Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS)/TRICARE: Inclusion of TRICARE Retail Pharmacy Program in Federal Procurement of Pharmaceuticals

Section 703 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA-08) states with respect to any prescription filled on or after the date of enactment of the NDAA, the TRICARE Retail Pharmacy Program shall be treated as an element of the DoD for purposes of procurement of drugs by Federal agencies under section 8126 of title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), to the extent necessary to ensure pharmaceuticals paid for by the DoD that are provided by network retail pharmacies under the program to eligible covered beneficiaries are subject to the pricing standards in such section 8126. NDAA-08 was enacted on January 28, 2008. The statute requires implementing regulations. This final rule is to implement section 703 of the NDAA- 08.