If a member of the U.S. military reserves is working in a non-federal employee job, they can opt to enroll in TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS). However, federal employees who serve in the reserves must enroll in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and are not eligible to enroll in TRS. FMA has worked for several years to allow feds in the reserves the option to enroll in TRS, if they choose. The first month of the 116th Congress saw early movement on this issue.

The TRICARE Reserve Select Improvement Act (H.R. 613) was first introduced in this session of Congress by Congressman Trent Kelly (R-MS) and currently has 26 bipartisan cosponsors. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced a companion bill in the Senate (S. 164), which currently has 11 bipartisan cosponsors. FMA has endorsed both the House legislation and the Senate legislation, and will seek to secure their passage.

The primary impediment of the legislation, as with most bills, is its cost. Last year the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated this bill would cost $173 million to implement over the next ten years. In times of Continuing Resolutions, pay freezes and partial government shutdowns, there may be little appetite to invest that amount of money. However, the CBO estimate also found the legislation would save approximately $1.2 billion over that same ten year period – a significant return on investment almost seven times the cost. 

FMA has documented the history of this legislation, its context and its prospects for passage in a “Hear It From FMA” article on fedmanager.com.