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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2003

To restore health care coverage to retired members of the uniformed services.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 24, 2000

Mr. DASCHLE (for Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. COVERDELL, and Mr.

MCCAIN)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To restore health care coverage to retired members of the

uniformed services.

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 ‘‘Keep Our Promise to

5 America’s Military Retirees Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) No statutory health care program existed

9 for members of the uniformed services who entered

10 service prior to June 7, 1956, and retired after serv-
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1 ing a minimum of 20 years or by reason of a service2 connected disability.

3 (2) Recruiters for the uniformed services are

4 agents of the United States government and em5 ployed recruiting tactics that allowed members who

6 entered the uniformed services prior to June 7,

7 1956, to believe they would be entitled to fully-paid

8 lifetime health care upon retirement.

9 (3) Statutes enacted in 1956 entitled those who

10 entered service on or after June 7, 1956, and retired

11 after serving a minimum of 20 years or by reason

12 of a service-connected disability, to medical and den13 tal care in any facility of the uniformed services,

14 subject to the availability of space and facilities and

15 the capabilities of the medical and dental staff.

16 (4) After 4 rounds of base closures between

17 1988 and 1995 and further drawdowns of remaining

18 military medical treatment facilities, access to

19 ‘‘space available’’ health care in a military medical

20 treatment facility is virtually nonexistent for many

21 military retirees.

22 (5) The military health care benefit of ‘‘space

23 available’’ services and Medicare is no longer a fair

24 and equitable benefit as compared to benefits for

25 other retired Federal employees.
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1 (6) The failure to provide adequate health care

2 upon retirement is preventing the retired members

3 of the uniformed services from recommending, with4 out reservation, that young men and women make a

5 career of any military service.

6 (7) The United States should establish health

7 care that is fully paid by the sponsoring agency

8 under the Federal Employees Health Benefits pro9 gram for members who entered active duty on or

10 prior to June 7, 1956, and who subsequently earned

11 retirement.

12 (8) The United States should reestablish ade13 quate health care for all retired members of the uni14 formed services that is at least equivalent to that

15 provided to other retired Federal employees by ex16 tending to such retired members of the uniformed

17 services the option of coverage under the Federal

18 Employees Health Benefits program, the Civilian

19 Health and Medical Program of the uniformed serv20 ices, or the TRICARE Program.
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1 SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF MILITARY RETIREES UNDER THE

2 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS

3 PROGRAM.

4 (a) EARNED COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN RETIREES

5 AND DEPENDENTS.—Chapter 89 of title 5, United States

6 Code, is amended—

7 (1) in section 8905, by adding at the end the

8 following new subsection:

9 ‘‘(h) For purposes of this section, the term ‘employee’

10 includes a retired member of the uniformed services (as

11 defined in section 101(a)(5) of title 10) who began service

12 before June 7, 1956. A surviving widow or widower of

13 such a retired member may also enroll in an approved

14 health benefits plan described by section 8903 or 8903a

15 of this title as an individual.’’; and

16 (2) in section 8906(b)—

17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para18 graphs (2) and (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs

19 (2) through (5)’’; and

20 (B) by adding at the end the following new

21 paragraph:

22 ‘‘(5) In the case of an employee described in section

23 8905(h) or the surviving widow or widower of such an em24 ployee, the Government contribution for health benefits

25 shall be 100 percent, payable by the department from

26 which the employee retired.’’.
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1 (b) COVERAGE FOR OTHER RETIREES AND DEPEND2 ENTS.—(1) Section 1108 of title 10, United States Code,

3 is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘§ 1108. Health care coverage through Federal Em5 ployees Health Benefits program

6 ‘‘(a) FEHBP OPTION.—The Secretary of Defense,

7 after consulting with the other administering Secretaries,

8 shall enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel

9 Management to provide coverage to eligible beneficiaries

10 described in subsection (b) under the health benefits plans

11 offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits

12 program under chapter 89 of title 5.

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIES; COVERAGE.—(1) An

14 eligible beneficiary under this subsection is—

15 ‘‘(A) a member or former member of the uni16 formed services described in section 1074(b) of this

17 title;

18 ‘‘(B) an individual who is an unremarried

19 former spouse of a member or former member de20 scribed in section 1072(2)(F) or 1072(2)(G);

21 ‘‘(C) an individual who is—

22 ‘‘(i) a dependent of a deceased member or

23 former member described in section 1076(b) or

24 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title or of a member who
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1 died while on active duty for a period of more

2 than 30 days; and

3 ‘‘(ii) a member of family as defined in sec4 tion 8901(5) of title 5; or

5 ‘‘(D) an individual who is—

6 ‘‘(i) a dependent of a living member or

7 former member described in section 1076(b)(1)

8 of this title; and

9 ‘‘(ii) a member of family as defined in sec10 tion 8901(5) of title 5.

11 ‘‘(2) Eligible beneficiaries may enroll in a Federal

12 Employees Health Benefit plan under chapter 89 of title

13 5 under this section for self-only coverage or for self and

14 family coverage which includes any dependent of the mem15 ber or former member who is a family member for pur16 poses of such chapter.

17 ‘‘(3) A person eligible for coverage under this sub18 section shall not be required to satisfy any eligibility cri19 teria specified in chapter 89 of title 5 (except as provided

20 in paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(D)) as a condition for enroll21 ment in health benefits plans offered through the Federal

22 Employees Health Benefits program under this section.

23 ‘‘(4) For purposes of determining whether an indi24 vidual is a member of family under paragraph (5) of sec25 tion 8901 of title 5 for purposes of paragraph (1)(C) or
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1 (1)(D), a member or former member described in section

2 1076(b) or 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title shall be deemed to

3 be an employee under such section.

4 ‘‘(5) An eligible beneficiary who is eligible to enroll

5 in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program as an

6 employee under chapter 89 of title 5 is not eligible to en7 roll in a Federal Employees Health Benefits plan under

8 this section.

9 ‘‘(6) An eligible beneficiary who enrolls in the Federal

10 Employees Health Benefits program under this section

11 shall not be eligible to receive health care under section

12 1086 or section 1097. Such a beneficiary may continue

13 to receive health care in a military medical treatment facil14 ity, in which case the treatment facility shall be reim15 bursed by the Federal Employees Health Benefits pro16 gram for health care services or drugs received by the ben17 eficiary.

18 ‘‘(c) CHANGE OF HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN.—An eli19 gible beneficiary enrolled in a Federal Employees Health

20 Benefits plan under this section may change health bene21 fits plans and coverage in the same manner as any other

22 Federal Employees Health Benefits program beneficiary

23 may change such plans.

24 ‘‘(d) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—The amount

25 of the Government contribution for an eligible beneficiary
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1 who enrolls in a health benefits plan under chapter 89 of

2 title 5 in accordance with this section may not exceed the

3 amount of the Government contribution which would be

4 payable if the electing beneficiary were an employee (as

5 defined for purposes of such chapter) enrolled in the same

6 health benefits plan and level of benefits.

7 ‘‘(e) SEPARATE RISK POOLS.—The Director of the

8 Office of Personnel Management shall require health bene9 fits plans under chapter 89 of title 5 to maintain a sepa10 rate risk pool for purposes of establishing premium rates

11 for eligible beneficiaries who enroll in such a plan in ac12 cordance with this section.’’.

13 (2) The item relating to section 1108 at the begin14 ning of such chapter is amended to read as follows:

‘‘1108. Health care coverage through Federal Employees Health Benefits program.’’.

15 (3) The amendments made by this subsection shall

16 take effect on January 1, 2001.

17 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF COVERAGE OF CIVILIAN HEALTH

18 AND MEDICAL PROGRAM OF THE UNI19 FORMED SERVICES.

20 Section 1086 of title 10, United States Code, is

21 amended—

22 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Except as

23 provided in subsection (d), the’’, and inserting

24 ‘‘The’’;
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1 (2) by striking subsection (d); and

2 (3) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h)

3 as subsections (d) through (g), respectively.

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