I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 244 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide eligibility for TRICARE 
Select to veterans with service-connected disabilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2025 
Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide eligibility 
for TRICARE Select to veterans with service-connected 
disabilities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ True Choice 
Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR TRICARE FOR VETERANS WITH 
SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
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(1) ENROLLMENT IN TRICARE SELECT.—Sec-
tion 1075 of title 10, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(A) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting 
before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 
and covered veteran beneficiaries under sub-
section (h), other than Medicare-eligible bene-
ficiaries described in such subsection (d)(2)’’; 
(B) by redesignating subsections (h) and 
(i) as subsections (i) and (j), respectively; and 
(C) by inserting after subsection (g) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(h) COVERED VETERAN BENEFICIARIES.—(1) Sub-
ject to section 1086(d) of this title, a covered veteran ben-
eficiary may elect to enroll in TRICARE Select during the 
annual open enrollment season of the TRICARE program. 
‘‘(2) The cost-sharing requirements under TRICARE 
Select for covered veteran beneficiaries shall be calculated 
pursuant to subsection (d)(1), regardless of the date of 
the original enlistment or appointment of the beneficiary 
in the uniformed services. 
‘‘(3) A dependent of a covered veteran beneficiary 
may not enroll in the TRICARE program solely by reason 
of the covered veteran beneficiary enrolling in the 
TRICARE program.’’. 
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(2) ENROLLMENT IN TRICARE FOR LIFE.—Sec-
tion 1086(d) of such title is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting before 
the period at the end the following: ‘‘ or pursu-
ant to section 1075(h) of this title’’; and 
(B) in paragraphs (2) and (4), by inserting 
‘‘, or section 1075(h) of this title,’’ after ‘‘a 
person referred to in subsection (c)’’ both 
places it appears. 
(3) DEFINITION.—Section 1072 of such title is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(16) The term ‘covered veteran beneficiary’ 
means a veteran who— 
‘‘(A) is eligible to enroll in the system of 
patient enrollment under paragraph (1), (2), or 
(3) of section 1705 of title 38; and 
‘‘(B) is eligible to enroll in the TRICARE 
program only pursuant to— 
‘‘(i) section 1075(h) of this title; or 
‘‘(ii) section 1086(d) of this title by 
reason of being an individual who would be 
covered by section 1075(h) but for being a 
Medicare-eligible beneficiary covered by 
such section 1086(d).’’. 
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(4) ENROLLMENT IN VA HEALTH CARE.—Sec-
tion 1705 of title 38, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(d)(1) A covered veteran beneficiary who enrolls in 
the TRICARE program may not be concurrently enrolled 
in the system of patient enrollment under subsection (a), 
and the Secretary may not furnish medical care to the cov-
ered veteran beneficiary under this chapter or other provi-
sion of law administered by the Secretary while the cov-
ered veteran beneficiary is so enrolled in the TRICARE 
program. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the terms ‘covered veteran 
beneficiary’ and ‘TRICARE program’ have the meaning 
given those terms in section 1072 of title 10.’’. 
(b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 
shall enter into a memorandum of understanding under 
which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs reimburses the 
Secretary of Defense for the costs of enrolling covered vet-
eran beneficiaries in the TRICARE program pursuant to 
the amendments made by subsection (a), as jointly deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretaries. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
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(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this section shall take effect one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(2) REGULATIONS.—During the one-year period 
following the date on which the amendments made 
by this section take effect, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall each pre-
scribe regulations to carry out such amendments. 
(3) PHASE IN.—During the one-year period fol-
lowing the date on which the regulations are pre-
scribed under paragraph (2), the Secretaries shall 
phase in the enrollment of covered veteran bene-
ficiaries in accordance with the annual open enroll-
ment season of the TRICARE program. 
(4) VA CENTER FOR INNOVATION FOR CARE 
AND PAYMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall carry out this subsection through the Center 
for Innovation for Care and Payment of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs. 
(d) REPORTS.— 
(1) REPORTS
ON
IMPLEMENTATION.—On a 
quarterly basis during the two-year period following 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 
shall jointly submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 
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Affairs and Armed Services of the Senate and the 
House of Representatives a report on the implemen-
tation of this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act. 
(2) ANNUAL
REPORTS.—Not later than one 
year after the date on which the final report under 
paragraph (1) is required to be submitted, and an-
nually thereafter, the Secretaries shall jointly submit 
to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Armed 
Services of the Senate and the House of Representa-
tives a report on covered veteran beneficiaries en-
rolled in the TRICARE program. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘cov-
ered veteran beneficiary’’ and ‘‘TRICARE program’’ have 
the meaning given those terms in section 1072 of title 10, 
United States Code, as amended by subsection (a). 
Æ 
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