II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1798 

To provide for the automatic enrollment of demobilizing members of the 

National Guard and Reserve in health care and dental care programs 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2009 

Mr. SANDERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the automatic enrollment of demobilizing 

members of the National Guard and Reserve in health 

care and dental care programs of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Automatic Reserve 

5 Component Enrollment Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT OF DEMOBILIZING MEM2 BERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RE3 SERVE IN HEALTH CARE AND DENTAL CARE 

4 PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET5 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

8 and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly take 

9 appropriate actions to provide for the automatic enroll10 ment of members of the National Guard and Reserve who 

11 are being discharged or released from active duty in the 

12 Armed Forces in the health care and dental care programs 

13 for veterans of the Department of Veterans Affairs during 

14 the participation of such members in the demobilization 

15 and discharge process used for members of the Reserve 

16 components of the Armed Forces. 

17 (b) ENROLLMENT.— 

18 (1) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY.—Any enrollment 

19 activities required of members under subsection (a) 

20 shall provide appropriate protections for the privacy 

21 of such members and their personal information in 

22 accordance with applicable requirements of law. 

23 (2) ASSISTANCE.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—In providing for the en25 rollment of members as described in subsection 

26 (a), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall proVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:08 Oct 19, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1798.IS S1798

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1 vide members assistance in the completion of 

2 any enrollment activities required under such 

3 subsection. Such assistance shall be provided 

4 during the demobilization and discharge process 

5 of such members utilizing such personnel of the 

6 Department of Veterans Affairs, including per7 sonnel of the Veterans Health Administration 

8 and the Veterans Benefits Administration, as 

9 the Secretary shall assign for such purposes. 

10 (B) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—When 

11 providing assistance under subparagraph (A) to 

12 members described in subsection (a), the per13 sonnel of the Department providing such assist14 ance shall also provide information to such 

15 members about the programs, benefits, and 

16 services of the Department for which they may 

17 be eligible, including how such members can 

18 apply for and access such programs, benefits, 

19 and services. 

20 (3) FACILITIES AND OTHER RESOURCES.—The 

21 Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the facilities 

22 and other resources (including space and computer 

23 facilities) for the demobilization and discharge proc24 ess used for members of Reserve components of the 

25 Armed Forces include adequate facilities and reVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:08 Oct 19, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1798.IS S1798

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1 sources for the performance by members of any en2 rollment activities required under subsection (a) and 

3 any assistance in the performance of such activities 

4 under paragraph (2). 

5 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

6 construed to require a member of a Reserve component 

7 of the Armed Forces to participate in any health care or 

8 dental care program or use any service of the Department 

9 of Veterans Affairs. 

10 (d) REPORTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act and each 

13 year thereafter for five years, the Secretary of De14 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

15 jointly submit a report on the implementation of the 

16 requirements of this section to— 

17 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

18 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

19 Senate; and 

20 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

21 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

22 House of Representatives. 

23 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para24 graph (1) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) A description of the activities under2 taken by the Secretary of Defense and the Sec3 retary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the re4 quirements of this section. 

5 (B) An assessment of the effect of such ac6 tivities on— 

7 (i) the enrollment of members of the 

8 Reserve components of the Armed Forces 

9 in health care and dental care programs 

10 for veterans of the Department of Veterans 

11 Affairs; and 

12 (ii) the participation of such members 

13 in such programs. 

14 (C) An assessment of the potential budg15 etary impact and demand for services that ac16 tions taken under subsection (a) may have on 

17 the Department of Veterans Affairs and any 

18 need for additional staff or resources to meet 

19 that demand. 

20 (D) Such recommendations for legislative 

21 or administrative action as the Secretary of De22 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

23 jointly consider appropriate in order to improve 

24 or enhance the requirements of this section so 

25 as to further facilitate the enrollment of memVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:08 Oct 19, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1798.IS S1798

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1 bers of the Reserve components of the Armed 

2 Forces in health care and dental care programs 

3 for veterans of the Department of Veterans Af4 fairs. 

5 (E) Such other matters with respect to the 

6 requirements of this section as Secretary of De7 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

8 jointly consider appropriate. 

9 (e) ENROLLMENT DEFINED.—In this section, the 

10 term ‘‘enrollment’’ means, with respect to enrolling a 

11 member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces in 

12 a health care or dental care program for veterans of the 

13 Department of Veterans Affairs, collecting and recording 

14 appropriate information about such member in the record 

15 keeping system of the Department of Veterans Affairs to 

16 facilitate participation of such member in such program 

17 if such member elects such participation and is eligible for 

18 such participation. 

Æ 


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