I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 832

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide waiver of late

enrollment penalty and establishment of a special enrollment period under

part B of the medicare program for certain military retirees and dependents living near military bases that are closed.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1993

Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred

jointly to the Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide

waiver of late enrollment penalty and establishment of

a special enrollment period under part B of the medicare

program for certain military retirees and dependents living near military bases that are closed.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. WAIVER OF LATE ENROLLMENT PENALTY AND

2 ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL ENROLLMENT

3 PERIOD FOR CERTAIN MILITARY RETIREES

4 AND DEPENDENTS.

5 (a) WAIVER OF MEDICARE PART B LATE ENROLL6 MENT PENALTY.—Section 1839 of the Social Security Act

7 (42 U.S.C. 1395r) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following new subsection:

9 ‘‘(g)(1) The increase in premiums under subsection

10 (b) due to late enrollment under this part shall not apply

11 to an individual described in paragraph (2) who enrolls

12 under this program during a special enrollment period be13 ginning after the date of announcement (as defined in

14 paragraph (3)(C)) of a closure of the individual’s military

15 treatment facility and not later than the special enrollment

16 period provided under section 1837(j).

17 ‘‘(2) An individual described in this paragraph is an

18 individual—

19 ‘‘(A) who, as of the date of the announcement

20 of the closure of the individual’s military treatment

21 facility is 65 years of age or older;

22 ‘‘(B) who is a member or former member of a

23 uniformed service, or is a dependent of such mem24 ber, and is eligible for health care under section

25 1074(b) or 1076(b) of title 10, United States Code;
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1 ‘‘(C) who has never, since attaining age 65,

2 been enrolled under this part;

3 ‘‘(D) who, since attaining the age of 65, has

4 continuously maintained a primary residence within

5 100 miles of a military treatment facility; and

6 ‘‘(E) with respect to whom the condition de7 scribed in pargraph (3) is met.

8 ‘‘(3) The condition described in this paragraph is met

9 with respect to an individual when the closure of the indi10 vidual’s military treatment facility (as defined in para11 graph (4)(C)) has been announced.

12 ‘‘(4) In this subsection:

13 ‘‘(A) A facility’s closure is considered to be ‘an14 nounced’ as of the date of the submission to Con15 gress under a base closure law of a report rec16 ommending the closure of the military base at which

17 the facility is located.

18 ‘‘(B) The term ‘base closure law’ has the mean19 ing given such term in section 2825(c) of the Na20 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years

21 1992 and 1993 (Public Law 102–190).

22 ‘‘(C) The term ‘closure of an individual’s mili23 tary treatment facility’ means, with respect to an in24 dividual, the closure under a base closure law of the
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1 last military treatment facility within 100 miles of

2 the primary residence of the individual.

3 (b) SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD.—Section 1837

4 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p) is amended by adding at

5 the end the following new subsection:

6 ‘‘(j) In the case of an individual described in section

7 1839(g)(2), there shall be a 90-day special enrollment pe8 riod beginning 45 days before the scheduled date of the

9 closure of the individual’s military treatment facility (as

10 defined in section 1839(g)(4)(C)).’’.

11 (c) COVERAGE PERIOD FOR SPECIAL ENROLL12 MENTS.—Section 1838 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395q) is

13 amended by adding at the end the following new sub14 section:

15 ‘‘(f) Notwithstanding subsection (a), in the case of

16 an individual who enrolls during a special enrollment pe17 riod pursuant to section 1837(j), the coverage period shall

18 begin on the first day of the month that begins at least

19 15 days after the date of such enrollment.’’.

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