II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 448 

To provide for coordination between the TRICARE program and eligibility 

for making contributions to a health savings account, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for coordination between the TRICARE program 

and eligibility for making contributions to a health savings account, 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 ‘‘Veterans TRICARE 

5 Choice Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COORDINATION BETWEEN TRICARE PROGRAM AND 

7 ELIGIBILITY TO MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

8 HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(c)(1)(B) of the Inter10 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ 


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1 at the end of clause (ii), by striking the period at the end 

2 of clause (iii) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the 

3 end the following new clause: 

4 ‘‘(iv) coverage under the TRICARE 

5 program under chapter 55 of title 10, 

6 United States Code, for any period with 

7 respect to which an election is in effect 

8 under section 1097d of such title providing 

9 that the individual is ineligible to be en10 rolled in (and receive benefits under) such 

11 program.’’. 

12 (b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO ELECTION OF INELI13 GIBILITY UNDER TRICARE.— 

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

15 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

16 section 1097c the following new section: 

17 ‘‘§ 1097d. TRICARE program: Election of eligibility 

18 ‘‘(a) ELECTION.—A TRICARE-eligible individual 

19 may elect at any time to be ineligible to enroll in (and 

20 receive any benefits under) the TRICARE program. 

21 ‘‘(b) CHANGE OF ELECTION.—(1) If a TRICARE-eli22 gible individual makes an election under subsection (a), 

23 the TRICARE-eligible individual may later elect to be eli24 gible to enroll in the TRICARE program. An election 


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1 made under this subsection may be made only during a 

2 special enrollment period. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that a TRICARE4 eligible individual who makes an election under subsection 

5 (a) may efficiently enroll in the TRICARE program pur6 suant to an election under paragraph (1), including by 

7 maintaining the individual, as appropriate, in the health 

8 care enrollment system under section 1099 of this title in 

9 an inactive manner. 

10 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF ELECTION.—If a TRICARE-eligible 

11 individual makes an election under subsection (a), such 

12 election shall be in effect beginning on the date of such 

13 election and ending on the date that such individual makes 

14 an election under subsection (b)(1) to enroll in the 

15 TRICARE program. 

16 ‘‘(d) HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT PARTICIPATION.— 

17 (1) For provisions allowing participation in a health sav18 ings account in connection with coverage under a high de19 ductible health plan during the period that the election 

20 under subsection (a) is in effect, see section 

21 223(c)(1)(B)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall submit to the Commissioner 

23 of Internal Revenue the name of, and any other informa24 tion that the Commissioner may require with respect to, 

25 each TRICARE-eligible individual who makes an election 


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1 under subsection (a) or (b), not later than 90 days after 

2 such election, for purposes of determining the eligibility 

3 of such TRICARE-eligible individual for a health savings 

4 account described in paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(e) RECORDS.—The Secretary shall ensure that a 

6 TRICARE-eligible individual who makes an election under 

7 subsection (a) is maintained on the Defense Enrollment 

8 Eligibility Reporting System, or successor system, regard9 less of whether the individual is eligible for the TRICARE 

10 program during the period of such election. 

11 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 

12 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to 

13 the congressional defense committees a report on elections 

14 by TRICARE-eligible individuals under this section that 

15 includes the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) The number of TRICARE-eligible individ17 uals, as of the date of the submittal of the report, 

18 who are ineligible to enroll in (and receive any bene19 fits under) the TRICARE program pursuant to an 

20 election under subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(2) The number of TRICARE-eligible individ22 uals who made an election described under sub23 section (a) but, as of the date of the submittal of the 

24 report, are enrolled in the TRICARE program pur25 suant to a change of election under subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘TRICARE-eligible individual’ 

3 means an individual who is eligible to be a covered 

4 beneficiary entitled to health care benefits under the 

5 TRICARE program (determined without regard to 

6 this section). 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘special enrollment period’ means 

8 the period in which a beneficiary under the Federal 

9 Employees Health Benefits program under chapter 

10 89 of title 5 may enroll in or change a plan under 

11 such program by reason of a qualifying event or dur12 ing an open enrollment season. For purposes of this 

13 section, such qualifying events shall also include 

14 events determined appropriate by the Secretary of 

15 Defense, including events relating to a member of 

16 the armed forces being ordered to active duty.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

18 sections at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title 

19 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

20 section 1097c the following new item: 

‘‘1097d. TRICARE program: Election of eligibility.’’. 

Æ 


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