108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2357

AN ACT

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide

for the appointment of chiropractors in the Veterans Health Administration of the Departmentof Veterans Affairs and to provide eligibility forDepartment of Veterans Affairs health care forcertain Filipino World War II veterans residingin the United States.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2357

AN ACT

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the

appointment of chiropractors in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs and

to provide eligibility for Department of Veterans Affairs

health care for certain Filipino World War II veterans

residing in the United States.
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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 Health Care

5 Improvement Act of 2003’’.

6 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF CHIROPRACTORS IN THE VET7 ERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.

8 (a) APPOINTMENTS.—Section 7401 of title 38,

9 United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘and chiropractic care’’ in the

11 matter preceding paragraph (1) after ‘‘medical

12 care’’; and

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘chiropractors,’’ in paragraph

14 (1) after ‘‘podiatrists,’’.

15 (b) QUALIFICATIONS OF APPOINTEES.—Section

16 7402(b) of such title is amended—

17 (1) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para18 graph (11); and

19 (2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol20 lowing new paragraph (10):

21 ‘‘(10) CHIROPRACTOR.—To be eligible to be ap22 pointed to a chiropractor position, a person must—

23 ‘‘(A) hold the degree of doctor of chiropractic,

24 or its equivalent, from a college of chiropractic ap25 proved by the Secretary; and
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1 ‘‘(B) be licensed to practice chiropractic in a

2 State.’’.

3 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS.—

4 Section 7403(a)(2) of such title is amended by adding at

5 the end the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(H) Chiropractors.’’.

7 (d) GRADES AND PAY SCALES.—Section 7404(b)(1)

8 of such title is amended by striking the third center head9 ing in the table and inserting the following:

‘‘CLINICAL PODIATRIST, CHIROPRACTOR, AND OPTOMETRIST

SCHEDULE’’.

10 (e) TEMPORARY AND PART-TIME APPOINTMENTS.—

11 Section 7405(a) of such title is amended—

12 (1) by adding at the end of paragraph (1) the

13 following new subparagraph:

14 ‘‘(E) Chiropractors.’’; and

15 (2) by adding at the end of paragraph (2) the

16 following new subparagraph:

17 ‘‘(D) Chiropractors.’’.

18 (f) RESIDENCIES AND INTERNSHIPS.—Section

19 7406(c) of such title is amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (1)—

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘and chiropractic’’ after

22 ‘‘medical’’ the first place it appears; and

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘or chiropractic’’ after

24 ‘‘medical’’ the second place it appears;
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1 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘or chiro2 practic’’ after ‘‘medical’’ the first place it appears;

3 and

4 (3) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting ‘‘or chiro5 practic’’ after ‘‘medical’’.

6 (g) MALPRACTICE AND NEGLIGENCE PROTECTION.—

7 Section 7316(a) of such title is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or chiro9 practic’’ after ‘‘medical’’ each place it appears; and

10 (2) in paragraph (2)—

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘or chiropractic’’ after

12 ‘‘medical’’ the first place it appears; and

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘chiropractor,’’ after ‘‘po14 diatrist,’’.

15 (h) TREATMENT AS SCARCE MEDICAL SPECIALISTS

16 FOR CONTRACTING PURPOSES.—Section 7409(a) of such

17 title is amended by inserting ‘‘chiropractors,’’ in the sec18 ond sentence after ‘‘optometrists,’’.

19 (i) REIMBURSEMENT OF CONTINUING PROFES20 SIONAL EDUCATION EXPENSES.—Section 7411 of such

21 title is amended by striking ‘‘or dentist’’ and inserting ‘‘,

22 dentist, or chiropractic’’.

23 (j) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING EXEMPTION.—Section

24 7421(b) of such title is amended by adding at the end

25 the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(8) Chiropractors.’’.

2 (k) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

3 this section shall take effect at the end of the 180–day

4 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

5 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF6 FAIRS HEALTH CARE OF CERTAIN FILIPINO

7 WORLD WAR II VETERANS RESIDING IN THE

8 UNITED STATES.

9 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—The text of section 1734 of title

10 38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall furnish hospital and nursing

12 home care and medical services to any individual described

13 in subsection (b) in the same manner, and subject to the

14 same terms and conditions, as apply to the furnishing of

15 such care and services to individuals who are veterans as

16 defined in section 101(2) of this title. Any disability of

17 an individual described in subsection (b) that is a service18 connected disability for purposes of this subchapter (as

19 provided for under section 1735(2) of this title) shall be

20 considered to be a service-connected disability for purposes

21 of furnishing care and services under the preceding sen22 tence.

23 ‘‘(b) Subsection (a) applies to any individual who is

24 a Commonwealth Army veteran or new Philippine Scout

25 and who—
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1 ‘‘(1) is residing in the United States; and

2 ‘‘(2) is a citizen of the United States or an

3 alien lawfully admitted to the United States for per4 manent residence.’’.

5 (b) LIMITATION.—(1) The amendment made by sub6 section (a) shall take effect on the date on which the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs submits to the Committees on

8 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representa9 tives and publishes in the Federal Register a certification

10 described in paragraph (2).

11 (2) A certification referred to in paragraph (1) is a

12 certification that sufficient resources are available for the

13 fiscal year during which the certification is submitted to

14 carry out section 1734 of title 38, United States Code,

15 as amended by such amendment, during that fiscal year

16 at each significantly affected health care facility of the De17 partment of Veterans Affairs.

18 (3) For purposes of paragraph (2), the term ‘‘signifi19 cantly affected health care facility’’ means a health care

20 facility at which, as determined by the Secretary, it is rea21 sonably foreseeable that the implementation of the provi22 sions of section 1734 of title 38, United States Code, as

23 amended by subsection (a), will result in a significant in24 crease in the use of health care resources due to the num25 ber of veterans described in subsection (b) of that section
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1 who are considered to be likely to seek hospital or nursing

2 home care or medical services, as authorized by subsection

3 (a) of that section, at that facility.

Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.