IIB 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2046 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 24, 2005 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to limit pre-
mium increases on reinstated health insurance on 
servicemembers who are released from active military 
service, and for other purposes. 
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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Servicemembers’ 
Health Insurance Protection Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON PREMIUM INCREASES FOR REIN-
STATED 
HEALTH 
INSURANCE 
OF 
SERVICEMEMBERS RELEASED FROM ACTIVE 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
(a) PREMIUM PROTECTION.—Section 704 of the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 594) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON PREMIUM INCREASES.— 
‘‘(1) PREMIUM PROTECTION.—The amount of 
the premium for health insurance coverage that was 
terminated by a servicemember and required to be 
reinstated under subsection (a) may not be in-
creased, for the balance of the period for which cov-
erage would have been continued had the coverage 
not been terminated, to an amount greater than the 
amount chargeable for such coverage before the ter-
mination. 
‘‘(2) INCREASES OF GENERAL APPLICABILITY 
NOT PRECLUDED.—Paragraph (1) does not prevent 
an increase in premium to the extent of any general 
increase in the premiums charged by the carrier of 
the health care insurance for the same health insur-
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ance coverage for persons similarly covered by such 
insurance during the period between the termination 
and the reinstatement.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (b)(3) of 
such section is amended by striking ‘‘if the’’ and inserting 
‘‘in a case in which the’’. 
SEC. 
3. 
PRESERVATION 
OF 
EMPLOYER-SPONSORED 
HEALTH PLAN COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN RE-
SERVE-COMPONENT 
MEMBERS 
WHO 
AC-
QUIRE TRICARE ELIGIBILITY. 
(a) 
CONTINUATION
OF
COVERAGE.—Subsection 
(a)(1) of section 4317 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after ‘‘by reason of service in the 
uniformed services,’’ the following: ‘‘or such person be-
comes eligible for medical and dental care under chapter 
55 of title 10 by reason of subsection (d) of section 1074 
of that title,’’. 
(b) REINSTATEMENT OF COVERAGE.—Subsection (b) 
of such section is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by inserting after ‘‘by reason of service 
in the uniformed services,’’ the following: ‘‘or by 
reason of the person’s having become eligible 
for medical and dental care under chapter 55 of
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title 10 by reason of subsection (d) of section 
1074 of that title,’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or eligibility’’ before the 
period at the end of the first sentence; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) In the case of a person whose coverage under 
a health plan is terminated by reason of the person having 
become eligible for medical and dental care under chapter 
55 of title 10 by reason of subsection (d) of section 1074 
of that title but who subsequently does not commence a 
period of active duty under the order to active duty that 
established such eligibility because the order is canceled 
before such active duty commences, the provisions of para-
graph (1) relating to any exclusion or waiting period in 
connection with the reinstatement of coverage under a 
health plan shall apply to such person’s continued employ-
ment, upon the termination of such eligibility for medical 
and dental care under chapter 55 of title 10 that is inci-
dent to the cancellation of such order, in the same manner 
as if the person had become reemployed upon such termi-
nation of eligibility.’’.
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SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO VETERANS BENEFITS 
IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2004. 
(a) CORRECTIONS.—Section 2101 of title 38, United 
States Code, as amended by section 401 of the Veterans 
Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–454; 
118 Stat. 3614), is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) a new sub-
section (c) consisting of the text of subsection (c) of 
such section 2101 as in effect immediately before 
the enactment of such Act, modified— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the first sentence, by striking 
‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or (3)’’ and inserting 
‘‘subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of 
paragraph (2)’’; and 
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking 
‘‘the second sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (3)’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in the first sentence, by striking 
‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 
(2)’’; and
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(ii) in the second sentence, by striking 
‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 
(3)’’; and 
(3) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(c)’’ in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and 
inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect as of December 10, 2004, 
as if enacted immediately after the enactment of the Vet-
erans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 on that date. 
SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION TO MEMBER’S SPOUSE OR NEXT OF 
KIN 
OF 
CERTAIN 
ELECTIONS 
UNDER 
SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP LIFE INSURANCE 
PROGRAM. 
(a) REPEAL.—Subsections (f) and (g) of section 1012 
of division A of the Emergency Supplemental Appropria-
tions Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsu-
nami Relief Act, 2005 (Public Law 109–13), and the 
amendments made by those subsections, are repealed, and 
sections 1967 and 1970 of title 38, United States Code, 
shall be applied as if those subsections had not been en-
acted. 
(b) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Section 1967 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
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‘‘(f)(1)(A) Whenever a member who is eligible for in-
surance under this subchapter executes a life insurance 
option specified in subparagraph (B), the Secretary con-
cerned shall notify the member’s spouse or, if the member 
is unmarried, the member’s next of kin, in writing, of the 
execution of that option. 
‘‘(B) A life insurance option referred to in subpara-
graph (A) is any of the following: 
‘‘(i) An election under subsection (a)(2)(A) not 
to be insured under this subchapter. 
‘‘(ii) An election under subsection (a)(3)(B) for 
insurance of the member in an amount that is less 
than the maximum amount provided under sub-
section (a)(3)(A)(i). 
‘‘(iii) An application under subsection (c) for in-
surance coverage under this subchapter or for a 
change in the amount of such insurance coverage. 
‘‘(iv) In the case of a married member, a des-
ignation under section 1970(a) of this title of any 
person other than the spouse or a child of the mem-
ber as the beneficiary of the member for any amount 
of insurance under this subchapter. 
‘‘(2) Whenever an unmarried member who is eligible 
for insurance under this subchapter marries, the Secretary 
concerned shall notify the member’s spouse in writing as
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to whether the member is insured under this subchapter. 
In the case of a member who is so insured, the Secretary 
shall include with such notification— 
‘‘(A) if the member has made an election de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), notice that the 
amount of such insurance is less than the maximum 
amount provided under subsection (a)(3)(A)(i); and 
‘‘(B) if the member has designated a bene-
ficiary other than the spouse or a child of the mem-
ber for any amount of such insurance, notice that 
such a designation has been made. 
‘‘(3)(A) Notification of a spouse under paragraph (1) 
or (2), or of any other person under paragraph (1), for 
purposes of this subsection shall consist of a good faith 
effort to provide information to the spouse or other person 
at the last address of the spouse or other person known 
to the Secretary concerned. 
‘‘(B) Failure to provide such notification, or to pro-
vide such notification in a timely manner, does not affect
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the validity of any life insurance option referred to in 
paragraph (1)(B).’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 23, 2005. 
Attest: 
JEFF TRANDAHL, 
Clerk.