter 89 of title 

23 5 under this section for self-only coverage or for self and 

24 family coverage which includes any dependent of the mem-
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1 ber or former member who is a family member for pur2 poses of such chapter. 

3 ‘‘(3) A person eligible for coverage under this sub4 section shall not be required to satisfy any eligibility cri5 teria specified in chapter 89 of title 5 (except as provided 

6 in paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(D)) as a condition for enroll7 ment in health benefits plans offered through the Federal 

8 Employees Health Benefits program under this section. 

9 ‘‘(4) For purposes of determining whether an indi10 vidual is a member of family under paragraph (5) of sec11 tion 8901 of title 5 for purposes of paragraph (1)(C) or 

12 (1)(D), a member or former member described in section 

13 1076(b) or 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title shall be deemed to 

14 be an employee under such section. 

15 ‘‘(5) An eligible beneficiary who is eligible to enroll 

16 in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program as an 

17 employee under chapter 89 of title 5 is not eligible to en18 roll in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan under 

19 this section. 

20 ‘‘(6) An eligible beneficiary who enrolls in the Federal 

21 Employees Health Benefits program under this section 

22 shall not be eligible to receive health care under section 

23 1086 or section 1097. Such a beneficiary may continue 

24 to receive health care in a military medical treatment facil25 ity, in which case the treatment facility shall be reim-
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1 bursed by the Federal Employees Health Benefits pro2 gram for health care services or drugs received by the ben3 eficiary. 

4 ‘‘(c) CHANGE OF HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN.—An eli5 gible beneficiary enrolled in a Federal Employees Health 

6 Benefits plan under this section may change health bene7 fits plans and coverage in the same manner as any other 

8 Federal Employees Health Benefits program beneficiary 

9 may change such plans. 

10 ‘‘(d) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—The amount 

11 of the Government contribution for an eligible beneficiary 

12 who enrolls in a health benefits plan under chapter 89 of 

13 title 5 in accordance with this section may not exceed the 

14 amount of the Government contribution which would be 

15 payable if the electing beneficiary were an employee (as 

16 defined for purposes of such chapter) enrolled in the same 

17 health benefits plan and level of benefits. 

18 ‘‘(e) SEPARATE RISK POOLS.—The Director of the 

19 Office of Personnel Management shall require health bene20 fits plans under chapter 89 of title 5 to maintain a sepa21 rate risk pool for purposes of establishing premium rates 

22 for eligible beneficiaries who enroll in such a plan in ac23 cordance with this section. 

24 ‘‘(f) REIMBURSEMENT FOR EXPENSES FOR HEALTH

25 CARE SERVICES NORMALLY PROVIDED BY THE DEPART-
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1 MENT OF DEFENSE UNDER TRICARE STANDARD.—The 

2 Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a sys3 tem to reimburse an eligible beneficiary who enrolls in a 

4 health benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5 in accord5 ance with this section for health care costs incurred by 

6 the beneficiary that are not paid under the health benefits 

7 plan but would have been paid by the Department of De8 fense under TRICARE Standard.’’. 

9 (2) The item relating to section 1108 at the begin10 ning of such chapter is amended to read as follows:

‘‘1108. Health care coverage through Federal Employees Health Benefits program.’’.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2004. 

13 SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRICARE PHARMACY BENE14 FITS AT TRICARE NETWORK PHARMACY LEV15 ELS TO CERTAIN MILITARY RETIREES AND 

16 DEPENDENTS IN HARDSHIP CASES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible person 

18 who has a certification described in subsection (b), the 

19 Secretary shall reimburse such person for pharmacy bene20 fits received from a pharmacy that is not a TRICARE 

21 network pharmacy in the same manner and in the same 

22 amounts as the Secretary would reimburse such person 

23 for such benefits received from pharmacy that is a 

24 TRICARE network pharmacy. 
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1 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in 

2 subsection (a) is a certification from an eligible person’s 

3 physician—

4 (1) stating that the person does not have access 

5 to a TRICARE network pharmacy due to physical or 

6 medical constraints; and 

7 (2) meeting such other criteria as the Secretary 

8 of Defense considers appropriate. 

9 (c) ELIGIBLE PERSON.—In this section, an eligible 

10 person is an eligible beneficiary as described in section 

11 1108(b) of title 10, United States Code who has another 

12 insurance plan or program that provides primary coverage 

13 for health benefits.

14 SEC. 5. WAIVER OF MEDICARE PART B PREMIUM FOR CER15 TAIN MILITARY RETIREES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1839 of the Social Secu17 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r) is amended—

18 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘The 

19 monthly premium’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro20 vided in subsection (h), the monthly premium’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub22 section: 

23 ‘‘(h)(1) The amount of the monthly premium for an 

24 eligible individual enrolled under this part is equal to $0. 
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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘eligible 

2 individual’ means—

3 ‘‘(A) an individual who is entitled to retired or 

4 retainer pay based upon service in the uniformed 

5 services (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United 

6 States Code) that began before December 7, 1956; 

7 ‘‘(B) the spouse (as determined under section 

8 7703 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of an 

9 individual described in paragraph (1); and 

10 ‘‘(C) the widow or widower, as the case may be, 

11 of an individual described in subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(3) With respect to years beginning after the date 

13 of the enactment of this subsection, the monthly premium 

14 rate calculated under subsection (a)(3) for individuals en15 rolled under this part who are not eligible individuals 

16 under this subsection shall be determined without regard 

17 to benefits and administrative costs attributable to such 

18 eligible individuals during such years.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply to premiums for months begin21 ning with January 2004. The Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services shall establish a method for providing re23 bates to eligible individuals (as defined in subsection 

24 (h)(2) of such section 1839) of any premium penalty paid 
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1 by reason of subsection (b) of such section for months on 

2 or after January 2001.

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