I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 62

To establish the Medicare Eligible Military Retiree Health Care Consensus 

Task Force. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2003

Mrs. EMERSON 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 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

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

8 ‘‘Medicare Eligible Military Retiree Health Care Con9 sensus Task Force’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Task 

10 Force’’). 
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1 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF TASK FORCE. 

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

3 to conduct a comprehensive legal and factual study of the 

4 following matters: 

5 (1) Promises, commitments, or representations 

6 made to members of the uniformed services by De7 partment of Defense personnel with respect to 

8 health care coverage of such members and their fam9 ilies after separation from the uniformed services. 

10 (2) Sharing agreements and contracts between 

11 the Department of Defense and the Department of 

12 Veterans Affairs regarding health care coverage for 

13 military retirees and their dependents. 

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

15 health care coverage for medicare eligible military 

16 retirees and their dependents, including any such 

17 proposal developed by the Department of Defense. 

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

19 Force first meets, the Task Force shall submit to Con20 gress a report containing a detailed statement of the find21 ings and conclusions of the Task Force with respect to 

22 the study conducted under subsection (a), together with 

23 its recommendations for such legislative and administra24 tive actions as it considers appropriate. 
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1 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

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

3 shall be composed of 12 members appointed as follows: 

4 (1) The Speaker of the House of Representa5 tives and the minority leader of the House of Rep6 resentatives shall jointly appoint nine members from 

7 among qualified individuals as follows: 

8 (A) Two members shall be representatives 

9 of veterans service organizations. 

10 (B) Three members shall be representa11 tives of military associations with retired en12 listed members. 

13 (C) One member shall be a representative 

14 of a retired officers association. 

15 (D) Three members shall be health care 

16 professionals. 

17 (2) The Secretary of Defense shall appoint one 

18 member from among officers or employees of the 

19 Department of Defense. 

20 (3) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ap21 point one member from among officers or employees 

22 of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

23 (4) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv24 ices shall appoint one member from among officers 

25 or employees of the Department of Health and 

26 Human Services. 
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1 Not more than six members appointed under this sub2 section may be of the same political party. 

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

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

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (c) TERMS OF APPOINTMENT.—The term of any ap7 pointment under subsection (a) shall be for the life of the 

8 Task Force. 

9 (d) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill a va10 cancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which 

11 the member’s predecessor was appointed shall be ap12 pointed only for the remainder of that term. A vacancy 

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

14 the original appointment was made. 

15 (e) WAIVER OF LIMITATION ON EXECUTIVE SCHED16 ULE POSITIONS.—Appointments may be made under this 

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

18 States Code. 

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

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

21 and the member ceases to be a Member of Congress, or 

22 was appointed to the Task Force while the member was 

23 not an officer or employee of any government and later 

24 becomes an officer or employee of a government, that 

25 member may continue as a member. 
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1 (g) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Task Force 

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

3 reason of their service on the Task Force. 

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

5 shall receive travel expenses and per diem in lieu of sub6 sistence in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 

7 5, United States Code. 

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

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

10 hearings. 

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

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

13 Task Force shall elect a chairperson from among the 

14 members. 

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

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

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

18 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson shall appoint a Di19 rector of the Task Force, without regard to section 

20 5311(b) of title 5, United States Code. The Director shall 

21 be paid at the minimum annual rate of basic pay payable 

22 for GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

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

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

25 of not more than eight additional personnel. 
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1 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

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

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

4 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, 

5 and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chap6 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relat7 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates, ex8 cept that an individual so appointed may not receive pay 

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

10 for GS–13 of the General Schedule. 

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

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

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

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

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

16 this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. POWERS OF TASK FORCE. 

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

19 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hear20 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and 

21 receive evidence as the Task Force considers appropriate. 

22 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem23 ber or agent of the Task Force may, if authorized by the 

24 Task Force, take any action which the Task Force is au25 thorized to take by this section. 
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1 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Task Force 

2 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 

3 United States information necessary to enable it to carry 

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

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

6 that information to the Task Force. 

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

8 States mails in the same manner and under the same con9 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

10 States. 

11 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

12 the request of the Task Force, the Administrator of Gen13 eral Services shall provide to the Task Force, on a reim14 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec15 essary for the Task Force to carry out its responsibilities 

16 under this Act. 

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

18 contract with and compensate government and private 

19 agencies or persons for supplies or services, without regard 

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

21 SEC. 7. TERMINATION. 

22 The Task Force shall terminate 90 days after submit23 ting the report under section 3(b).

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