Sidath Viranga Panangala
Specialist in Veterans Policy
Don J. Jansen
Analyst in Defense Health Care Policy
The 111th Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148; ACA), which was later amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-152; HCERA), and is hereafter referred to as ACA. In general, ACA did not make any significant changes to the Department of Defense (DOD) TRICARE program or to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system. However, many have sought clarification as to whether certain provisions in ACA, such as a mandate for most individuals to have health insurance, or extending dependent coverage up to age 26, would apply to TRICARE and VA health care beneficiaries.
To address some of these concerns, Congress has introduced and/or enacted legislation. The TRICARE Affirmation Act (P.L. 111-159), signed into law on April 26, 2010, affirms that TRICARE satisfies the minimum acceptable coverage requirement in ACA. Similarly, P.L. 111- 173, signed into law on May 27, 2010, clarifies that the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), Spina Bifida Health Care Program, and the Children of Women Vietnam Veterans Health Care Program meet the “minimum essential coverage” requirement under ACA. TRICARE coverage of children was extended to age 26 by the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (P.L. 111-383).
ACA requires that if a health insurance plan provides for dependent coverage of children, the plan must continue to make such coverage available for an adult child until age 26. This requirement relating to coverage of adult children took effect for the plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010. Under ACA, both married and unmarried children qualify for this coverage. The authorizing statute for CHAMPVA currently does not conform to this ACA requirement. Furthermore, although the TRICARE authorizing statute has been amended to provide for coverage of children until age 26, the coverage provided by the new legislation differs from that required by ACA in some important ways. To address CHAMPVA’s nonconformance with ACA’s requirements, the CHAMPVA Children’s Protection Act (H.R. 288) and a similar measure (S. 325) have been introduced in the 113th Congress.
This report addresses key questions concerning how ACA affects TRICARE and VA health care.
Date of Report: April 22, 2013
Number of Pages: 12
Order Number: R41198
Price: $29.95
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