Proposed Rule; Extension of Comment Period

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 61 / Friday, March 28, 2008 / Proposed Rules
cross-reference to temporary regulations
and notice of public hearing instructed
those interested in testifying at the
public hearing to submit a request to
speak and an outline of the topics to be
addressed. As of Tuesday, March 25,
2008, no one has requested to speak.
Therefore, the public hearing scheduled
for April 22, 2008, is cancelled.

cross-reference to temporary regulations
and notice of public hearing instructed
those interested in testifying at the
public hearing to submit an outline of
the topics to be addressed. As of Friday,
March 21, 2008, no one has requested to
speak. Therefore, the public hearing
scheduled for April 10, 2008, is
cancelled.

LaNita Van Dyke,
Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch,
Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief
Counsel (Procedure and Administration).
[FR Doc. E8–6306 Filed 3–27–08; 8:45 am]

LaNita Van Dyke,
Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch,
Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief
Counsel (Procedure and Administration).
[FR Doc. E8–6307 Filed 3–27–08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Internal Revenue Service

Office of Labor-Management
Standards

26 CFR Part 1

RIN 1215–AB64

RIN 1545–BH13

Labor Organization Annual Financial
Reports

Treatment of Overall Foreign and
Domestic Losses; Hearing
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Cancellation of notice of public
hearing on proposed rulemaking by
cross-reference to temporary
regulations.
AGENCY:

This document cancels a
public hearing on proposed rulemaking
by cross-reference to temporary
regulations providing guidance relating
to the recapture of overall foreign and
domestic losses.
DATES: The public hearing, originally
scheduled for April 10, 2008, at 10 a.m.,
is cancelled.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Richard A. Hurst of the Publications and
Regulations Branch, Legal Processing
Division, Associate Chief Counsel
(Procedure and Administration), at
[email protected].
SUMMARY:

A notice
of public hearing that appeared in the
Federal Register on Friday, December
21, 2007 (72 FR 72646), announced that
a public hearing was scheduled for
April 10, 2008, at 10 a.m., in the
auditorium, Internal Revenue Building,
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC. The subject of the
public hearing is under section 904 of
the Internal Revenue Code.
The public comment period for these
regulations expired on March 20, 2008.
Outlines of topics to be discussed at the
hearing were due on March 20, 2008.
The notice of proposed rulemaking by

pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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Office of Labor-Management
Standards, Employment Standards
Administration, United States
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of
comment period.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: This document extends the
period for comments on the proposed
rule published on March 4, 2008 (73 FR
11754). The proposed rule would
establish the financial report (Form T–
1) required to be filed by labor
organizations under the LaborManagement Reporting and Disclosure
Act of 1959, as amended, on trusts in
which they are interested. The comment
period, which was to expire on April 18,
2008, is extended to May 5, 2008.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule
published on March 4, 2008 (73 FR
11754) must be received on or before
May 5, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by RIN 1215–AB64, by any of
the following methods:
Internet—Federal eRulemaking Portal.
Electronic comments may be submitted
through http://www.regulations.gov. To
locate the proposed rule, use key words
such as ‘‘Labor-Management Standards’’
or ‘‘Labor Organization Annual
Financial Reports’’ to search documents
accepting comments. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Please be advised that comments
received will be posted without change
to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided.

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Mail: Mailed comments should be
sent to: Kay H. Oshel, Director of the
Office of Policy, Reports and Disclosure,
Office of Labor-Management Standards,
U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N–
5609, Washington, DC 20210.
Because of security precautions, the
Department continues to experience
delays in U.S. mail delivery. You should
take this into consideration when
preparing to meet the deadline for
submitting comments.
OLMS recommends that you confirm
receipt of your mailed comments by
contacting (202) 693–0123 (this is not a
toll-free number). Individuals with
hearing impairments may call (800)
877–8339 (TTY/TDD).
Only those comments submitted
through www.regulations.gov, handdelivered, or mailed will be accepted.

29 CFR Part 403

[REG–141399–07]

16611

Comments will be available for public
inspection during normal business
hours at the above address.
Kay
H. Oshel, Director of the Office of
Policy, Reports and Disclosure, at: Kay
H. Oshel, U.S. Department of Labor,
Office of Labor-Management Standards,
200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room
N–5609, Washington, DC 20210, (202)
693–1233 (this is not a toll-free
number), (800) 877–8339 (TTY/TDD).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

In the
Federal Register of March 4, 2008 (73
FR 11754), the Department published a
notice of proposed rulemaking that
would establish the Form T–1 to be
used by labor organizations to file
annual financial reports on trusts in
which they are interested.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Interested persons were invited to
submit comments on or before April 18,
2008, 45 days after the publication of
the notice. Based on requests that the
Department extend the period for
submitting comments, the Department
has decided to extend the comment
period until May 5, 2008.
The proposed rule, including the
proposed Form T–1 and its instructions,
is available on the Web site maintained
by OLMS at: http://www.olms.dol.gov.
(Anyone who is unable to access this
information on the Internet can obtain
the information by contacting the
Employment Standards Administration
at 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room
N–5609, Washington, DC 20210, at:
[email protected] or at (202) 693–
0123 (this is not a toll-free number).
Individuals with hearing impairments
may call 1–800–877–8339 (TTY/TDD).

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16612

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 61 / Friday, March 28, 2008 / Proposed Rules

Signed at Washington, DC, this 24th day of
March, 2008.
Victoria A. Lipnic,
Assistant Secretary for Employment
Standards.
Don Todd,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for LaborManagement Programs.
[FR Doc. E8–6301 Filed 3–27–08; 8:45 am]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

BILLING CODE 4510–86–P

Section 707 of the John Warner
National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2007 (Pub. L. 109–364)
added Section 1097c to Title 10, United
States Code. Section 1097c prohibits
employers from offering financial or
other incentives to certain TRICAREeligible employees (essentially retirees
and their family members) to not enroll
in an employer-offered GHP in the same
manner as employers are currently
prohibited from offering incentives to
Medicare-eligible employees under
section 1862(b)(3)(C) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(b)(3)(C)).
Many employers, including state and
local governments, have begun to offer
their employees who are TRICAREeligible a TRICARE supplemental
insurance as an incentive not to enroll
in the employer’s primary GHP. These
actions shift thousands of dollars of
annual health costs per employee to the
Defense Department, draining resources
from higher national security priorities.
TRICARE, as is Medicare, is a secondary
payer to employer-provided health
insurance. In all instances where a
TRICARE beneficiary is employed by a
public or private entity and elects to
participate in a GHP, reimbursements
for TRICARE claims will be paid as a
secondary payer to the TRICARE
beneficiary’s employer-sponsored GHP.
TRICARE is not responsible for paying
first as it relates to reimbursements for
a TRICARE beneficiary’s health care and
the coordination of benefits with
employer-sponsored GHPs.
An identified employer-sponsored
health insurance plan will be the
primary payer and TRICARE will be the
secondary payer. TRICARE will
generally pay no more than the amount
it would have paid if there were no
employer GHP. As applicable to both
the Medicare and TRICARE secondary
payer programs, the term ‘‘group health
plan’’ means a plan (including a selfinsured plan) of, or contributed to by, an
employer (including a self-employed
person) or employee organization to
provide health care (directly or
otherwise) to the employees, former
employees, the employer, others
associated or formerly associated with
the employer in a business relationship,
or their families. It should be noted that
by including any plan of an employer to

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
32 CFR Part 199
[DoD–2007–HA–0078; RIN 0720–AB17]

TRICARE; Relationship Between the
TRICARE Program and EmployerSponsored Group Health Plans
Office of the Secretary,
Department of Defense.
ACTION: Proposed Rule.

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AGENCY:

SUMMARY: This proposed rule
implements Section 1097c of Title 10,
United States Code. This law prohibits
employers from offering incentives to
TRICARE-eligible employees to not
enroll, or to terminate enrollment, in an
employer-offered Group Health Plan
(GHP) that is or would be primary to
TRICARE. Cafeteria plans that comport
with section 125 of the Internal Revenue
Code will be permissible so long as the
plan treats all employees the same and
does not illegally take TRICARE
eligibility into account.
DATES: Written comments received at
the address indicated below by May 27,
2008 will be accepted.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by docket number and/or RIN
number and title, by any of the
following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Federal Docket Management
System Office, 1160 Defense Pentagon,
Washington, DC 20301–1160.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
docket number or Regulatory
Information Number (RIN) for this
Federal Register document. The general
policy for comments and other
submissions from members of the public
is to make these submissions available
for public viewing on the Internet at
http://regulations.gov as they are
received without change, including any
personal identifiers or contact
information.

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Anne Giese, TRICARE Policy and
Operations, TRICARE Management
Activity, 5111 Leesburg Pike, Suite 810,
Falls Church, VA, 22041, telephone
(703) 681–0039.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background

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provide health care to the employees,
this definition is very broad. It should
also be noted that Section 1097c also
reaches to any other plan that would be
primary to TRICARE.
Prohibition on incentives not to enroll
in employer-sponsored GHPs is to
prevent employers from shifting their
responsibility for their employees onto
the Federal taxpayers. Certain common
employer benefits programs do not
constitute improper incentives under
the law. For example, supplemental
insurance offered under an employer’s
cafeteria plan which comports with
section 125 of the Internal Revenue
Code would not be considered improper
incentive, as long as it is not a
TRICARE-exclusive plan.
A cafeteria plan is defined by the
Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C.
125(d), as a written plan under which
all participants are employees and the
participants may choose among two or
more benefits consisting of cash and
qualified benefits. Employers who
adhere to the requirements of section
125 and offer all employees without
regard to TRICARE eligibility a choice
between health insurance and cash
payment equivalents are not considered
in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1395y(b)(3)(C).
Therefore, if a TRICARE beneficiary
elects the cash payment option as a
benefit offered under the employer’s
cafeteria plan, one which meets section
125 requirements, then the employer
would not be in violation of these
provisions.
10 U.S.C. 1097c prohibits TRICARE
supplemental insurance plans as an
option for health coverage under an
employer-sponsored GHP to TRICAREeligible beneficiaries. Such plans cannot
be included in cafeteria plans because
they are not open to all employees, and
constitute an improper incentive
targeted only at TRICARE beneficiaries
for not enrolling in the employer’s main
health plan option or options. Section
1097c does not impact TRICARE
supplemental insurance plans that are
not offered by an employer; but are sold
by an insurer and/or beneficiary
association working in conjunction with
an insurer. Such non-employersponsored TRICARE supplemental
insurance will continue to be expressly
excluded as double coverage under 32
CFR 199.2(b) and 199.8(b)(4)(ii), so that
TRICARE is the primary payer and the
TRICARE Supplemental plan is the
secondary payer. These plans have been
sold by beneficiary associations or
insurers.
Cafeteria plans. Cafeteria plans that
comport with section 125 of the Internal
Revenue Code are permissible.
Additional requirements of any plan

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