I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4923 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend TRICARE coverage to 

certain dependents under the age of 26. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2010 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend TRICARE 

coverage to certain dependents under the age of 26. 

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 ‘‘TRICARE Dependent 

5 Coverage Extension Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DEPENDENT COVERAGE UNDER 

7 TRICARE. 

8 (a) DEPENDENT COVERAGE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, 

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 1110b. TRICARE program: Extension of dependent 

5 coverage 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with subsection 

7 (c), an individual described in subsection (b) shall be 

8 deemed to be a dependent (as described in section 

9 1072(2)(D) of this title) for purposes of TRICARE cov10 erage. 

11 ‘‘(b) INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED.—An individual de12 scribed in this subsection is an individual who— 

13 ‘‘(1) with respect to a member or former mem14 ber of a uniformed service, is— 

15 ‘‘(A) a child who has not attained the age 

16 of 26 and is not eligible to enroll in an eligible 

17 employer-sponsored plan (as defined in section 

18 5000A(f)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

19 1986); or 

20 ‘‘(B) a person who— 

21 ‘‘(i) is placed in the legal custody of 

22 the member or former member as a result 

23 of an order of a court of competent juris24 diction in the United States (or possession 


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1 of the United States) for a period of at 

2 least 12 consecutive months; 

3 ‘‘(ii) has not attained the age of 26; 

4 ‘‘(iii) is not eligible to enroll in an eli5 gible employer-sponsored plan (as defined 

6 in section 5000A(f)(2) of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986); 

8 ‘‘(iv) resides with the member or 

9 former member unless separated by the ne10 cessity of military service or to receive in11 stitutional care as a result of disability or 

12 incapacitation or under such other cir13 cumstances as the administering Secretary 

14 may by regulation prescribe; 

15 ‘‘(v) is not otherwise a dependent of a 

16 member or a former member under any 

17 subparagraph of section 1072(2) of this 

18 title; and 

19 ‘‘(vi) is not the child of a dependent 

20 who is described in subparagraph (D) or 

21 (I) of section 1072(2) and is a covered 

22 beneficiary; and 

23 ‘‘(2) meets other criteria specified in regula24 tions prescribed by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PREMIUM.—(1) The Secretary shall prescribe by 

2 regulation a premium for TRICARE coverage provided 

3 pursuant to this section to an individual described in sub4 section (b). 

5 ‘‘(2) The monthly amount of the premium in effect 

6 for a month for TRICARE coverage pursuant to this sec7 tion shall be an amount not to exceed the cost of coverage 

8 that the Secretary determines on an appropriate actuarial 

9 basis. 

10 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall prescribe the requirements 

11 and procedures applicable to the payment of premiums 

12 under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(4) Amounts collected as premiums under this para14 graph shall be credited to the appropriation available for 

15 the Defense Health Program Account under section 1100 

16 of this title, shall be merged with sums in such Account 

17 that are available for the fiscal year in which collected, 

18 and shall be available under subsection (b) of such section 

19 for such fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘(d) TRICARE COVERAGE DEFINED.—For purposes 

21 of this section, the term ‘TRICARE coverage’ means 

22 health care to which a dependent described in section 

23 1072(2)(D) of this title is entitled under section 1076d, 

24 1076e, 1079, 1086, or 1097.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to section 1110a 

4 the following new item: 

‘‘1110b. TRICARE program: Extension of dependent coverage.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

6 section 1086(c) of title 10, United States Code, is amend7 ed by inserting after ‘‘of this title’’ the following: ‘‘(or an 

8 individual described in section 1110b(b) who meets the re9 quirements for a dependent under paragraph (1) or (2) 

10 of such section 1076(b))’’. 

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

12 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2010. 

Æ 


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