I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 270 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for continuity of TRICARE 

Standard coverage for certain members of the Retired Reserve. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

Mr. LATTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for continuity of TRICARE Standard coverage for certain members of the Retired Reserve. 

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 Continuity 

5 of Coverage for National Guard and Reserve Families Act 

6 of 2009’’. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
2 

•HR 270 IH

1 SEC. 2. TRICARE STANDARD COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN 

2 MEMBERS OF THE RETIRED RESERVE, AND 

3 FAMILY MEMBERS, WHO ARE QUALIFIED FOR 

4 A NON-REGULAR RETIREMENT BUT ARE NOT 

5 YET AGE 60. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, United 

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1076d 

8 the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 1076e. TRICARE program: TRICARE standard cov10 erage for certain members of the Retired 

11 Reserve who are qualified for a non-reg12 ular retirement but are not yet age 60 

13 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—(1) Except as provided in para14 graph (2), a member of the Retired Reserve of a Reserve 

15 component of the Armed Forces who is qualified for a non16 regular retirement at age 60 under chapter 1223, but is 

17 not age 60, is eligible for health benefits under TRICARE 

18 Standard as provided in this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a member who 

20 is enrolled, or is eligible to enroll, in a health benefits plan 

21 under chapter 89 of title 5. 

22 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY UPON OBTAIN23 ING OTHER TRICARE STANDARD COVERAGE.—Eligi24 bility for TRICARE Standard coverage of a member 

25 under this section shall terminate upon the member beVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:35 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H270.IH H270

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
3 

•HR 270 IH

1 coming eligible for TRICARE Standard coverage at age 

2 60 under section 1086 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(c) FAMILY MEMBERS.—While a member of a Re4 serve component is covered by TRICARE Standard under 

5 the section, the members of the immediate family of such 

6 member are eligible for TRICARE Standard coverage as 

7 dependents of the member. If a member of a Reserve com8 ponent dies while in a period of coverage under this sec9 tion, the eligibility of the members of the immediate family 

10 of such member for TRICARE Standard coverage under 

11 this section shall continue for the same period of time that 

12 would be provided under section 1086 of this title if the 

13 member had been eligible at the time of death for 

14 TRICARE Standard coverage under such section (instead 

15 of under this section). 

16 ‘‘(d) PREMIUMS.—(1) A member of a Reserve compo17 nent covered by TRICARE Standard under this section 

18 shall pay a premium for that coverage. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe for the 

20 purposes of this section one premium for TRICARE 

21 Standard coverage of members without dependents and 

22 one premium for TRICARE Standard coverage of mem23 bers with dependents referred to in subsection (f)(1). The 

24 premium prescribed for a coverage shall apply uniformly 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
4 

•HR 270 IH

1 to all covered members of the Reserve components covered 

2 under this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) The monthly amount of the premium in effect 

4 for a month for TRICARE Standard coverage under this 

5 section shall be the amount equal to the cost of coverage 

6 that the Secretary determines on an appropriate actuarial 

7 basis. 

8 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall prescribe the requirements 

9 and procedures applicable to the payment of premiums 

10 under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(5) Amounts collected as premiums under this sub12 section shall be credited to the appropriation available for 

13 the Defense Health Program Account under section 1100 

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

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

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

17 for such fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

19 consultation with the other administering Secretaries, 

20 shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this 

21 section. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) The term ‘immediate family’, with respect 

24 to a member of a Reserve component, means all of 

25 the member’s dependents described in subparaVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:35 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H270.IH H270

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
5 

•HR 270 IH

1 graphs (A), (D), and (I) of section 1072(2) of this 

2 title. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘TRICARE Standard’ means— 

4 ‘‘(A) medical care to which a dependent 

5 described in section 1076(a)(2) of this title is 

6 entitled; and 

7 ‘‘(B) health benefits contracted for under 

8 the authority of section 1079(a) of this title and 

9 subject to the same rates and conditions as 

10 apply to persons covered under that section.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 1076d the following new 

14 item: 

‘‘1076e. TRICARE program: TRICARE standard coverage for certain members 

of the Retired Reserve who are qualified for a non-regular retirement but are not yet age 60.’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1076e of title 10, 

16 United States Code, as inserted by subsection (a), shall 

17 apply to coverage for months beginning on or after Octo18 ber 1, 2009, or such earlier date as the Secretary of De19 fense may specify. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS