I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3978 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within 

the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2015 

Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico (for herself, Mr. MCKINLEY, 

Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, and Mr. PEARCE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an 

Ombudsman within the Veterans Health Administration 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Fair Access 

5 to Veterans Healthcare Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 of 

8 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 7310. Office of the Ombudsman 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Veterans Health Administration an Office of the Ombuds4 man (in this section referred to as the ‘Office’). The Office 

5 shall be headed by an Ombudsman appointed by the Sec6 retary. The Ombudsman shall report directly to and be 

7 under the general supervision of the Secretary, but shall 

8 not report to, or be subject to supervision by, any other 

9 officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Neither the 

10 Secretary nor any other such officer may prevent or pro11 hibit the Ombudsman from carrying out the duties of the 

12 Ombudsman. 

13 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF OFFICE.—The Office shall carry out 

14 the following duties: 

15 ‘‘(1) Identify, investigate, and resolve com16 plaints that— 

17 ‘‘(A) are made by, or on behalf of, covered 

18 patients; and 

19 ‘‘(B) relate to action, inaction, or decisions 

20 made by employees of the Department that may 

21 adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or 

22 rights of covered patients. 

23 ‘‘(2) Assist covered patients in finding patient 

24 advocates, veterans service organizations, or other 

25 similar entities to represent and advocate for the 


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1 health, safety, welfare, and rights of the covered pa2 tient. 

3 ‘‘(3) Inform covered patients of the means of 

4 obtaining assistance described in paragraph (2). 

5 ‘‘(4) Ensure that covered patients have regular 

6 and timely access to the services provided by the Of7 fice, including with respect to receiving timely re8 sponses to complaints. 

9 ‘‘(5) Analyze, monitor, and provide comments 

10 and suggestions to the Secretary with respect to the 

11 development and implementation of actions made by 

12 the Secretary relating to the health, safety, welfare, 

13 and rights of covered patients. 

14 ‘‘(6) Administer the reporting system described 

15 in subsection (d). 

16 ‘‘(7) Provide training to local ombudsmen and 

17 volunteers described in subsection (c). 

18 ‘‘(8) Other activities that the Secretary con19 siders appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(c) LOCAL OMBUDSMEN.—(1) Using amounts oth21 erwise authorized to be appropriated for the medical facili22 ties of the Department, each medical facility shall have 

23 a local ombudsman responsible for carrying out the duties 

24 of the Office at such location. 

25 ‘‘(2) A local ombudsman shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) carry out the assistance described in para2 graph (2) of subsection (b) to ensure the protection 

3 of the health, safety, welfare, or rights of covered 

4 patients; 

5 ‘‘(B) ensure that covered patients have regular, 

6 timely access to the Office, including with respect to 

7 receiving timely responses to complaints described in 

8 paragraph (1) of such subsection; 

9 ‘‘(C) identify, investigate, and determine how to 

10 resolve such complaints; and 

11 ‘‘(D) train local volunteers from civic organiza12 tions to assist the local ombudsman by working di13 rectly with covered patients to develop individual ac14 tion plans relating to the health, safety, welfare, and 

15 rights of the covered patient. 

16 ‘‘(d) REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Ombudsman shall 

17 establish and administer a uniform reporting system to 

18 collect and analyze data relating to complaints described 

19 in subsection (b)(1) in order to identify to the Secretary 

20 and determine how to resolve significant problems in the 

21 medical facilities of the Department. 

22 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

23 each medical facility of the Department cooperates with 

24 the Office in carrying out this section. 


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1 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Ombudsman shall sub2 mit to the Secretary and Congress an annual report that 

3 contains the following with respect to the year covered by 

4 the report: 

5 ‘‘(1) A description of the activities carried out 

6 by the Office. 

7 ‘‘(2) An analysis of the data described in sub8 section (d). 

9 ‘‘(3) An evaluation of the problems experienced 

10 by, and the complaints made by or on behalf of, cov11 ered patients. 

12 ‘‘(4) Recommendations for— 

13 ‘‘(A) improving the quality of care and life 

14 of covered patients; and 

15 ‘‘(B) protecting the health, safety, welfare, 

16 and rights of covered patients. 

17 ‘‘(5) An analysis of the success of the Office, 

18 including— 

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the services provided 

20 to covered patients as described in subsection 

21 (b)(2); and 

22 ‘‘(B) an identification of barriers to the 

23 Office for better carrying out the duties of the 

24 Office. 


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1 ‘‘(6) Any comments and suggestions described 

2 in subsection (b)(5). 

3 ‘‘(7) Any other information the Ombudsman 

4 considers appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(g) COVERED PATIENT DESCRIBED.—In this sec6 tion, the term ‘covered patient’ means an individual who 

7 is receiving medical care or hospital services at a medical 

8 facility of the Department.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

11 after the item relating to section 7309 the following new 

12 item: 

‘‘7310. Office of the Ombudsman.’’. 

Æ 


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