II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 804 

To improve the provision of health care for women veterans by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

Mr. HELLER (for himself and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve the provision of health care for women veterans 

by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Women Veterans Ac5 cess to Quality Care Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF STRUCTURAL STANDARDS TO 

7 MEET GENDER-SPECIFIC HEALTH CARE 

8 NEEDS IN MEDICAL FACILITIES OF DEPART9 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

2 Affairs shall establish standards to ensure that all 

3 medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Af4 fairs have the structural characteristics necessary to 

5 adequately meet the gender-specific health care 

6 needs of veterans at such facilities, including pri7 vacy, safety, and dignity. 

8 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall prescribe regulations to carry out para11 graph (1). 

12 (b) INTEGRATION INTO PRIORITIZATION METHOD13 OLOGY.—Not later than 270 days after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall integrate the 

15 standards established under subsection (a)(1) into the 

16 prioritization methodology used by the Department under 

17 paragraph (5) of section 8104(b) of title 38, United States 

18 Code, with respect to requests for the funding of major 

19 medical facility projects and major medical facility leases 

20 under such section. 

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 15 months after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub23 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

24 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 


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1 Representatives a report on the standards established 

2 under subsection (a)(1) that includes the following: 

3 (1) A list of the medical facilities of the Depart4 ment that fail to meet such standards. 

5 (2) The minimum total cost of the projects or 

6 leases that would be required to ensure that all med7 ical facilities of the Department meet such stand8 ards. 

9 (3) The number of such projects or leases that 

10 qualify as a major medical facility project or major 

11 medical facility lease under section 8104(a)(3). 

12 (4) Where each such project or lease is located 

13 in the current project prioritization of the Depart14 ment. 

15 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF POLICIES FOR ENVIRONMENT 

16 OF CARE INSPECTIONS AT MEDICAL CEN17 TERS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF18 FAIRS. 

19 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

21 (1) establish policies for environment of care in22 spections at medical centers of the Department of 

23 Veterans Affairs that include— 


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1 (A) an alignment of the requirements for 

2 such inspections with the women’s health hand3 book of the Veterans Health Administration; 

4 (B) a requirement for the frequency of 

5 such inspections; and 

6 (C) a delineation of the roles and respon7 sibilities of staff at the medical center who are 

8 responsible for compliance; and 

9 (2) certify to the Committee on Veterans’ Af10 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ 

11 Affairs of the House of Representatives that the 

12 policies established under paragraph (1) have been 

13 finalized and disseminated to medical centers of the 

14 Department. 

15 SEC. 4. USE OF HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR WOMEN VET16 ERANS IN EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE 

17 OF DIRECTORS OF MEDICAL CENTERS OF DE18 PARTMENT AND DISCLOSURE OF HEALTH 

19 OUTCOMES. 

20 (a) EVALUATION OF DIRECTORS.—The Secretary of 

21 Veterans Affairs shall use health outcomes for women vet22 erans furnished hospital care, medical services, and other 

23 health care by the Department of Veterans Affairs in eval24 uating the performance of directors of medical centers of 

25 the Department. 


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1 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall publish 

3 on a publicly available Internet website of the De4 partment information on the performance of direc5 tors of medical centers of the Department with re6 spect to health outcomes for women veterans. 

7 (2) DATA ON HEALTH OUTCOMES.—The Sec8 retary shall publish on a publicly available Internet 

9 website of each medical facility of the Department 

10 the following: 

11 (A) Data on health outcomes pursuant to 

12 key health outcome metrics at such facility for 

13 veterans who are women. 

14 (B) A comparison of how such data com15 pares to data on health outcomes pursuant to 

16 key health outcome metrics at such facility for 

17 veterans who are men. 

18 (C) Explanatory or clarifying information 

19 necessary for members of the public to under20 stand the data under subparagraphs (A) and 

21 (B). 


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1 SEC. 5. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF OBSTETRICIAN-GYNE2 COLOGISTS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

3 AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 18 months after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

6 Veterans Affairs shall ensure that every medical center of 

7 the Department of Veterans Affairs has a full-time obste8 trician-gynecologist. 

9 (b) PILOT PROGRAM ON INCREASE OF RESIDENCY

10 AND MEDICAL EDUCATION POSITIONS.—Not later than 

11 two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

12 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a pilot pro13 gram to increase the number of residency program posi14 tions and graduate medical education positions for obste15 trician-gynecologists at medical facilities of the Depart16 ment of Veterans Affairs in not fewer than three Veterans 

17 Integrated Service Networks of the Department. 

18 SEC. 6. PROCEDURES FOR PROVISION OF CERTAIN INFOR19 MATION TO STATE VETERANS AGENCIES TO 

20 FACILITATE THE FURNISHING OF ASSIST21 ANCE AND BENEFITS TO VETERANS. 

22 (a) PROCEDURES REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Vet23 erans Affairs shall develop procedures to share the infor24 mation described in subsection (b) regarding veterans with 

25 State veterans agencies in electronic data format as a 


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1 means of facilitating the furnishing of assistance and ben2 efits to veterans. 

3 (b) COVERED INFORMATION.—The information 

4 shared with State veterans agencies under subsection (a) 

5 regarding a veteran shall include the following: 

6 (1) Military service and separation data. 

7 (2) A personal email address. 

8 (3) A personal telephone number. 

9 (4) A mailing address. 

10 (c) OPT-OUT ELECTION.—A veteran may elect to 

11 prevent their information from being shared with State 

12 veterans agencies under subsection (a) pursuant to a proc13 ess that the Secretary shall establish for purposes of this 

14 subsection. 

15 (d) USE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall en16 sure that the information shared with State veterans agen17 cies in accordance with the procedures developed under 

18 subsection (a) is only shared by such agencies with county 

19 government veterans service offices for such purposes as 

20 the Secretary shall specify for the administration and de21 livery of assistance and benefits. 


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1 SEC. 7. EXAMINATION OF ABILITY OF MEDICAL CENTERS 

2 OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO 

3 MEET HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF WOMEN VET4 ERANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

6 shall carry out an examination of whether the medical cen7 ters of the Department of Veterans Affairs are able to 

8 meet the health care needs of women veterans. 

9 (b) ELEMENTS.—The examination under subsection 

10 (a) shall address, with respect to each medical center of 

11 the Department, at a minimum, the following: 

12 (1) The wait times for women veterans for ap13 pointments for the receipt of hospital care, medical 

14 services, or other health care. 

15 (2) Whether the medical center has a clinic that 

16 specializes in the treatment of women. 

17 (3) The number of full-time obstetrician-gyne18 cologists. 

19 (4) The number of health professionals trained 

20 in women’s health. 

21 (5) The extent to which the medical center con22 ducts regular— 

23 (A) training on issues specific to women’s 

24 health; and 

25 (B) sensitivity training. 


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1 (6) The differences in health outcomes between 

2 men and women. 

3 (7) The security and privacy measures used in 

4 registration, clinical, and diagnostic areas. 

5 (8) The availability of gender-specific equip6 ment or procedures. 

7 (9) The extent to which the Center for Women 

8 Veterans of the Department advises and engages 

9 with the medical center with respect to providing 

10 health care to women veterans. 

11 (10) The extent to which the medical center im12 plements directives from the Center for Women Vet13 erans. 

14 (11) The outreach conducted by the Depart15 ment to women veterans in the community served by 

16 the medical center. 

17 (12) The collaboration between the medical cen18 ter and non-Department entities, including veterans 

19 service organizations, to meet the health care needs 

20 of women veterans. 

21 (13) The effectiveness of Patient Aligned Care 

22 Teams in meeting the health care needs of women 

23 veterans. 

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

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


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1 Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

2 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

3 the House of Representatives a report on the examination 

4 carried out under subsection (a). 

5 (d) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 

6 In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 

7 means an organization recognized by the Secretary for the 

8 representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, 

9 United States Code. 

Æ 


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