A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve health care for veterans who live in rural areas, and for other purposes.

Summary: Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay travel expenses for veterans receiving treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities at the rate provided to federal employees in connection with the performance of official duties.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish and operate at least one and up to five centers of excellence for rural health research, education, and clinical activities; (2) establish a grant program to provide innovative transportation options to veterans in remote rural areas; (3) carry out demonstration projects to examine alternatives for expanding care for veterans in rural areas; and (4) report annually to Congress on matters related to VA care for veterans residing in rural areas.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Veterans Health Care 
Improvement Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT FOR VETERANS RECEIVING TREATMENT AT 
              FACILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    Section 111 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``subsistence),'' and inserting 
                ``subsistence at a rate equivalent to the rate provided 
                to Federal employees under section 5702 of title 5),''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking ``traveled,'' and inserting ``(at a 
                rate equivalent to the rate provided to Federal 
                employees under section 5704 of title 5),'';
            (2) by striking subsection (g); and
            (3) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (g).

SEC. 3. CENTERS FOR RURAL HEALTH RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND CLINICAL 
              ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 7330A. Centers for rural health research, education, and 
              clinical activities
    ``(a) Establishment of Centers.--The Secretary, through the 
Director of the Office of Rural Health, shall establish and operate not 
less than one and not more than five centers of excellence for rural 
health research, education, and clinical activities, which shall--
            ``(1) conduct research on the provision of health services 
        in rural areas;
            ``(2) develop specific models to be used by the Department 
        in furnishing health services to veterans in rural areas;
            ``(3) provide education and training for health care 
        professionals of the Department on the furnishing of health 
        services to veterans in rural areas; and
            ``(4) develop and implement innovative clinical activities 
        and systems of care for the Department for the furnishing of 
        health services to veterans in rural areas.
    ``(b) Geographic Dispersion.--The Secretary shall ensure that the 
centers authorized under this section are located at health care 
facilities that are geographically dispersed throughout the United 
States.
    ``(c) Selection Criteria.--The Secretary may not designate a health 
care facility as a location for a center under this section unless--
            ``(1) the peer review panel established under subsection 
        (d) determines that the proposal submitted by such facility 
        meets the highest competitive standards of scientific and 
        clinical merit; and
            ``(2) the Secretary determines that the facility has, or 
        may reasonably be anticipated to develop, the following:
                    ``(A) An arrangement with an accredited medical 
                school to provide residents with education and training 
                in health services for veterans in rural areas.
                    ``(B) The ability to attract the participation of 
                scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity 
                in health care research efforts.
                    ``(C) A policymaking advisory committee, composed 
                of appropriate health care and research representatives 
                of the facility and of the affiliated school or 
                schools, to advise the directors of such facility and 
                such center on policy matters pertaining to the 
                activities of such center during the period of the 
                operation of such center.
                    ``(D) The capability to conduct effectively 
                evaluations of the activities of such center.
    ``(d) Panel To Evaluate Proposals.--(1) The Director of the Office 
of Rural Health shall establish a panel--
            ``(A) to evaluate the scientific and clinical merit of 
        proposals submitted to establish centers under this section; 
        and
            ``(B) to provide advice to the Director regarding the 
        implementation of this section.
    ``(2) The panel shall review each proposal received from the 
Secretary and shall submit its views on the relative scientific and 
clinical merit of each such proposal to the Secretary.
    ``(3) The panel established under paragraph (1) shall be comprised 
of experts in the fields of public health research, education, and 
clinical care.
    ``(4) Members of the panel shall serve as consultants to the 
Department for a period not to exceed two years.
    ``(5) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
    ``(e) Funding.--(1) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Medical Care Account and the Medical and Prosthetics Research Account 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs such sums as may be necessary for 
the support of the research and education activities of the centers 
operated under this section.
    ``(2) There shall be allocated to the centers operated under this 
section, from amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Medical Care 
Account and the Medical and Prosthetics Research Account by paragraph 
(1), such amounts as the Under Secretary of health considers 
appropriate for such centers. Such amounts shall be allocated through 
the Director of the Office of Rural Health.
    ``(3) Activities of clinical and scientific investigation at each 
center operated under this section--
            ``(A) shall be eligible to compete for the award of funding 
        from funds appropriated for the Medical and Prosthetics 
        Research Account; and
            ``(B) shall receive priority in the award of funding from 
        such account to the extent that funds are awarded to projects 
        for research in the care of rural veterans.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 73 of such title is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 7330 the following new item:

``7330A. Centers for rural health research, education, and clinical 
                            activities.''.

SEC. 4. TRANSPORTATION GRANTS FOR RURAL VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        establish a grant program to provide innovative transportation 
        options to veterans in remote rural areas.
            (2) Use of funds.--Grants awarded under this section may be 
        used by State veterans' service agencies and veterans service 
        organizations to--
                    (A) assist veterans in remote rural areas to travel 
                to Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and
                    (B) otherwise assist in providing medical care to 
                veterans in remote rural areas.
            (3) Maximum amount.--The amount of a grant under this 
        section may not exceed $50,000.
            (4) No matching requirement.--The recipient of a grant 
        under this section shall not be required to provide matching 
        funds as a condition for receiving such grant.
    (b) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for--
            (1) evaluating grant applications under this section; and
            (2) otherwise administering the program established by this 
        section.
    (c) Veterans Service Organization Definition.--In this section, the 
term ``veterans service organization'' means any organization 
recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the representation 
of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to 
carry out this section.

SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ON ALTERNATIVES FOR EXPANDING CARE FOR 
              VETERANS IN RURAL AREAS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, through the 
Director of the Office of Rural Health, shall carry out demonstration 
projects to examine alternatives for expanding care for veterans in 
rural areas, including the following:
            (1) Establishing a partnership between the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
        Services of the Department of Health and Human Services to 
        coordinate care for veterans in rural areas at critical access 
        hospitals (as designated or certified under section 1820 of the 
        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i-4)).
            (2) Establishing a partnership between the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human 
        Services to coordinate care for veterans in rural areas at 
        community health centers.
            (3) Expanding coordination between the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service to expand care 
        for Native American veterans.
    (b) Geographic Distribution.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall ensure that the demonstration projects authorized under 
subsection (a) are located at facilities that are geographically 
distributed throughout the United States.
    (c) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit a 
report on the results of the demonstration projects conducted under 
subsection (a) to--
            (1) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MATTERS RELATED TO CARE FOR VETERANS WHO 
              LIVE IN RURAL AREAS.

    (a) Annual Report.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
to Congress each year, together with documents submitted to Congress in 
support of the budget of the President for the fiscal year beginning in 
such year (as submitted pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United 
States Code), an assessment, current as of the fiscal year ending in 
the year before such report is submitted, of the following:
            (1) The implementation of the provisions of this Act, 
        including the amendments made by this Act.
            (2) The establishment and function of the Office of Rural 
        Health under section 7308 of title 38, United States Code.
    (b) Additional Requirements for Initial Report.--The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress, together with the first 
report submitted under subsection (a), an assessment of the following:
            (1) The fee-basis health-care program required by 
        subsection (b) of section 212 of the Veterans Benefits, Health 
        Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-
        461; 120 Stat. 3422).
            (2) The outreach program required by section 213 of such 
        Act.