[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4949 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4949

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit increases in fees 
                       for military health care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2006

      Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mrs. 
 Christensen, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. 
 McGovern, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, 
  Mr. Allen, Mrs. McCarthy, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Berry, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. 
Ford, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Ryan 
of Ohio, Mr. Honda, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Taylor of Mississippi, Mrs. Capps, 
Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Jefferson, Mrs. Maloney, Mrs. Drake, Mr. 
   Lynch, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
 Filner, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Gingrey, Mr. Barrow, Mr. Frank 
 of Massachusetts, Mr. Farr, Mr. Goode, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Bonner, Mrs. 
    Davis of California, Ms. Herseth, Mr. Gordon, Mr. McCotter, Mr. 
 Higgins, Mr. Payne, and Mr. Bilirakis) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to prohibit increases in fees 
                       for military health care.

    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 ``Military Retirees' Health Care 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Career uniformed service members and their families 
        endured unique and extraordinary demands and sacrifices over 
        the course of a 20- to 30-year career in protecting freedoms 
        for all Americans.
            (2) The extent of these demands and sacrifices are never so 
        evident as in wartime--not only in today's Global War on 
        Terrorism, but also over the last six decades of hot and cold 
        wars when today's retired service members were on continuous 
        call to enter into harm's way when and as needed.
            (3) The demands and sacrifices are such that few Americans 
        are willing to accept them for a multi-decade career.
            (4) The primary offset for enduring the extraordinary 
        sacrifices inherent in a military career is a system of 
        extraordinary retirement benefits, including health care 
        coverage considerably better than that afforded civilian 
        workers, that a grateful Nation provides for those who choose 
        to subordinate much of their personal life to the national 
        interest for so many years.
            (5) Many private sector firms are curtailing health 
        benefits and shifting significantly higher costs to their 
        employees.
            (6) One effect of such curtailment is that retired members 
        who work for such employers are turning to use of the TRICARE 
        coverage they earned by their military service.
            (7) In some cases, civilian employers establish financial 
        incentives for TRICARE-eligible employees to use TRICARE rather 
        than the civilian employers' coverage.
            (8) While the Department of Defense has made some efforts 
        to constrain TRICARE program costs, a large part of the 
        Department's effort is to shift a larger share of cost burdens 
        to retired service members.
            (9) The cumulative increases in enrollment fees, 
        deductibles, and co-payments being proposed by the Department 
        of Defense far exceed the 31-percent growth in military retired 
        pay since the retired members' fees were established 10 years 
        ago.
            (10) The beneficiary cost increases being proposed by the 
        Department of Defense fail to recognize adequately that career 
        service members paid enormous in-kind premiums through their 
        extended service and sacrifice.
            (11) A significant share of the Nation's health care 
        providers refuse to accept new TRICARE patients because TRICARE 
        pays them significantly less than commercial insurance programs 
        and imposes unique administrative requirements.
            (12) The significant majority of the savings the Department 
        of Defense associates with the proposed fee increases is 
        expected to come from deterring a large portion of TRICARE 
        beneficiaries from using their earned military health benefits.
            (13) The Department of Defense has chosen to count the 
        accrual deposit to the Department of Defense Medicare-Eligible 
        Retiree Health Care Fund against the Department of Defense's 
        budget, contrary to the amendments made by section 725 of 
        Public Law 108-375.
            (14) Department of Defense leaders have reported to 
        Congress that counting such deposits against the Department of 
        Defense's budget is impinging on other readiness needs, 
        including weapons programs--an inappropriate situation which 
        section 725 of Public Law 108-375 was intended expressly to 
        prevent.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Department of Defense and the Nation have a 
        committed health benefits obligation to retired uniformed 
        service members that exceeds the obligation of corporate 
        employers to civilian employees; and
            (2) the Department of Defense has many additional options 
        to constrain the growth of health care spending in ways that do 
        not disadvantage beneficiaries and should pursue any and all 
        such options rather than seeking large fee increases for 
        beneficiaries.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASES IN CERTAIN HEALTH COSTS FOR MEMBERS OF 
              THE UNIFORMED SERVICES.

    (a) Prohibition on Increase in Charges Under Contracts for Medical 
Care.--Section 1097(e) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: ``A premium, deductible, copayment, or 
other charge prescribed by the Secretary under this subsection may not 
be increased after December 31, 2005.''.
    (b) Prohibition on Increase in Amount of Cost Sharing Requirement 
Under Pharmacy Benefits Program.--Section 1074g of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end of subsection (a)(6)(A) 
the following: ``After December 31, 2005, the dollar amount of a cost 
sharing requirement (whether established as a percentage or a fixed 
dollar amount) may not be increased.''.
    (c) Prohibition on Increase in Charges for Inpatient Care.--Section 
1086(b)(3) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after ``charges for inpatient care'' the following: ``, except that in 
no case may the charges for inpatient care for a patient exceed $535 
per day.''.
    (d) Prohibition on Increase in Premiums Under TRICARE Coverage for 
Certain Members in the Selected Reserve.--Section 1076d(d)(3) of title 
10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 
``After December 31, 2005, the monthly amount of the premium may not be 
increased above the amount in effect for the month of December 2005.''.
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