Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., is making a second attempt at providing no-cost health care coverage for guardsmen and reservists.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., is making a second attempt at providing no-cost health care coverage for guardsmen and reservists. Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images

Baldwin brings back zero-cost health care benefits bill for National Guard

The Wisconsin senator is resurrecting legislation aimed at extending military health care coverage to an estimated 130,000 troops in the National Guard and military reserves. 

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., is taking another crack at a bill designed to expand no-cost health care coverage for guardsmen and reservists.

Last month, Baldwin re-introduced the Healthcare for Our Troops Act (S. 2575), which would eliminate some health care costs for guardsmen and reservists currently enrolled in TRICARE Reserve Select plans, the Defense Department’s premium-based health plan for Selected Reserve components. 

The legislation would ensure that TRICARE Reserve Select enrollees would not be charged in-network premiums, while their immediate family members’ premiums would apply instead of any required enrollment fees.

 “Our service members in the National Guard and Reserve serve and sacrifice for their nation every day – and just like the brave men and women in every other service branch, they deserve and have earned high quality, affordable health care,” said Baldwin in an Aug. 21 statement. “My bill doesn’t just deliver earned benefits to our troops, it’s also an investment in military readiness to ensure service members get the care they need to stay healthy.”

Providing guardsmen and reservists with zero-cost TRICARE coverage has remained an elusive goal for Congress for several years. The National Guard Association of the United States, which lobbies on behalf of guardsmen, estimates 130,000 of its personnel don’t have health insurance.

Baldwin first introduced the legislation in 2022 as a companion bill to then-Rep Andy Kim’s, D-N.J., own proposal. Kim brought the legislation back a year later and both lawmakers introduced bills to provide no-premium dental coverage for Selected Reserve members in 2023. 

Last year, Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., tried to address the issue with a bill that would make guardsmen and reservists eligible for Veterans Benefits Administration health coverage. None of those proposals made it out of committee. 

NGAUS, the Wisconsin National Guard Association, the Wisconsin National Guard Enlisted Association and Reserve Organization of America have offered support for the new bill.

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