Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act
| Date | Chamber | What was voted on | Result | Yes–No | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 1999 | House · vote #427 | On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended | Passed | 369–46 | See who voted → |
Makes eligible for such care any veteran in need of such care: (1) for a service-connected disability; or (2) who has a service-connected disability rated at 50 percent or more. Directs the Secretary to give the highest priority to such veterans in making placements for nursing home care in Department facilities. Prohibits the Secretary from furnishing such services for a nonservice-connected disability not rated at least 50 percent unless such veteran agrees to make a copayment for services of more than 21 days in any year. Requires the Secretary to establish a methodology for establishing the copayment amount.
Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Veterans Affairs Extended Care Fund for deposits and disbursements to cover such care.
Directs the Secretary to develop and begin to implement a plan to carry out the recommendations of the Federal Advisory Committee on the Future of Long-Term Care to increase the options, services, and budget level of community-based care for eligible veterans.
Authorizes the Secretary to furnish adult day health care to veterans enrolled in the Department's annual patient enrollment system who would otherwise require nursing home care.
Authorizes the Secretary to furnish respite care services: (1) outside of a hospital, nursing home, or Department facility; and (2) through contract arrangements.
(Sec. 102) Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse for the reasonable value of emergency treatment furnished in a non-Department facility those veterans who are active Department health-care participants (enrolled in the annual patient enrollment system and recipients of Department hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care under such system within the last 12-month period) and who are personally liable for such treatment. Provides reimbursement limitations. Provides an independent right of recovery for the United States when a third party subsequently makes a payment for the same treatment. Requires the veteran to notify the Secretary of any such payment. Authorizes the Secretary to waive recovery of such payment in the best interests of the United States.
Requires the Secretary to include in annual budget justification materials a report on implementation of the extended care services.
(Sec. 103) Requires the Secretary to furnish hospital and medical services, and authorizes the Secretary to furnish nursing home care, to a veteran who: (1) is wounded in action by an enemy of the United States or by any weapon fire while directly engaged in armed conflict; or (2) is retired from active-duty service, is eligible for care under the TRICARE Program (a Department of Defense managed health care program), and is not otherwise eligible for such care. Requires, in the latter case, an agreement between the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense for reimbursement to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for services provided. Provides agreement conditions and limitations. Requires such agreement to be entered into within nine months after enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Defense to include in each future TRICARE contract provisions to implement such agreement.
(Sec. 105) Authorizes the payment of veterans' disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation for persons disabled by participation in a compensated work therapy program.
(Sec. 106) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a three-year pilot program to provide primary health care services for the spouse or child of a veteran who is enrolled in the annual patient enrollment system and is able to pay for such care or services either directly or through reimbursement or indemnification from a third-party insurer. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such services either through a Department facility or by contract. Prohibits such services from being provided in a Department facility if it would deny or delay access to care for any enrolled veteran at that facility. Entitles the United States to recover from a third-party insurer the reasonable charges for such care or services. Requires the Secretary to designate (under specified criteria) no more than four veterans integrated service networks in which such pilot program shall be carried out. Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) monitor the program; and (2) report to the Secretary on findings and recommendations.
(Sec. 107) Directs the Secretary, in providing hospital care and medical services through network-based planning, to establish an enhanced service program at Department medical centers that are so designated by the Secretary (designated centers). Requires such designated centers to improve access, and quality of services provided, to veterans served by those medical centers. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan for each center to improve access to, and quality of, care and services provided. Outlines designation criteria and plan requirements. Prohibits any such plan from being implemented until at least 45 days after its submission to the appropriate congressional committees. Provides for plan implementation and funds allocation. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on implementation of the enhanced service program.
(Sec. 108) Revises a program providing counseling and treatment for veterans who have experienced sexual trauma to: (1) extend such program through calendar year 2002; (2) require (currently authorizes) the Secretary to provide such care and services to those in need; and (3) ensure that information about such care and services is revised and updated and made available through appropriate means (requiring a report from the Secretary to the veterans' committees on implementation of such outreach efforts).
Requires the Secretary: (1) to study, and report to the veterans' committees on, the possibility of extending eligibility for such care and services to former reserve personnel; and (2) report to the veterans' committees on implementation of the sexual trauma program. Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense to jointly report to the appropriate congressional committees describing the efforts of their respective departments to ensure that military personnel, upon separation, are provided appropriate and current information about such counseling and treatment programs, including eligibility requirements and application procedures.
Title II: Program Administration - Authorizes the Secretary, with respect to required copayments by veterans for medication furnished by the Department on an outpatient basis for the treatment of a nonservice-connected disability or condition, to: (1) increase the amount of such copayment (currently $2 for each 30-day supply of medication); (2) establish a maximum annual copayment for veterans who have multiple outpatient prescriptions; and (3) require certain veterans to pay a reasonable copayment for sensori-neural aids, electronic equipment, and any other costly item furnished for a nonservice-connected disability (other than a wheelchair or artificial limb).
(Sec. 202) Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Improvement Fund for the deposit and disbursement of funds used for improving various health services to veterans, including services under this Act.
(Sec. 203) Establishes in the Treasury the Veterans Tobacco Trust Fund. Provides that if a lawsuit is brought by the United States against tobacco manufacturers for costs incurred due to tobacco-related illnesses, there shall be credited to the Fund, without further appropriation, the amount that bears the same ratio to the amount recovered as the amount of the Department's costs for health care attributable to tobacco-related illnesses bears to the total amount sought in the suit.
Makes such amounts available to the Secretary for: (1) furnishing veterans' medical care and services; and (2) conducting medical, rehabilitation, and health systems research, with particular emphasis on research relating to the prevention and treatment of, and rehabilitation from, tobacco addiction and diseases associated with tobacco use.
(Sec. 204) Revises provisions establishing nonprofit research corporations at Department medical centers to: (1) authorize such corporations to provide education and training to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health-care personnel; (2) include additional personnel on its board of directors; and (3) prohibit such corporation from expending funds for an education activity unless it is approved under procedures prescribed by the Department's Under Secretary for Health.
(Sec. 205) Extends through: (1) calendar year 2002 the veterans' readjustment counseling program; (2) 2003 required reports concerning the provision of care to severely chronically mentally ill veterans; and (3) March 1, 2000, and February 1, 2001, certain reports concerning the provision of counseling and treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Amends the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Service Programs Act of 1992 to: (1) extend through FY 2002 the authority to make grants for housing assistance for homeless veterans; and (2) remove a limitation on the number of such programs which may incorporate the procurement of vans as part of such program.
(Sec. 206) Directs the Secretary to prescribe for each State the number of nursing home and domiciliary beds for which assistance under veterans' domiciliary, nursing home, and hospital care may be authorized. Requires such regulations to be based on the projected demand for such care ten years after enactment of this Act by veterans who are 65 years old or older. Directs the Secretary, with respect to State applications for the construction or acquisition of new nursing facilities or the replacement or increase of the number of beds at a current facility, to characterize the need of such facility as great, significant, or limited and to grant applications accordingly. Allows financial assistance only for renovation projects for which total construction costs are in excess of $400,000. Outlines State application requirements for such projects or assistance.
(Sec. 207) Adds as a required condition to the authority of the Secretary to enter into an enhanced-use lease (the leasing of Department property not currently used by the Department) the Secretary's determination that the business plan proposed by the Under Secretary for Health for applying lease payments to the provision of medical care and services demonstrably improves services to eligible veterans in the geographic service-delivery area within which the leased property is located. Increases to 75 years the authorized term for such leases. Requires funds received under such a lease and remaining after expense deductions to be deposited in the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Improvement Fund and used for authorized purposes. Requires at least 75 percent of such funds to be made available to the designated VHA health care region within which the leased property is located.
(Sec. 208) Makes ineligible for employment as a VHA health-care professional an individual who was licensed, registered, or certified to practice in more than one State when any one of those States has since terminated such license, registration, or certification.
Title III: Miscellaneous - Prohibits the Secretary from closing in any fiscal year more than 50 percent of the beds within a Department medical center unless the Secretary first submits to the veterans' committees a justification for such closure. Prohibits any such closure until 21 days after submission of the report. Requires the Secretary to report annually to such committees on bed closures during the preceding fiscal year.
(Sec. 302) Revises provisions concerning the Veterans Canteen Service to remove a provision limiting such services to the sales of merchandise and services for consumption and use on the premises.
(Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the feasibility of establishing a pilot program to assist veterans in receiving assisted living services.
(Sec. 304) Requires the Department's Under Secretary for Health to establish a VHA policy regarding the role of chiropractic treatment in the care of veterans.
(Sec. 305) Designates the hospital bed replacement building under construction at the Ioannis A. Lougaris Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, as the Jack Streeter Building.
Title IV: Construction and Facilities Matters - Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) carry out major medical facility projects in Orlando, Florida, and Kansas City, Missouri; and (2) enter into leases for medical facilities at Lubbock, Texas, and San Diego, California.
(Sec. 403) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for the Construction, Major Projects, account and the Medical Care account.
Became Public Law No: 106-117.