I 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 244 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide eligibility for TRICARE 

Select to veterans with service-connected disabilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2025 

Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ 

Affairs, 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 amend title 10, United States Code, to provide eligibility 

for TRICARE Select to veterans with service-connected 

disabilities, 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 ‘‘Veterans’ True Choice 

5 Act of 2025’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR TRICARE FOR VETERANS WITH 

7 SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) ENROLLMENT IN TRICARE SELECT.—Sec2 tion 1075 of title 10, United States Code, is amend3 ed— 

4 (A) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting 

5 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 

6 and covered veteran beneficiaries under sub7 section (h), other than Medicare-eligible bene8 ficiaries described in such subsection (d)(2)’’; 

9 (B) by redesignating subsections (h) and 

10 (i) as subsections (i) and (j), respectively; and 

11 (C) by inserting after subsection (g) the 

12 following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(h) COVERED VETERAN BENEFICIARIES.—(1) Sub14 ject to section 1086(d) of this title, a covered veteran ben15 eficiary may elect to enroll in TRICARE Select during the 

16 annual open enrollment season of the TRICARE program. 

17 ‘‘(2) The cost-sharing requirements under TRICARE 

18 Select for covered veteran beneficiaries shall be calculated 

19 pursuant to subsection (d)(1), regardless of the date of 

20 the original enlistment or appointment of the beneficiary 

21 in the uniformed services. 

22 ‘‘(3) A dependent of a covered veteran beneficiary 

23 may not enroll in the TRICARE program solely by reason 

24 of the covered veteran beneficiary enrolling in the 

25 TRICARE program.’’. 


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1 (2) ENROLLMENT IN TRICARE FOR LIFE.—Sec2 tion 1086(d) of such title is amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting before 

4 the period at the end the following: ‘‘ or pursu5 ant to section 1075(h) of this title’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraphs (2) and (4), by inserting 

7 ‘‘, or section 1075(h) of this title,’’ after ‘‘a 

8 person referred to in subsection (c)’’ both 

9 places it appears. 

10 (3) DEFINITION.—Section 1072 of such title is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(16) The term ‘covered veteran beneficiary’ 

14 means a veteran who— 

15 ‘‘(A) is eligible to enroll in the system of 

16 patient enrollment under paragraph (1), (2), or 

17 (3) of section 1705 of title 38; and 

18 ‘‘(B) is eligible to enroll in the TRICARE 

19 program only pursuant to— 

20 ‘‘(i) section 1075(h) of this title; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) section 1086(d) of this title by 

22 reason of being an individual who would be 

23 covered by section 1075(h) but for being a 

24 Medicare-eligible beneficiary covered by 

25 such section 1086(d).’’. 


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1 (4) ENROLLMENT IN VA HEALTH CARE.—Sec2 tion 1705 of title 38, United States Code, is amend3 ed by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(d)(1) A covered veteran beneficiary who enrolls in 

6 the TRICARE program may not be concurrently enrolled 

7 in the system of patient enrollment under subsection (a), 

8 and the Secretary may not furnish medical care to the cov9 ered veteran beneficiary under this chapter or other provi10 sion of law administered by the Secretary while the cov11 ered veteran beneficiary is so enrolled in the TRICARE 

12 program. 

13 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the terms ‘covered veteran 

14 beneficiary’ and ‘TRICARE program’ have the meaning 

15 given those terms in section 1072 of title 10.’’. 

16 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec17 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 

18 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding under 

19 which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs reimburses the 

20 Secretary of Defense for the costs of enrolling covered vet21 eran beneficiaries in the TRICARE program pursuant to 

22 the amendments made by subsection (a), as jointly deter23 mined appropriate by the Secretaries. 

24 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 


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1 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

2 by this section shall take effect one year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) REGULATIONS.—During the one-year period 

5 following the date on which the amendments made 

6 by this section take effect, the Secretary of Veterans 

7 Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall each pre8 scribe regulations to carry out such amendments. 

9 (3) PHASE IN.—During the one-year period fol10 lowing the date on which the regulations are pre11 scribed under paragraph (2), the Secretaries shall 

12 phase in the enrollment of covered veteran bene13 ficiaries in accordance with the annual open enroll14 ment season of the TRICARE program. 

15 (4) VA CENTER FOR INNOVATION FOR CARE

16 AND PAYMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

17 shall carry out this subsection through the Center 

18 for Innovation for Care and Payment of the Depart19 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

20 (d) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION.—On a 

22 quarterly basis during the two-year period following 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

24 of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 

25 shall jointly submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 


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1 Affairs and Armed Services of the Senate and the 

2 House of Representatives a report on the implemen3 tation of this Act and the amendments made by this 

4 Act. 

5 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than one 

6 year after the date on which the final report under 

7 paragraph (1) is required to be submitted, and an8 nually thereafter, the Secretaries shall jointly submit 

9 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Armed 

10 Services of the Senate and the House of Representa11 tives a report on covered veteran beneficiaries en12 rolled in the TRICARE program. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘cov14 ered veteran beneficiary’’ and ‘‘TRICARE program’’ have 

15 the meaning given those terms in section 1072 of title 10, 

16 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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