I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3980 

To eliminate the sunset date for the Veterans Choice Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to expand eligibility for such program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2015 

Mr. NORCROSS (for himself and Mr. MACARTHUR) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To eliminate the sunset date for the Veterans Choice Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to expand 

eligibility for such program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Freedom of 

5 Healthcare Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) All veterans who have signed up to put their 

9 life on the line for the lives and liberty of the people 


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1 of the United States deserve the opportunity to seek 

2 health care at a facility of their choice, regardless of 

3 arbitrary distance and wait-time thresholds. 

4 (2) Logistical impediments to veterans receiving 

5 health care at medical facilities of the Veterans 

6 Health Administration of the Department of Vet7 erans Affairs, including with respect to travel, wait 

8 times, and enrollment difficulty, have been found to 

9 exist across all demographics of veterans and are 

10 widely cited among the most common barriers to re11 ceiving the health care the veterans earned. 

12 (3) As a result of widespread reporting on such 

13 impediments, including regarding the death of 40 

14 veterans who died while waiting for health care at 

15 the Phoenix Veterans’ Hospital, in 2014 Congress 

16 investigated the matter and confirmed that such im17 pediments were pervasive and systemic. 

18 (4) As of September 30, 2014, there were ap19 proximately 867,000 applications by veterans to en20 roll in the health care system of the Department, 

21 and the Inspector General of the Department could 

22 not determine how long more than half of the appli23 cations had been pending. 

24 (5) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has been 

25 unable to meet the modest goal of employing one 


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1 psychiatrist per 1,000 individual mental health pa2 tients of the Department. 

3 (6) The Inspector General found that approxi4 mately 70 percent of the hospitals of the Depart5 ment in 2014 did not have enough psychiatrists to 

6 meet demand. 

7 (7) The Inspector General found that a signifi8 cant proportion of the psychiatrists of the Depart9 ment saw in excess of 800 to 900 veterans per year 

10 and some veterans were only seen once per year be11 cause of the demand. 

12 (8) A study by the National Institutes of 

13 Health identified the lack of available female-specific 

14 medical services and wait times as key barriers to fe15 male veterans seeking health care at medical facili16 ties of the Department. 

17 (9) The Veterans Access, Choice, and Account18 ability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146) made 

19 great strides toward providing veterans with more 

20 flexibility to seek health care in the setting of choice 

21 by the veteran, however, the metrics established by 

22 the Act to determine which veterans were eligible for 

23 such flexibility are insufficient. 

24 (10) Other impediments to veterans receiving 

25 health care at medical facilities of the Department 


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1 can include long commutes on group transport, or 

2 having to cross bridges or State lines to receive care. 

3 (11) Many veterans like the health care pro4 vided by the Department and the hospitals of the 

5 Department hold particular expertise in treating ail6 ments of veterans. 

7 (12) Veterans should have the option to stay 

8 with the Department if the veteran likes the health 

9 care system of the Department. 

10 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF CHOICE PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT 

11 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

12 (a) ELIMINATION OF SUNSET.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of the Veterans 

14 Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 

15 (Public Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note) is 

16 amended— 

17 (A) by striking subsection (p); and 

18 (B) by redesignating subsections (q), (r), 

19 (s), and (t) as subsections (p), (q), (r), and (s), 

20 respectively. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section 

22 is amended— 

23 (A) in subsection (i)(2), by striking ‘‘dur24 ing the period in which the Secretary is authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:16 Nov 10, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3980.IH H3980

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1 ized to carry out this section pursuant to sub2 section (p)’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (p)(2), as redesignated 

4 by paragraph (1)(B), by striking subparagraph 

5 (F). 

6 (b) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of such sec8 tion is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—A veteran is an eligible 

10 veteran for purposes of this section if the veteran is en11 rolled in the patient enrollment system of the Department 

12 of Veterans Affairs established and operated under section 

13 1705 of title 38, United States Code, including any such 

14 veteran who has not received hospital care or medical serv15 ices from the Department and has contacted the Depart16 ment seeking an initial appointment from the Department 

17 for the receipt of such care or services.’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section 

19 is amended— 

20 (A) in subsection (c)(1)— 

21 (i) in the matter preceding subpara22 graph (A), by striking ‘‘In the case of an 

23 eligible veteran described in subsection 

24 (b)(2)(A), the Secretary shall, at the elec25 tion of the eligible veteran’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘The Secretary shall, at the election of an 

2 eligible veteran’’; and 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

4 ‘‘described in such subsection’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘of the Veterans Health Administra6 tion’’; 

7 (B) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘sub8 section (b)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

9 (C) in subsection (g), by striking para10 graph (3); and 

11 (D) in subsection (p)(2)(A), as redesig12 nated by subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘, 

13 disaggregated by—’’ and all that follows 

14 through ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(D)’’. 

15 (c) PROVISION OF CARE BY THE DEPARTMENT.—In 

16 carrying out chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, 

17 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that vet18 erans enrolled in the health care system established under 

19 section 1705(a) of such title, particularly such veterans 

20 with service-connected disabilities rated 50 percent or 

21 greater described in paragraph (1) of such section, are 

22 able to receive— 

23 (1) health care at medical facilities of the De24 partment within the wait-time goals described in sec25 tion 101(c)(1) of the Veterans Access, Choice, and 


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1 Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 

2 38 U.S.C. 1701 note); and 

3 (2) the highest degree of quality care possible, 

4 with an emphasis on maintaining the highest degree 

5 of quality in treating ailments that are unique to or 

6 prevalent among the veteran population, including 

7 with respect to mental health services. 

8 (d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

10 Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the following: 

11 (1) The efficacy of the Veterans Choice Pro12 gram established by section 101 of the Veterans Ac13 cess, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public 

14 Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note) with respect to 

15 veterans being able to access the health care re16 quired by the veteran, including any recommenda17 tions of the Secretary to improve such access. 

18 (2) The efficacy of the Secretary with respect to 

19 ensuring that veterans enrolled in the health care 

20 system established under section 1705(a) of title 38, 

21 United States Code, who need to or elect to receive 

22 health care at medical facilities of the Department 

23 are able to receive such care. 

24 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

25 this section shall apply with respect to hospital care and 


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1 medical services furnished under such section on and after 

2 the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act. 

Æ 


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