II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 663 

To establish the position of Choice Program Ombudsman within the Office 

of Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs to manage 

complaints regarding the provision of hospital care and medical services 

under section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability 

Act of 2014. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2017 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the position of Choice Program Ombudsman 

within the Office of Inspector General of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs to manage complaints regarding the 

provision of hospital care and medical services under 

section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. 

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 Choice Pro5 gram Resolution Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF POSITION OF CHOICE PRO2 GRAM OMBUDSMAN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Veterans Access, Choice, and 

4 Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 38 

5 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by inserting after section 

6 101 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 101A. CHOICE PROGRAM OMBUDSMAN. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the 

9 Department of Veterans Affairs shall select, from among 

10 employees of the Office of Inspector General of the De11 partment of Veterans Affairs, a Choice Program Ombuds12 man to manage complaints regarding the provision of hos13 pital care and medical services under section 101. 

14 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Choice Program Ombudsman 

15 shall do the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) Serve as a central collection point to re17 ceive complaints from veterans, individuals acting on 

18 behalf of veterans (including family members and 

19 caregivers), employees of the Department of Vet20 erans Affairs, and non-Department health care pro21 viders with respect to the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) Problems with scheduling veterans to 

23 obtain hospital care or medical services under 

24 section 101. 

25 ‘‘(B) Problems with authorizing such care 

26 or services under such section. 


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1 ‘‘(C) With respect to non-Department 

2 health care providers, problems with enrolling 

3 with the Department to provide such care or 

4 services under such section. 

5 ‘‘(D) Problems with copayments and reim6 bursements under such section. 

7 ‘‘(E) Problems with coordinating such care 

8 or services between the Department and non9 Department health care providers. 

10 ‘‘(2) Establish a methodology to resolve com11 plaints described in paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(3) Submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Af13 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ 

14 Affairs of the House of Representatives a quarterly 

15 report on activities conducted under this section, in16 cluding the following information: 

17 ‘‘(A) The total number of complaints re18 ceived under this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) The total number of such complaints 

20 that have been resolved and the total number of 

21 such complaints that are pending. 

22 ‘‘(C) With respect to every other report 

23 submitted under this paragraph, beginning with 

24 the first such report, the findings or rec25 ommendations of the Choice Program OmbudsVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 20, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S663.IS S663

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1 man for resolving systemic problems with the 

2 provision of hospital care and medical services 

3 under section 101, including recommendations 

4 to improve the implementation of such section 

5 in rural and highly rural areas and for veterans 

6 who are members of Indian tribes. 

7 ‘‘(c) COMPLAINT SUBMISSION PROCESS.—The Sec8 retary of Veterans Affairs shall publish on a publicly avail9 able Internet website of the Department, and a publicly 

10 available Internet website of the Office of Inspector Gen11 eral of the Department, information regarding the process 

12 for submitting a complaint to the Choice Program Om13 budsman under this section. 

14 ‘‘(d) SUNSET.—This section shall terminate on the 

15 earlier of— 

16 ‘‘(1) the termination date specified in section 

17 101(p); or 

18 ‘‘(2) the date that is 10 years after the date of 

19 the enactment of the Veterans Choice Program Res20 olution Act. 

21 ‘‘(e) INDIAN TRIBE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

22 term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning given that term in 

23 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 

24 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 at the beginning of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Ac3 countability Act of 2014 is amended by inserting after the 

4 item relating to section 101 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 101A. Choice Program Ombudsman.’’. 

Æ 


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