[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4923 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4923

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend TRICARE coverage to 
                certain dependents under the age of 26.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 2010

 Mr. Heinrich introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend TRICARE coverage to 
                certain dependents under the age of 26.

    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 ``TRICARE Dependent Coverage Extension 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DEPENDENT COVERAGE UNDER TRICARE.

    (a) Dependent Coverage.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 55 of title 10, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        section:
``Sec. 1110b. TRICARE program: Extension of dependent coverage
    ``(a) In General.--In accordance with subsection (c), an individual 
described in subsection (b) shall be deemed to be a dependent (as 
described in section 1072(2)(D) of this title) for purposes of TRICARE 
coverage.
    ``(b) Individual Described.--An individual described in this 
subsection is an individual who--
            ``(1) with respect to a member or former member of a 
        uniformed service, is--
                    ``(A) a child who has not attained the age of 26 
                and is not eligible to enroll in an eligible employer-
                sponsored plan (as defined in section 5000A(f)(2) of 
                the Internal Revenue Code of 1986); or
                    ``(B) a person who--
                            ``(i) is placed in the legal custody of the 
                        member or former member as a result of an order 
                        of a court of competent jurisdiction in the 
                        United States (or possession of the United 
                        States) for a period of at least 12 consecutive 
                        months;
                            ``(ii) has not attained the age of 26;
                            ``(iii) is not eligible to enroll in an 
                        eligible employer-sponsored plan (as defined in 
                        section 5000A(f)(2) of the Internal Revenue 
                        Code of 1986);
                            ``(iv) resides with the member or former 
                        member unless separated by the necessity of 
                        military service or to receive institutional 
                        care as a result of disability or 
                        incapacitation or under such other 
                        circumstances as the administering Secretary 
                        may by regulation prescribe;
                            ``(v) is not otherwise a dependent of a 
                        member or a former member under any 
                        subparagraph of section 1072(2) of this title; 
                        and
                            ``(vi) is not the child of a dependent who 
                        is described in subparagraph (D) or (I) of 
                        section 1072(2) and is a covered beneficiary; 
                        and
            ``(2) meets other criteria specified in regulations 
        prescribed by the Secretary.
    ``(c) Premium.--(1) The Secretary shall prescribe by regulation a 
premium for TRICARE coverage provided pursuant to this section to an 
individual described in subsection (b).
    ``(2) The monthly amount of the premium in effect for a month for 
TRICARE coverage pursuant to this section shall be an amount not to 
exceed the cost of coverage that the Secretary determines on an 
appropriate actuarial basis.
    ``(3) The Secretary shall prescribe the requirements and procedures 
applicable to the payment of premiums under this subsection.
    ``(4) Amounts collected as premiums under this paragraph shall be 
credited to the appropriation available for the Defense Health Program 
Account under section 1100 of this title, shall be merged with sums in 
such Account that are available for the fiscal year in which collected, 
and shall be available under subsection (b) of such section for such 
fiscal year.
    ``(d) TRICARE Coverage Defined.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `TRICARE coverage' means health care to which a dependent 
described in section 1072(2)(D) of this title is entitled under section 
1076d, 1076e, 1079, 1086, or 1097.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
        item relating to section 1110a the following new item:

``1110b. TRICARE program: Extension of dependent coverage.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Paragraph (1) of section 1086(c) of 
title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after ``of this 
title'' the following: ``(or an individual described in section 
1110b(b) who meets the requirements for a dependent under paragraph (1) 
or (2) of such section 1076(b))''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on October 1, 2010.
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