I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4554 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that certain members 
of the National Guard serving on full-time National Guard duty and 
dependents remain eligible for the TRICARE program during periods 
in which the member is responding to a disaster. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2016 
Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. WALZ, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. NUGENT, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, 
Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. JONES, Mr. LAR-
SEN of Washington, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CARNEY, Mrs. TORRES, Mr. 
HONDA, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HECK of 
Washington, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. SERRANO, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that cer-
tain members of the National Guard serving on full- 
time National Guard duty and dependents remain eligible 
for the TRICARE program during periods in which the 
member is responding to a disaster. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. EXTENDED TRICARE PROGRAM COVERAGE 
FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 
GUARD AND DEPENDENTS DURING CERTAIN 
DISASTER RESPONSE DUTY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1076e 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1076f. TRICARE program: extension of coverage 
for certain members of the National 
Guard and dependents during certain 
disaster response duty 
‘‘(a) EXTENDED COVERAGE.—During a period in 
which a member of the National Guard is performing dis-
aster response duty, the member shall be treated as being 
on active duty for a period of more than 30 days for pur-
poses of the eligibility of the member and dependents of 
the member for health care benefits under the TRICARE 
program if such period immediately follows a period in 
which the member served on full-time National Guard 
duty under section 502(f) of title 32, including pursuant 
to chapter 9 of such title. 
‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTION BY STATE.—(1) The Secretary 
shall charge a State for the costs of providing coverage 
under the TRICARE program to members of the National 
Guard of the State and the dependents of the members 
pursuant to subsection (a). Such charges shall be paid 
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from the funds of the State or from any other non-Federal 
funds. 
‘‘(2) Any amounts received by the Secretary under 
paragraph (1) shall be credited to the appropriation avail-
able for the Defense Health Program Account under sec-
tion 1100 of this title, shall be merged with sums in such 
Account that are available for the fiscal year in which col-
lected, and shall be available under subsection (b) of such 
section, including to carry out subsection (a) of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘disaster response duty’ means 
duty performed by a member of the National Guard 
in State status pursuant to an emergency declara-
tion by the Governor of the State (or, with respect 
to the District of Columbia, the mayor of the Dis-
trict of Columbia) in response to a disaster or in 
preparation for an imminent disaster. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘State’ means each of the several 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of 
the United States.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
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after the item relating to section 1076e the following new 
item: 
‘‘1076f. TRICARE program: extension of coverage for certain members of the 
National Guard and dependents during certain disaster re-
sponse duty.’’. 
Æ 
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