I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10153 

To designate Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinators 

to expand the work of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System 

of Excellence at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To designate Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care 

Coordinators to expand the work of the Breast and 

Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence at 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 Can5 cer Care Coordination Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL 

2 BREAST CANCER AND GYNECOLOGIC CAN3 CER CARE COORDINATORS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year after 

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

6 Veterans Affairs shall hire or designate a Regional Breast 

7 Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator at each 

8 Veteran Integrated Services Network (hereinafter in this 

9 section referred to as ‘‘VISN’’). Each Care Coordinator 

10 hired or designated under this subsection shall report di11 rectly to the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic On12 cology System of Excellence (hereinafter in this section re13 ferred to as the ‘‘BGOSoE’’). 

14 (b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—A veteran is eligible to re15 ceive care coordination provided by a Care Coordinator 

16 hired or designated under subsection (a) if the veteran— 

17 (1) is diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic 

18 cancer, or has been identified as having a 

19 precancerous breast or gynecologic condition; and 

20 (2) is eligible for health care furnished through 

21 the Veterans Community Care Program under sec22 tion 1703 of title 38, United States Code, at a non23 Department facility. 

24 (c) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall establish re25 gions for purposes of care coordination provided by Re26 gional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care CoorVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Nov 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10153.IH H10153

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1 dinators hired or designated under subsection (a). In es2 tablishing such regions, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) assign all Department facilities to an appro4 priate region under the supervision of the BGOSoE 

5 Director and a designated Regional Breast and 

6 Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator; and 

7 (2) take into account existing VISNs and the 

8 specific needs of veterans in each region, including 

9 veterans living in rural communities. 

10 (d) DUTIES OF REGIONAL BREAST AND GYNECO11 LOGICAL CANCER CARE COORDINATORS.—The Regional 

12 Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator 

13 hired or designated under subsection (a) shall be respon14 sible for carrying out the following duties: 

15 (1) Ensuring the coordination of care between 

16 clinicians of the Department and breast and 

17 gynecologic cancer community care providers. 

18 (2) Working with the Office of Community Care 

19 of the relevant medical facility of the Department re20 garding care furnished under such section. 

21 (3) Making regular contact with each veteran 

22 based on the veteran’s specific medical needs when 

23 the veteran receives care from a community care 

24 provider. 

25 (4) Monitoring— 


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1 (A) the services furnished to veterans by 

2 the Department and community care providers; 

3 (B) the health outcomes of veterans with 

4 respect to a cancer diagnosis, including remis5 sion, metastasis, and death; and 

6 (C) the data relating to breast and 

7 gynecologic cancer care (using relevant data8 bases of the Veterans Health Administration or 

9 other Department databases), including— 

10 (i) the demographics of veterans who 

11 have breast or gynecologic cancer; and 

12 (ii) the number of veterans being 

13 treated for breast or gynecologic cancer. 

14 (5) Providing particular information to veterans 

15 with breast or gynecologic cancer, including— 

16 (A) how to seek emergency care at the 

17 emergency department closest to the residence 

18 of the veteran, including that it is generally ad19 visable for veterans to notify the Department of 

20 emergency care received at a non-Department 

21 facility within 72 hours of receiving care to fa22 cilitate the authorization of payments for such 

23 emergency treatment; and 


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1 (B) information about mental health re2 sources, including with respect to information 

3 encouraging follow-up care for depression. 

4 (6) Documenting certain information on vet5 erans receiving care for breast or gynecologic care in 

6 the electronic health records of the Department, in7 cluding— 

8 (A) the documentation of the contact de9 scribed in paragraph (3); 

10 (B) the contact information of the breast 

11 or gynecologic cancer care community care pro12 viders of such veterans; and 

13 (C) the breast or gynecologic cancer diag14 nosis of veterans. 

15 (7) Carrying out such other duties as may be 

16 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

17 (e) REPORT.—Not later than three years after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub19 mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

20 and the House of Representatives a report containing the 

21 following: 

22 (1) A comparison of the health outcomes of vet23 erans who received cancer care at a Department fa24 cility and those who received care furnished by non25 Department medical providers pursuant to section 


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1 1703 of title 38, United States Code, include with 

2 respect to the following: 

3 (A) Treatment and types of health out4 comes, including (for the most recent three 

5 years of available data)— 

6 (i) the number of veterans who were 

7 diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic can8 cer, or precancerous breast or gynecologic 

9 condition; 

10 (ii) the percentage of such veterans 

11 who have experienced a cancer-related 

12 death; and 

13 (iii) the percentage of such veterans 

14 who have entered remission for gynecologic 

15 cancer. 

16 (B) Timeliness of care furnished under 

17 chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, in18 cluding how quickly initial post-diagnosis ap19 pointments and appointments to develop a 

20 treatment plan are scheduled and provided. 

21 (C) Patient safety associated with such 

22 care at Department facilities or community care 

23 providers, including the number of errors in 

24 medical care that rise to the level of ‘‘never 


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•HR 10153 IH

1 events’’ (such as a foreign body left in a veteran 

2 during surgery). 

3 (2) An evaluation of what changes or additional 

4 resources are needed to further improve breast and 

5 gynecologic cancer care and coordination. 

6 (3) Any other matter the Secretary determines 

7 appropriate. 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) The term ‘‘community care provider’’ means 

10 a health care provider described in section 1703(c) 

11 of title 38, United States Code, who has entered into 

12 a contract or agreement to furnish hospital care, 

13 medical services, or extended care services (other 

14 than care related to breast and gynecologic cancer) 

15 to veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United 

16 States Code. 

17 (2) The term ‘‘breast and gynecologic cancer 

18 community care provider’’ means a breast or 

19 gynecologic cancer care provider described in section 

20 1703(c) of title 38, United States Code, who has en21 tered into a contract or agreement to furnish hos22 pital care, medical services, or extended care services 

23 to provide care related to breast or gynecologic can24 cer to veterans under section 1703 of title 38F, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘breast cancer’’ has the meaning 

2 given such term by the Director of the Breast and 

3 Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence. 

4 (4) The term ‘‘gynecologic cancer’’ means cer5 vical cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal 

6 cancer, vulvar cancer, and gestational trophoblastic 

7 neoplasia. 

8 (5) The term ‘‘non-Department facility’’ has 

9 the meaning given that term in section 1701 of title 

10 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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