TRICARE COVERAGE FOR MEMBERS OF RESERVE COMPONENTS WHO COMMIT TO CONTINUED SERVICE IN THE SELECTED RESERVE AFTER RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY.

SEC. 701. TRICARE COVERAGE FOR MEMBERS OF RESERVE COMPONENTS WHO COMMIT TO CONTINUED SERVICE IN THE SELECTED RESERVE AFTER RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY. (a) Eligibility.—(1) Chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1076c the following new section:“§ 1076d. TRICARE program: coverage for members of reserve components who commit to continued service in the Selected Reserve after release from active duty“(a) Eligibility.—A member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of a reserve component of the armed forces is eligible for health benefits under TRICARE Standard as provided in this section after the member completes service on active duty to which the member was called or ordered for a period of more than 30 days on or after September 11, 2001, under a provision of law referred to in section 101(a)(13)(B), if the member—“(1) served continuously on active duty for 90 or more days pursuant to such call or order; and“(2) on or before the date of the release from such active-duty service, entered into an agreement with the Secretary concerned to serve continuously in the Selected Reserve for a period of one or more whole years following such date.“(b) Period of Coverage.—(1) TRICARE Standard coverage of a member under this section, on the basis of active-duty service performed as described in subsection (a), begins upon the expiration of the member’s entitlement to care and benefits under section 1145(a) of this title that is based on the same active-duty service.“(2) Unless earlier terminated under paragraph (3), the period for TRICARE Standard coverage of a member under this section shall be equal to the lesser of—“(A) one year, in the case of a member who is otherwise eligible but does not serve continuously on active duty for 90 days as described in subsection (a) because of an injury, illness, or disease incurred or aggravated while deployed;“(B) one year for each consecutive period of 90 days of continuous active-duty service described in subsection (a); or“(C) the number of whole years for which the member agrees under paragraph (2) of such subsection to continue to serve in the Selected Reserve after the coverage begins.“(3) Eligibility for TRICARE Standard coverage of a member under this section shall terminate upon the termination of the member’s service in the Selected Reserve.“(c) Family Members.—While a member of a reserve component is covered by TRICARE Standard under the section, the members of the immediate family of such member are eligible for TRICARE Standard coverage as dependents of the member.“(d) Premiums.—(1) A member of a reserve component covered by TRICARE Standard under this section shall pay a premium for that coverage.118 STAT. 1981“(2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe for the purposes of this section one premium for TRICARE Standard coverage of members without dependents and one premium for TRICARE Standard coverage of members with dependents referred to in subsection (f)(1). The premium prescribed for a coverage shall apply uniformly to all covered members of the reserve components.“(3) The monthly amount of the premium in effect for a month for TRICARE Standard coverage under this section shall be the amount equal to 28 percent of the total monthly amount that the Secretary determines on an appropriate actuarial basis as being reasonable for that coverage.“(4) The premiums payable by a member of a reserve component under this subsection may be deducted and withheld from basic pay payable to the member under section 204 of title 37 or from compensation payable to the member under section 206 of such title. The Secretary shall prescribe the requirements and procedures applicable to the payment of premiums.“(5) Amounts collected as premiums under this subsection 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.“(e) Relationship of Service Agreement to Other Service Commitments.—The service agreement required of a member of a reserve component under subsection (a)(2) is separate from any other form of commitment of the member to a period of obligated service in that reserve component and may cover any part or all of the same period that is covered by another commitment of the member to a period of obligated service in that reserve component.“(f) Definitions.—In this section:“(1) The term ‘immediate family’, with respect to a member of a reserve component, means all of the member’s dependents described in subparagraphs (A), (D), and (I) of section 1072(2) of this title.“(2) The term ‘TRICARE Standard’ means the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services option under the TRICARE program.“(g) Regulations.—The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the other administering Secretaries, shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section.” .(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1076c the following new item: “1076d. TRICARE program: coverage for members of reserve components who commit to continued service in the Selected Reserve after release from active duty.”. (b) Implementation.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall implement section 1076d of title 10, United States Code, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.(2)(A) A member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces who performed active-duty service described in subsection (a) of section 1076d of title 10, United States Code, for a period beginning on or after September 11, 2001, and was released from that active-duty service before the date of the enactment of this Act, or is released from that active-duty service on or within 180 days after 118 STAT. 1982 the date of the enactment of this Act, may, for the purpose of paragraph (2) of such subsection, enter into an agreement described in such paragraph not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. TRICARE Standard coverage (under such section 1076d) of a member who enters into such an agreement under this paragraph shall begin on the later of—(i) the date applicable to the member under subsection (b) of such section; or(ii) the date of the agreement.(B) The Secretary of Defense shall take such action as is necessary to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that members of the reserve components eligible to enter into an agreement as provided in subparagraph (A) actually receive information on the opportunity and procedures for entering into such an agreement together with a clear explanation of the benefits that the members are eligible to receive as a result of entering into such an agreement under section 1076d of title 10, United States Code.