IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1153 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2017 

Referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To prohibit or suspend certain health care providers from 

providing non-Department of Veterans Affairs health 

care services to veterans, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Acquiring 

3 Community Care Expect Safe Services Act of 2017’’ or 

4 the ‘‘Veterans ACCESS Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PRO6 VIDERS FROM PROVIDING NON-DEPARTMENT 

7 HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO VETERANS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date that is one 

9 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of Veterans Affairs shall deny or revoke the eligi11 bility of a health care provider to provide non-Department 

12 health care services to veterans if the Secretary determines 

13 that the health care provider— 

14 (1) was removed from employment with the De15 partment of Veterans Affairs due to conduct that 

16 violated a policy of the Department relating to the 

17 delivery of safe and appropriate health care; 

18 (2) violated the requirements of a medical li19 cense of the health care provider; 

20 (3) had a Department credential revoked and 

21 the grounds for such revocation impacts the ability 

22 of the health care provider to deliver safe and appro23 priate health care; or 

24 (4) violated a law for which a term of imprison25 ment of more than one year may be imposed. 


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1 (b) PERMISSIVE ACTION.—On and after the date that 

2 is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary may deny, revoke, or suspend the eligibility 

4 of a health care provider to provide non-Department 

5 health care services if the Secretary has reasonable belief 

6 that such action is necessary to immediately protect the 

7 health, safety, or welfare of veterans and— 

8 (1) the health care provider is under investiga9 tion by the medical licensing board of a State in 

10 which the health care provider is licensed or prac11 tices; 

12 (2) the health care provider has entered into a 

13 settlement agreement for a disciplinary charge relat14 ing to the practice of medicine by the health care 

15 provider; or 

16 (3) the Secretary otherwise determines that 

17 such action is appropriate under the circumstances. 

18 (c) SUSPENSION.—The Secretary shall suspend the 

19 eligibility of a health care provider to provide non-Depart20 ment health care services to veterans if the health care 

21 provider is suspended from serving as a health care pro22 vider of the Department. 

23 (d) INITIAL REVIEW OF DEPARTMENT EMPLOY24 MENT.—Not later than one year after the date of the en25 actment of this Act, with respect to each health care proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:08 Nov 14, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1153.RFH S1153

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1 vider providing non-Department health care services, the 

2 Secretary shall review the status of each such health care 

3 provider as an employee of the Department and the his4 tory of employment of each such health care provider with 

5 the Department to determine whether the health care pro6 vider is described in any of subsections (a) through (c). 

7 (e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

8 than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

9 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

10 to Congress a report on the implementation by the Sec11 retary of this section, including the following: 

12 (1) The aggregate number of health care pro13 viders denied or suspended under this section from 

14 participation in providing non-Department health 

15 care services. 

16 (2) An evaluation of any impact on access to 

17 health care for patients or staffing shortages in pro18 grams of the Department providing non-Department 

19 health care services. 

20 (3) An explanation of the coordination of the 

21 Department with the medical licensing boards of 

22 States in implementing this section, the amount of 

23 involvement of such boards in such implementation, 

24 and efforts by the Department to address any conVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:08 Nov 14, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1153.RFH S1153

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1 cerns raised by such boards with respect to such im2 plementation. 

3 (4) Such recommendations as the Comptroller 

4 General considers appropriate regarding harmo5 nizing eligibility criteria between health care pro6 viders of the Department and health care providers 

7 eligible to provide non-Department health care serv8 ices. 

9 (f) NON-DEPARTMENT HEALTH CARE SERVICES DE10 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘non-Department 

11 health care services’’ means services— 

12 (1) provided under subchapter I of chapter 17 

13 of title 38, United States Code, at non-Department 

14 facilities (as defined in section 1701 of such title); 

15 (2) provided under section 101 of the Veterans 

16 Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 

17 (Public Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note); 

18 (3) purchased through the Medical Community 

19 Care account of the Department; or 

20 (4) purchased with amounts deposited in the 

21 Veterans Choice Fund under section 802 of the 


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1 Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 

2 2014. 

Passed the Senate November 9, 2017. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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