Rep. Rouda Introduces Bipartisan Protecting Our Servicemembers’ Care Act of 2020
WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives Harley Rouda (D-CA), Mark Green (R-TN), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), and Virginia Foxx (R-NC), along with 17 Members of Congress, introduced H.R. 7081, the bipartisan Protecting Our Servicemembers' Care Act of 2020. The bill seeks to address recent lapses in TRICARE benefits for National Guard and Reserve personnel and their families. This legislation is supported by the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS) and the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS).
"National Guard and Reserve servicemembers risk their lives to defend our nation, but too often, they and their families experience issues accessing the benefits earned through their service," said Rep. Rouda. "Accidental lapses in health care coverage for servicemembers and their families are unacceptable. I look forward to reading the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office's (GAO) report and finding common-sense solutions to right these wrongs."
Said Rep. Green, “All too often, our National Guard and Reserve personnel experience issues accessing their health care benefits. As someone who has served in the military, I understand the difficulty of dealing with the bureaucracy when there is a health care issue, and I know how important it is to ensure our servicemembers and their families get consistent, stable coverage. This legislation will create government accountability and close the gaps that lead to lapses of care for our National Guard and Reserve personnel.”
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“This is unacceptable,” stated EANGUS Executive Director Frank Yoakum. “When deploying to serve our country, members of the National Guard should not have to worry about their families’ losing health care, their children missing medications, their spouses missing maternity appointments, or fighting a bureaucracy from a battlefield half a world away. These systemic lapses in TRICARE coverage are a matter not only of national security, but are an insult to the brave men and women and their families who sacrifice so much in their service to us all.”
“NGAUS appreciates the efforts of Reps. Rouda, Green, Cisneros and Foxx in shining a light on these unnecessary obstacles to benefits that have been earned by deployed Guardsmen,” said retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, NGAUS president. “No soldier or airman serving overseas should have to worry about the health care coverage their nation has promised them and we look forward to a study that can help ensure future Guardsmen can deploy without such uncertainty.”
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H.R. 7081, the bipartisan Protecting Our Servicemembers’ Care Act of 2020 would require the GAO to study and issue a report on what led to recent lapses in TRICARE for National Guard and Reserve personnel and how future lapses may be avoided.