I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 119

To establish the Medicare Eligible Military Retiree Health Care Consensus

Task Force.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mrs. EMERSON (for herself, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr.

ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Ms. WOOLSEY,

Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. CONDIT, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DOYLE,

Mr. GOODE, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr.

PASCRELL, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. MCINTYRE,

Mrs. KELLY, Mr. BLUNT, and Mr. BARR of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To establish the Medicare Eligible Military Retiree Health

Care Consensus Task Force.

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 ‘‘Military Retiree Health

5 Care Task Force Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

2 There is established a task force to be known as the

3 ‘‘Medicare Eligible Military Retiree Health Care Consen4 sus Task Force’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Task

5 Force’’).

6 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF TASK FORCE.

7 (a) STUDY.—It shall be the duty of the Task Force

8 to conduct a comprehensive legal and factual study of the

9 following matters:

10 (1) Promises, commitments, or representations

11 made to members of the uniformed services by De12 partment of Defense personnel with respect to

13 health care coverage of such members and their fam14 ilies after separation from the uniformed services.

15 (2) Sharing agreements and contracts between

16 the Department of Defense and the Department of

17 Veterans Affairs regarding health care coverage for

18 military retirees and their dependents.

19 (3) Proposals to provide for a full continuum of

20 health care coverage for medicare eligible military

21 retirees and their dependents, including any such

22 proposal developed by the Department of Defense.

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the Task

24 Force first meets, the Task Force shall submit to Con25 gress a report containing a detailed statement of the find26 ings and conclusions of the Task Force with respect to
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1 the study conducted under subsection (a), together with

2 its recommendations for such legislative and administra3 tive actions as it considers appropriate.

4 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.

5 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Task Force

6 shall be composed of 12 members appointed as follows:

7 (1) The Speaker of the House of Representa8 tives and the minority leader of the House of Rep9 resentatives shall jointly appoint nine members from

10 among qualified individuals as follows:

11 (A) Two members shall be representatives

12 of veterans service organizations.

13 (B) Three members shall be representa14 tives of military associations with retired en15 listed members.

16 (C) One member shall be a representative

17 of a retired officers association.

18 (D) Three members shall be health care

19 professionals.

20 (2) The Secretary of Defense shall appoint one

21 member from among officers or employees of the

22 Department of Defense.

23 (3) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ap24 point one member from among officers or employees

25 of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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1 (4) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv2 ices shall appoint one member from among officers

3 or employees of the Department of Health and

4 Human Services.

5 Not more than six members appointed under this sub6 section may be of the same political party.

7 (b) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Members of the

8 Task Force shall be appointed by not later than 90 days

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (c) TERMS OF APPOINTMENT.—The term of any ap11 pointment under subsection (a) shall be for the life of the

12 Task Force.

13 (d) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill a va14 cancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which

15 the member’s predecessor was appointed shall be ap16 pointed only for the remainder of that term. A vacancy

17 in the Task Force shall be filled in the manner in which

18 the original appointment was made.

19 (e) WAIVER OF LIMITATION ON EXECUTIVE SCHED20 ULE POSITIONS.—Appointments may be made under this

21 section without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5, United

22 States Code.

23 (f) CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—If a member

24 was appointed to the Task Force as a Member of Congress

25 and the member ceases to be a Member of Congress, or
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1 was appointed to the Task Force while the member was

2 not an officer or employee of any government and later

3 becomes an officer or employee of a government, that

4 member may continue as a member.

5 (g) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Task Force

6 shall receive no additional pay, allowances, or benefits by

7 reason of their service on the Task Force.

8 (h) EXPENSES.—Each member of the Task Force

9 shall receive travel expenses and per diem in lieu of sub10 sistence in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title

11 5, United States Code.

12 (i) QUORUM.—Seven members of the Task Force

13 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold

14 hearings.

15 (j) CHAIRPERSON.—As the first order of business at

16 the first meeting of the Task Force, the members of the

17 Task Force shall elect a chairperson from among the

18 members.

19 (k) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall meet at the

20 call of the Chairperson or a majority of its members.

21 SEC. 5. STAFF OF TASK FORCE AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

22 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson shall appoint a Di23 rector of the Task Force, without regard to section

24 5311(b) of title 5, United States Code. The Director shall
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1 be paid at the minimum annual rate of basic pay payable

2 for GS–15 of the General Schedule.

3 (b) STAFF.—With the approval of the Chairperson of

4 the Task Force, the Director may appoint and fix the pay

5 of not more than eight additional personnel.

6 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

7 LAWS.—The staff of the Task Force may be appointed

8 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

9 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service,

10 and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chap11 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relat12 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates, ex13 cept that an individual so appointed may not receive pay

14 in excess of the minimum annual rate of basic pay payable

15 for GS–13 of the General Schedule.

16 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request

17 of the Chairperson, the head of any department or agency

18 of the United States may detail, on a reimbursable basis,

19 any of the personnel of that department or agency to the

20 Task Force to assist it in carrying out its duties under

21 this Act.

22 SEC. 6. POWERS OF TASK FORCE.

23 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Task Force

24 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hear-
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1 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and

2 receive evidence as the Task Force considers appropriate.

3 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem4 ber or agent of the Task Force may, if authorized by the

5 Task Force, take any action which the Task Force is au6 thorized to take by this section.

7 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Task Force

8 may secure directly from any department or agency of the

9 United States information necessary to enable it to carry

10 out this Act. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Task

11 Force, the head of that department or agency shall furnish

12 that information to the Task Force.

13 (d) MAILS.—The Task Force may use the United

14 States mails in the same manner and under the same con15 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United

16 States.

17 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon

18 the request of the Task Force, the Administrator of Gen19 eral Services shall provide to the Task Force, on a reim20 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec21 essary for the Task Force to carry out its responsibilities

22 under this Act.

23 (f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Task Force may

24 contract with and compensate government and private
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1 agencies or persons for supplies or services, without regard

2 to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).

3 SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

4 The Task Force shall terminate 90 days after submit5 ting the report under section 3(b).

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