IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2357

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22 (legislative day, JULY 21), 2003

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

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: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.