II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4415 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical readiness program 

in the Indo-Pacific region, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2024 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish a medical 

readiness program in the Indo-Pacific region, 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 ‘‘Access to Care for 

5 Overseas Military Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MEDICAL READINESS PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT 

7 OF DEFENSE IN INDO-PACIFIC REGION. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 

10 2027, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a 


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1 medical readiness program (referred to in this sec2 tion as the ‘‘Program’’) to develop relationships with 

3 partner nations in the Indo-Pacific region and to fa4 cilitate engagement designed to improve medical 

5 care during peacetime and wartime and maintain 

6 strategies and policies of the Department of Defense 

7 for medical readiness in that region. 

8 (2) ORGANIZATION.—The Secretary of Defense 

9 shall be responsible for and oversee the Program in 

10 consultation with the Secretary of each military de11 partment, the commanders of the combatant com12 mands, the Director of the Defense Health Agency, 

13 and any other official the Secretary of Defense con14 siders appropriate. 

15 (3) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the Pro16 gram shall be to promote the medical readiness of 

17 the Armed Forces for missions during peacetime and 

18 wartime operations by— 

19 (A) reducing potential requirements for 

20 long-distance medical evacuation to receive de21 finitive patient care in the Indo-Pacific region; 

22 (B) managing the patient medical evacu23 ation enterprise during contingency operations, 

24 including planning, policies, resourcing, and co25 ordination; 


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1 (C) increasing the medical capacity and ca2 pabilities of the Department of Defense by ex3 panding, where and when appropriate, patient 

4 access to public, private, and military foreign 

5 medical treatment facilities and foreign medical 

6 providers across the Indo-Pacific region; 

7 (D) in collaboration with partner nations, 

8 improving the standard of medical care by ei9 ther— 

10 (i) accrediting foreign medical treat11 ment facilities, which will standardize med12 ical procedures, patient care, and policies 

13 similar to military medical treatment facili14 ties of the Department of Defense; or 

15 (ii) developing standardized proce16 dures for medical procedures, patient care, 

17 and policies when using foreign medical 

18 treatment facilities; and 

19 (E) enhancing and promoting interoper20 ability and interchangeability, wherever feasible, 

21 through shared patient record management 

22 techniques, medical equipment commonality, 

23 and coordination of medical care. 


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1 (4) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the Program, 

2 the Secretary of Defense shall seek to conduct the 

3 following activities: 

4 (A) Assess and integrate current medical 

5 capabilities and capacities of the Department of 

6 Defense in the Indo-Pacific region into the Pro7 gram. 

8 (B) Select a lead to coordinate the Pro9 gram and activities associated with the func10 tions of the Program. 

11 (C) Select an appropriate accreditation or12 ganization to either— 

13 (i) accredit a public, private, or mili14 tary foreign medical treatment facility; or 

15 (ii) provide technical expertise to de16 velop standardization procedures for med17 ical procedures, patient care, and policies 

18 when using foreign medical treatment fa19 cilities. 

20 (D) Coordinate with partner nations to 

21 identify and evaluate medical facilities for the 

22 Program. 

23 (E) Establish agreements with foreign 

24 medical facilities for potential use of the Pro25 gram. 


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1 (F) To the greatest extent practicable, es2 tablish policies and procedures— 

3 (i) to reduce patient movement times 

4 in various countries in the Indo-Pacific re5 gion during peacetime and wartime oper6 ations; 

7 (ii) to standardize medical procedures, 

8 patient care, and policies; 

9 (iii) to securely share patient data 

10 with partner nations when appropriate to 

11 do so, such as during a contingency oper12 ation; 

13 (iv) with respect to medical equipment 

14 commonality and interchangeability; 

15 (v) with respect to the coordination of 

16 medical care; 

17 (vi) with respect to translators and 

18 language standardization; 

19 (vii) with respect to foreign blood 

20 products; and 

21 (viii) with respect to medical mal22 practice liability and procedures. 

23 (G) Integrate the Program into operational 

24 plans of the combatant commands. 


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1 (H) Identify mutually beneficial training 

2 opportunities for military medical personnel. 

3 (b) STRATEGY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 

5 30, 2025, the Under Secretary of Defense for Per6 sonnel and Readiness shall submit to the Commit7 tees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House 

8 of Representatives a strategy for the implementation 

9 of the Program. 

10 (2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by 

11 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

12 (A) A governance structure for the Pro13 gram, including— 

14 (i) the officials tasked to oversee the 

15 Program; 

16 (ii) the format of the governing body 

17 of the Program; 

18 (iii) the functions and duties of such 

19 governing body with respect to establishing 

20 and maintaining the Program; and 

21 (iv) mechanisms for coordinating with 

22 partner countries selected to participate in 

23 the Program. 


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1 (B) With respect to the initial selection of 

2 partner countries to participate in the Pro3 gram— 

4 (i) an identification of each such 

5 country; 

6 (ii) the rationale for selecting each 

7 such country; and 

8 (iii) any other information the Sec9 retary considers appropriate. 

10 (C) An identification of objectives for the 

11 first three fiscal years of the Program, includ12 ing— 

13 (i) a description of, and a rational for 

14 selecting, such objectives; 

15 (ii) an identification of milestones to16 ward achieving such objectives; and 

17 (iii) metrics for evaluating success in 

18 achieving such objectives. 

19 (D) A description of opportunities and po20 tential timelines for future expansion of the 

21 Program, as appropriate. 

22 (E) A list of additional authorities, appro23 priations, or other legislative action necessary 

24 to ensure the success of the Program. 


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1 (F) Any other information the Secretary 

2 considers appropriate. 

3 (3) FORM.—The strategy required by para4 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

5 but may include a classified annex. 

6 (c) REPORT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 

8 20th of each of 2025 through 2035, the Under Sec9 retary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness shall 

10 submit to the congressional defense committees a re11 port on the Program. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para13 graph (1) shall include the following: 

14 (A) A narrative summary of activities con15 ducted as part of the Program during the pre16 ceding fiscal year. 

17 (B) Except in the case of the initial report, 

18 an assessment of progress toward the objectives 

19 established for the preceding fiscal year de20 scribed in the preceding report under this sub21 section using the metrics established in such re22 port. 

23 (C) An identification of objectives for the 

24 three fiscal years following the date of submis25 sion of the report, including— 


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1 (i) a description of, and a rational for 

2 selecting, such objectives; 

3 (ii) an identification of milestones to4 ward achieving such objectives; and 

5 (iii) metrics for evaluating success in 

6 achieving such objectives. 

7 (D) A description of opportunities and po8 tential timelines for future expansion of the 

9 Program, as appropriate. 

10 (E) Any other information the Under Sec11 retary considers appropriate. 

12 (3) FORM.—Each report required by paragraph 

13 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

14 include a classified annex. 

Æ 


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