[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3203 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3203

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to limit increases in the 
certain costs of health care services under the health care programs of 
           the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2012

  Mr. Lautenberg (for himself and Mr. Rubio) 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 limit increases in the 
certain costs of health care services under the health care programs of 
           the Department of Defense, 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 ``Military Health Care Protection Act 
of 2012''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) career members of the uniformed services and their 
        families endure unique and extraordinary demands and make 
        extraordinary sacrifices over the course of a 20-year to 30-
        year career in protecting freedom for all Americans; and
            (2) those decades of sacrifice constitute a significant 
        pre-paid premium for health care during a career member's 
        retirement that is over and above what the member pays with 
        money.

SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN INCREASES IN HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR 
              UNIFORMED SERVICES BENEFICIARIES.

    (a) Pharmacy Benefits Program.--Section 1074g(a)(6) of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
    ``(C) The amount of any cost sharing requirements under this 
paragraph may not be increased in any year by a percentage that exceeds 
the percentage by which retired pay is increased under section 
1401a(b)(2) of this title. Increases shall be made only in whole dollar 
amounts. To the extent that the percentage increase under such section 
1401a(b)(2) in any year would yield an increase of less than one 
dollar, the accumulated increase shall be carried over to the 
subsequent year, until the accumulated increase equals at least one 
dollar.''.
    (b) Deductible Amounts Under CHAMPUS.--
            (1) Self-only coverage.--Subsection 1086(b)(1) of such 
        title is amended by adding at the end the following sentences: 
        ``For each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2012, the 
        Secretary of Defense may only increase the deductible amount by 
        a percentage not to exceed the percentage by which retired pay 
        is increased under section 1401a(b)(2) of this title. Any 
        resulting increase shall be rounded down to the nearest whole 
        dollar.''.
            (2) Family coverage.--Subsection 1086(b)(2) of such title 
        is amended by adding at the end the following sentences: ``For 
        each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2012, the 
        Secretary of Defense may only increase the deductible amount by 
        a percentage not to exceed the percentage by which retired pay 
        is increased under section 1401a(b)(2) of this title. Any 
        resulting increase shall be rounded down to the nearest whole 
        dollar.''.
    (c) Inpatient Charges Under CHAMPUS.--Section 1086(b)(3) of such 
title is amended by striking ``25 percent'' and all that follows 
through ``September 30, 2011.'' and inserting ``25 percent of the 
charges for inpatient care, except that in no case shall such charges 
exceed $708 per day.''.
    (d) Catastrophic Cap on Fees Under CHAMPUS.--Section 1086(b)(4) of 
such title is amended--
            (1) by striking ``A member'' and inserting ``For fiscal 
        years ending before October 1, 2012, a''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new sentences: ``For 
        each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2012, the 
        Secretary of Defense may only increase the amount in the 
        preceding sentence by a percentage not to exceed the percentage 
        by which retired pay is increased under section 1401a(b)(2) of 
        this title. Any resulting increase shall be rounded down to the 
        nearest whole dollar.''.
    (e) Prohibition of Enrollment Fees for Certain Persons Under 
CHAMPUS.--Section 1086(b) of such title is further amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(5) A person covered by subsection (c) may not be charged 
        an enrollment fee for coverage under this section.
            ``(6) A person covered by subsection (c) shall not be 
        subject to denial of claims for coverage under this section for 
        failure to enroll for such coverage. To the extent enrollment 
        may be required, enrollment shall be automatic for any such 
        person filing a claim under this section. In such cases of 
        automatic enrollment, annual re-enrollment shall be automatic 
        unless the beneficiary expressly declines to re-enroll.''.
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