I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1222 

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2007 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. MILLER of Florida, and 

Mr. JONES of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 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 restore health care coverage to retired members of the 

uniformed services, 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 ‘‘Keep Our Promise to 

5 America’s Military Retirees Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) No statutory health care program existed 

2 for members of the uniformed services who entered 

3 service prior to December 7, 1956, and retired after 

4 serving a minimum of 20 years. 

5 (2) Statutes enacted in 1956 allowed those who 

6 entered service on or after December 7, 1956, and 

7 retired after serving a minimum of 20 years or by 

8 reason of a service-connected disability to medical 

9 and dental care in any facility of the uniformed serv10 ices, subject to the availability of space and facilities 

11 and the capabilities of the medical and dental staff. 

12 (3) Recruiters, re-enlistment counselors, and of13 ficers at all levels of the uniformed services, and 

14 other government officials, as agents of the United 

15 States Government, continued to allow members who 

16 entered the uniformed services to believe they would 

17 be entitled to fully paid lifetime health care upon re18 tirement, despite enactment of statutes in 1956, 

19 subsequent statutes, and the issuance of regulations 

20 that defined and limited the availability of medical 

21 care to retired members of the uniformed services. 

22 (4) After 5 rounds of base closures between 

23 1988 and 1995 and further drawdowns of remaining 

24 military medical treatment facilities, access to 

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


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1 treatment facility is difficult for many military retir2 ees and virtually nonexistent for some. 

3 (5) Although provisions in the Floyd D. Spence 

4 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

5 2001 (as enacted into law by Public Law 106–398) 

6 extended coverage under the TRICARE program to 

7 medicare eligible military retirees age 65 and older, 

8 those provisions did not address the health care 

9 needs of military retirees under the age of 65. 

10 (6) The United States should make good on the 

11 promises recruiters made in good faith and reestab12 lish high quality health care for all retired members 

13 of the uniformed services. 

14 SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF MILITARY RETIREES UNDER THE 

15 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS 

16 PROGRAM. 

17 (a) COVERAGE FOR RETIREES AND DEPENDENTS.— 

18 (1) Section 1108 of title 10, United States Code, is 

19 amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘§ 1108. Health care coverage through Federal Em21 ployees Health Benefits program 

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

23 after consulting with the other administering Secretaries, 

24 shall enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel 

25 Management to provide coverage to eligible beneficiaries 


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

2 offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits 

3 program under chapter 89 of title 5. 

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

5 eligible beneficiary under this subsection is— 

6 ‘‘(A) a member or former member of the uni7 formed services described in section 1074(b) of this 

8 title; 

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

10 former spouse of a member or former member de11 scribed in section 1072(2)(F) or 1072(2)(G); 

12 ‘‘(C) an individual who is— 

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

14 former member described in section 1076(b) or 

15 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title or of a member who 

16 died while on active duty for a period of more 

17 than 30 days; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) a member of family as defined in sec19 tion 8901(5) of title 5; or 

20 ‘‘(D) an individual who is— 

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

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

23 of this title; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) a member of family as defined in sec25 tion 8901(5) of title 5. 


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

2 Employees Health Benefit plan under chapter 89 of title 

3 5 under this section for self-only coverage or for self and 

4 family coverage which includes any dependent of the mem5 ber or former member who is a family member for pur6 poses of such chapter. 

7 ‘‘(3) A person eligible for coverage under this sub8 section shall not be required to satisfy any eligibility cri9 teria specified in chapter 89 of title 5 (except as provided 

10 in paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(D)) as a condition for enroll11 ment in health benefits plans offered through the Federal 

12 Employees Health Benefits program under this section. 

13 ‘‘(4) For purposes of determining whether an indi14 vidual is a member of family under paragraph (5) of sec15 tion 8901 of title 5 for purposes of paragraph (1)(C) or 

16 (1)(D), a member or former member described in section 

17 1076(b) or 1076(a)(2)(B) of this title shall be deemed to 

18 be an employee under such section. 

19 ‘‘(5) An eligible beneficiary who enrolls in the Federal 

20 Employees Health Benefits program under this section 

21 shall not be eligible to receive health care under section 

22 1086 or section 1097. Such a beneficiary may continue 

23 to receive health care in a military medical treatment facil24 ity, in which case the treatment facility shall be reim25 bursed by the Federal Employees Health Benefits proVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:02 Mar 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1222.IH H1222

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1 gram for health care services or drugs received by the ben2 eficiary. 

3 ‘‘(c) CHANGE OF HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN.—An eli4 gible beneficiary enrolled in a Federal Employees Health 

5 Benefits plan under this section may change health bene6 fits plans and coverage in the same manner as any other 

7 Federal Employees Health Benefits program beneficiary 

8 may change such plans. 

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

10 of the Government contribution for an eligible beneficiary 

11 who enrolls in a health benefits plan under chapter 89 of 

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

13 amount of the Government contribution which would be 

14 payable if the electing beneficiary were an employee (as 

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

16 health benefits plan and level of benefits. 

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

18 Office of Personnel Management shall require health bene19 fits plans under chapter 89 of title 5 to maintain a sepa20 rate risk pool for purposes of establishing premium rates 

21 for eligible beneficiaries who enroll in such a plan in ac22 cordance with this section. 

23 ‘‘(f) REIMBURSEMENT FOR EXPENSES FOR HEALTH

24 CARE SERVICES NORMALLY PROVIDED BY THE DEPART25 MENT OF DEFENSE UNDER TRICARE STANDARD.—The 


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1 Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a sys2 tem to reimburse an eligible beneficiary who enrolls in a 

3 health benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5 in accord4 ance with this section for health care costs incurred by 

5 the beneficiary that are not paid under the health benefits 

6 plan but would have been paid by the Department of De7 fense under TRICARE Standard.’’. 

8 (2) The item relating to section 1108 at the begin9 ning of such chapter is amended to read as follows: 

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

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2007. 

12 SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRICARE PHARMACY BENE13 FITS AT TRICARE NETWORK PHARMACY LEV14 ELS TO CERTAIN MILITARY RETIREES AND 

15 DEPENDENTS IN HARDSHIP CASES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible person 

17 who has a certification described in subsection (b), the 

18 Secretary shall reimburse such person for pharmacy bene19 fits received from a pharmacy that is not a TRICARE 

20 network pharmacy in the same manner and in the same 

21 amounts as the Secretary would reimburse such person 

22 for such benefits received from a pharmacy that is a 

23 TRICARE network pharmacy. 


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1 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in 

2 subsection (a) is a certification from an eligible person’s 

3 physician— 

4 (1) stating that the person does not have access 

5 to a TRICARE network pharmacy due to physical or 

6 medical constraints; and 

7 (2) meeting such other criteria as the Secretary 

8 of Defense considers appropriate. 

9 (c) ELIGIBLE PERSON.—In this section, an eligible 

10 person is an eligible beneficiary as described in section 

11 1108(b) of title 10, United States Code who has another 

12 insurance plan or program that provides primary coverage 

13 for health benefits. 

Æ 


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