[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1644 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1644
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 17, 2023
Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Representatives 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 2023''.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY UNDER TRICARE PROGRAM FOR VETERANS WITH SERVICE-
CONNECTED DISABILITIES.
(a) In General.--
(1) Enrollment in tricare select.--Section 1075 of title
10, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting before
the period at the end the following: ``, and covered
veteran beneficiaries under subsection (i), other than
Medicare-eligible beneficiaries described in such
subsection (d)(2)'';
(B) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection
(j); and
(C) by inserting after subsection (h) the following
new subsection (i):
``(i) Covered Veteran Beneficiaries.--(1) Subject to section
1086(d) of this title, a covered veteran beneficiary 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.''.
(2) Enrollment in tricare for life.--Section 1086(d) of
such title is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the
period at the end the following: ``or pursuant to
section 1075(i) of this title'';
(B) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding
clause (i), by inserting ``, or section 1075(i) of this
title,'' after ``a person referred to in subsection
(c)''; and
(C) in paragraph (4), in the matter preceding
clause (i), by inserting ``, or section 1075(i) of this
title,'' after ``a person referred to in subsection
(c)''.
(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 annual
patient enrollment of the Department of Veterans
Affairs 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(i) of this title; or
``(ii) section 1086(d) of this title by
reason of being an individual who would be
covered by such section 1075(i) but for being a
Medicare-eligible beneficiary covered by such
section 1086(d).''.
(4) Enrollment in va health care.--Section 1705 of title
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(d)(1) A covered veteran beneficiary who enrolls in the TRICARE
program may not be concurrently enrolled in the system of annual
patient enrollment under subsection (a) and the Secretary may not
furnish hospital care or medical services to the covered veteran
beneficiary under this chapter or any other provision of law
administered by the Secretary while the covered veteran beneficiary is
enrolled in the TRICARE program.
``(2) In this subsection, the terms `covered veteran beneficiary'
and `TRICARE program' have the meanings given those terms in section
1072 of title 10.''.
(b) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Secretary 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 veteran
beneficiaries in the TRICARE program pursuant to the amendments made by
subsection (a), as jointly determined appropriate by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense.
(c) Implementation.--
(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 prescribe regulations to carry out such amendments.
(3) Phase in.--During the one-year period following the
date on which the regulations are prescribed under paragraph
(2), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of
Defense shall phase in the enrollment of covered veteran
beneficiaries in accordance with the annual open enrollment
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
Department of Veterans Affairs under section 1703E of title 38,
United States Code.
(d) Reports.--
(1) Reports on implementation.--Not less frequently than
quarterly 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
appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
implementation of this section and the amendments made by this
section.
(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 annually thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a report on covered
veteran beneficiaries enrolled in the TRICARE program.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Covered veteran beneficiary; tricare program.--The
terms ``covered 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).
<all>