HEALTH BENEFITS.

SECTION 1. HEALTH BENEFITS. (a) Authority for Direct Payments.—Section 8906 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “(i) An annuitant whose annuity is insufficient to cover the withholdings required for enrollment in a particular health benefits plan may enroll (or remain enrolled) in such plan, notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the annuitant elects, under conditions prescribed by regulations of the Office, to pay currently into the Employees Health Benefits Fund, through the retirement system that administers the annuitant’s health benefits enrollment, an amount equal to the withholdings that would otherwise be required under this section.”. (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.—Section 8906 of title 5, United States Code, is further amended— (1) in subsection (c), by inserting “except as provided in subsection (i) of this section)” before “the annuity”; and (2) in subsection (d), by inserting “(except as provided in subsection (i) of this section)” before “from the annuity”. (c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. Any annuitant whose enrollment was terminated at any time before such date on account of such annuitant’s annuity being insufficient to cover the amount of the required withholdings may, under regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, be prospectively reinstated in any available health benefits plan upon application of the annuitant.