II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1153 

To prohibit or suspend certain health care providers from providing nonDepartment of Veterans Affairs health care services to veterans, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2017 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

6 the ‘‘Veterans ACCESS Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PRO2 VIDERS FROM PROVIDING NON-DEPARTMENT 

3 HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO VETERANS. 

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

5 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs shall deny or revoke the eligi7 bility of a health care provider to provide non-Department 

8 health care services to veterans if the Secretary determines 

9 that the health care provider— 

10 (1) was removed from employment with the De11 partment of Veterans Affairs due to conduct that 

12 violated a policy of the Department relating to the 

13 delivery of safe and appropriate health care; 

14 (2) violated the requirements of a medical li15 cense of the health care provider; 

16 (3) had a Department credential revoked and 

17 the grounds for such revocation impacts the ability 

18 of the health care provider to deliver safe and appro19 priate health care; or 

20 (4) violated a law for which a term of imprison21 ment of more than one year may be imposed. 

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

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

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

25 of a health care provider to provide non-Department 

26 health care services if the Secretary has reasonable belief 

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1 that such action is necessary to immediately protect the 

2 health, safety, or welfare of veterans and— 

3 (1) the health care provider is under investiga4 tion by the medical licensing board of a State in 

5 which the health care provider is licensed or prac6 tices; 

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

8 settlement agreement for a disciplinary charge relat9 ing to the practice of medicine by the health care 

10 provider; or 

11 (3) the Secretary otherwise determines that 

12 such action is appropriate under the circumstances. 

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

14 eligibility of a health care provider to provide non-Depart15 ment health care services to veterans if the health care 

16 provider is suspended from serving as a health care pro17 vider of the Department. 

18 (d) INITIAL REVIEW OF DEPARTMENT EMPLOY19 MENT.—Not later than one year after the date of the en20 actment of this Act, with respect to each health care pro21 vider providing non-Department health care services, the 

22 Secretary shall review the status of each such health care 

23 provider as an employee of the Department and the his24 tory of employment of each such health care provider with 

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1 the Department to determine whether the health care pro2 vider is described in any of subsections (a) through (c). 

3 (e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

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

5 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

6 to Congress a report on the implementation by the Sec7 retary of this section, including the following: 

8 (1) The aggregate number of health care pro9 viders denied or suspended under this section from 

10 participation in providing non-Department health 

11 care services. 

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

13 health care for patients or staffing shortages in pro14 grams of the Department providing non-Department 

15 health care services. 

16 (3) An explanation of the coordination of the 

17 Department with the medical licensing boards of 

18 States in implementing this section, the amount of 

19 involvement of such boards in such implementation, 

20 and efforts by the Department to address any con21 cerns raised by such boards with respect to such im22 plementation. 

23 (4) Such recommendations as the Comptroller 

24 General considers appropriate regarding harmo25 nizing eligibility criteria between health care promstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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1 viders of the Department and health care providers 

2 eligible to provide non-Department health care serv3 ices. 

4 (f) NON-DEPARTMENT HEALTH CARE SERVICES DE5 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘non-Department 

6 health care services’’ means services— 

7 (1) provided under subchapter I of chapter 17 

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

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

10 (2) provided under section 101 of the Veterans 

11 Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 

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

13 (3) purchased through the Medical Community 

14 Care account of the Department; or 

15 (4) purchased with amounts deposited in the 

16 Veterans Choice Fund under section 802 of the Vet17 erans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 

18 2014. 

Æ 

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