IB 
Union Calendar No. 45 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2046 
[Report No. 109–88] 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to limit premium increases 
on reinstated health insurance on servicemembers who are released from 
active military service, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 3, 2005 
Mr. BUYER (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Ms. HERSETH) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs 
MAY 19, 2005 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
A BILL 
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,
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 subsection: 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON PREMIUM INCREASES.— 
‘‘(1) PREMIUM PROTECTION.—The amount of the 
premium for health insurance coverage that was ter-
minated by a servicemember and required to be rein-
stated under subsection (a) may not be increased, for 
the balance of the period for which coverage would 
have been continued had the coverage not been termi-
nated, to an amount greater than the amount charge-
able for such coverage before the termination. 
‘‘(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-
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 RESERVE- 
COMPONENT 
MEMBERS 
WHO 
ACQUIRE 
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 becomes 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 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 para-
graph: 
‘‘(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 pe-
riod of active duty under the order to active duty that estab-
lished such eligibility because the order is canceled before 
such active duty commences, the provisions of paragraph 
(1) relating to any exclusion or waiting period in connec-
tion with the reinstatement of coverage under a health plan 
shall apply to such person’s continued employment, upon 
the termination of such eligibility for medical and dental 
care under chapter 55 of title 10 that is incident to the 
cancellation of such order, in the same manner as if the 
person had become reemployed upon such termination of 
eligibility.’’. 
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 Ben-
efits Improvement Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–454; 118 
Stat. 3614), is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 
(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 
(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 sub-
section (a) shall take effect as of December 10, 2004, as if 
enacted immediately after the enactment of the Veterans 
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 enacted. 
(b) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Section 1967 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(f)(1)(A) Whenever a member who is eligible for in-
surance under this subchapter executes a life insurance op-
tion specified in subparagraph (B), the Secretary concerned 
shall notify the member’s spouse or, if the member is un-
married, the member’s next of kin, in writing, of the execu-
tion 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 subsection 
(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 member 
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 
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 beneficiary 
other than the spouse or a child of the member for 
any amount of such insurance, notice that such a des-
ignation has been made. 
‘‘(3)(A) Notification of a spouse under paragraph (1) 
or (2), or of any other person under paragraph (1), for pur-
poses 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 Sec-
retary concerned. 
‘‘(B) Failure to provide such notification, or to provide 
such notification in a timely manner, does not affect the 
validity of any life insurance option referred to in para-
graph (1)(B).’’.
Union Calendar No. 45 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 2046 
[Report No. 109–88] 
A BILL 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to 
limit premium increases on reinstated health in-
surance on servicemembers who are released 
from active military service, and for other pur-
poses. 
MAY 19, 2005 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed