II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3201 

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

certain dependents under the age of 26. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2010 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. BEGICH, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Ms. 

LANDRIEU, Mr. WARNER, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. BENNET, Mr. 

LEAHY, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. KERRY, Mr. BAYH, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and 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) of this title and is 

22 a covered beneficiary; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(c) PREMIUM.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall 

2 prescribe by regulation a premium for TRICARE coverage 

3 provided pursuant to this section to an individual de4 scribed in subsection (b). The premium shall apply uni5 formly to all individuals covered by the coverage. 

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

7 for a month for TRICARE coverage pursuant to this sec8 tion shall be an amount not to exceed the cost of coverage 

9 that the Secretary determines on an appropriate actuarial 

10 basis. 

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

12 and procedures applicable to the payment of premiums 

13 under this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(4) Amounts collected as premiums under this sub15 section shall be credited to the appropriation available for 

16 the Defense Health Program Account under section 1100 

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

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

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

20 for such fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(d) TRICARE COVERAGE DEFINED.—In this sec22 tion, the term ‘TRICARE coverage’ means health care to 

23 which a dependent described in section 1072(2)(D) of this 

24 title is entitled under section 1076d, 1076e, 1079, 1086, 

25 or 1097 of this title.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title is 

3 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec4 tion 1110a 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) of this title who 

9 meets the requirements for a dependent under paragraph 

10 (1) or (2) 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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