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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10153 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Women Veterans Cancer Care 
Coordination Act''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REGIONAL BREAST CANCER AND 
              GYNECOLOGIC CANCER CARE COORDINATORS.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall hire or 
designate a Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care 
Coordinator at each Veteran Integrated Services Network (hereinafter in 
this section referred to as ``VISN''). Each Care Coordinator hired or 
designated under this subsection shall report directly to the Director 
of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence 
(hereinafter in this section referred to as the ``BGOSoE'').
    (b) Eligible Veterans.--A veteran is eligible to receive care 
coordination provided by a Care Coordinator hired or designated under 
subsection (a) if the veteran--
            (1) is diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic cancer, or 
        has been identified as having a precancerous breast or 
        gynecologic condition; and
            (2) is eligible for health care furnished through the 
        Veterans Community Care Program under section 1703 of title 38, 
        United States Code, at a non-Department facility.
    (c) Locations.--The Secretary shall establish regions for purposes 
of care coordination provided by Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic 
Cancer Care Coordinators hired or designated under subsection (a). In 
establishing such regions, the Secretary shall--
            (1) assign all Department facilities to an appropriate 
        region under the supervision of the BGOSoE Director and a 
        designated Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care 
        Coordinator; and
            (2) take into account existing VISNs and the specific needs 
        of veterans in each region, including veterans living in rural 
        communities.
    (d) Duties of Regional Breast and Gynecological Cancer Care 
Coordinators.--The Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care 
Coordinator hired or designated under subsection (a) shall be 
responsible for carrying out the following duties:
            (1) Ensuring the coordination of care between clinicians of 
        the Department and breast and gynecologic cancer community care 
        providers.
            (2) Working with the Office of Community Care of the 
        relevant medical facility of the Department regarding care 
        furnished under such section.
            (3) Making regular contact with each veteran based on the 
        veteran's specific medical needs when the veteran receives care 
        from a community care provider.
            (4) Monitoring--
                    (A) the services furnished to veterans by the 
                Department and community care providers;
                    (B) the health outcomes of veterans with respect to 
                a cancer diagnosis, including remission, metastasis, 
                and death; and
                    (C) the data relating to breast and gynecologic 
                cancer care (using relevant databases of the Veterans 
                Health Administration or other Department databases), 
                including--
                            (i) the demographics of veterans who have 
                        breast or gynecologic cancer; and
                            (ii) the number of veterans being treated 
                        for breast or gynecologic cancer.
            (5) Providing particular information to veterans with 
        breast or gynecologic cancer, including--
                    (A) how to seek emergency care at the emergency 
                department closest to the residence of the veteran, 
                including that it is generally advisable for veterans 
                to notify the Department of emergency care received at 
                a non-Department facility within 72 hours of receiving 
                care to facilitate the authorization of payments for 
                such emergency treatment; and
                    (B) information about mental health resources, 
                including with respect to information encouraging 
                follow-up care for depression.
            (6) Documenting certain information on veterans receiving 
        care for breast or gynecologic care in the electronic health 
        records of the Department, including--
                    (A) the documentation of the contact described in 
                paragraph (3);
                    (B) the contact information of the breast or 
                gynecologic cancer care community care providers of 
                such veterans; and
                    (C) the breast or gynecologic cancer diagnosis of 
                veterans.
            (7) Carrying out such other duties as may be determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary.
    (e) Report.--Not later than three years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a 
report containing the following:
            (1) A comparison of the health outcomes of veterans who 
        received cancer care at a Department facility and those who 
        received care furnished by non-Department medical providers 
        pursuant to section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, 
        include with respect to the following:
                    (A) Treatment and types of health outcomes, 
                including (for the most recent three years of available 
                data)--
                            (i) the number of veterans who were 
                        diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic cancer, 
                        or precancerous breast or gynecologic 
                        condition;
                            (ii) the percentage of such veterans who 
                        have experienced a cancer-related death; and
                            (iii) the percentage of such veterans who 
                        have entered remission for gynecologic cancer.
                    (B) Timeliness of care furnished under chapter 17 
                of title 38, United States Code, including how quickly 
                initial post-diagnosis appointments and appointments to 
                develop a treatment plan are scheduled and provided.
                    (C) Patient safety associated with such care at 
                Department facilities or community care providers, 
                including the number of errors in medical care that 
                rise to the level of ``never events'' (such as a 
                foreign body left in a veteran during surgery).
            (2) An evaluation of what changes or additional resources 
        are needed to further improve breast and gynecologic cancer 
        care and coordination.
            (3) Any other matter the Secretary determines appropriate.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``community care provider'' means a health 
        care provider described in section 1703(c) of title 38, United 
        States Code, who has entered into a contract or agreement to 
        furnish hospital care, medical services, or extended care 
        services (other than care related to breast and gynecologic 
        cancer) to veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United 
        States Code.
            (2) The term ``breast and gynecologic cancer community care 
        provider'' means a breast or gynecologic cancer care provider 
        described in section 1703(c) of title 38, United States Code, 
        who has entered into a contract or agreement to furnish 
        hospital care, medical services, or extended care services to 
        provide care related to breast or gynecologic cancer to 
        veterans under section 1703 of title 38F, United States Code.
            (3) The term ``breast cancer'' has the meaning given such 
        term by the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology 
        System of Excellence.
            (4) The term ``gynecologic cancer'' means cervical cancer, 
        ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer, 
        and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.
            (5) The term ``non-Department facility'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 1701 of title 38, United States 
        Code.
                                 <all>
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