I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8312 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program 

to permit certain members of the Armed Forces to pre-enroll in the 

system of annual patient enrollment established and operated under 

section 1705 of title 38, United States Code. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2024 

Mrs. KIM of California (for herself, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. TOKUDA, and Mr. 

CISCOMANI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 

pilot program to permit certain members of the Armed 

Forces to pre-enroll in the system of annual patient 

enrollment established and operated under section 1705 

of title 38, United States Code. 

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 ‘‘Combat Veterans Pre5 Enrollment Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR PRE-ENROLLMENT OF CER2 TAIN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES IN 

3 SYSTEM OF ANNUAL PATIENT ENROLLMENT 

4 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF5 FAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, 2026, 

7 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a pro8 gram to carry out, to the maximum extent practicable, all 

9 activities necessary to permit a member of the Armed 

10 Forces specified in subsection (b) to elect to enroll in the 

11 system of annual patient enrollment established and oper12 ated under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code, 

13 on the date of the separation of such member from active 

14 military, naval, air, or space service. 

15 (b) MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES SPECIFIED.— 

16 A member of the Armed Forces specified in this subsection 

17 is a member of the Armed Forces that the Secretary deter18 mines— 

19 (1) is performing active military, naval, air, or 

20 space service; 

21 (2) would be eligible for enrollment in the sys22 tem of annual patient enrollment established and op23 erated under such section on the date of the separa24 tion of such member from such service; and 

25 (3) is described in section 1710(e)(1)(D) of title 

26 38, United States Code. 


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1 (c) PRE-ENROLLMENT MECHANISM.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program required 

3 by subsection (a), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

4 in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense and the 

5 Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a 

6 mechanism to permit a member of the Armed Forces 

7 specified in subsection (b) to elect to pre-enroll in 

8 such system of annual patient enrollment, pursuant 

9 to the program required by subsection (a), during 

10 the 180-day period that precedes the date of the sep11 aration of such member from active military, naval, 

12 air, or space service. 

13 (2) BRIEFINGS ON MECHANISM.—Not later 

14 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act, and annually thereafter for the duration of 

16 the program required by subsection (a), the Depart17 ment of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense 

18 Joint Executive Committee established under section 

19 320 of title 38, United States Code, shall submit to 

20 the appropriate congressional committees a briefing 

21 on efforts of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and 

22 the Secretary of Defense with respect to the imple23 mentation of the mechanism required by paragraph 

24 (1) during the period covered by the briefing. 


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1 (d) REPORT ON PRE-ENROLLED MEMBERS.—Not 

2 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act, and annually thereafter for the duration of such 

4 program, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 

5 congressional committees a report that includes, with re6 spect to the fiscal year that precedes the period covered 

7 by the report— 

8 (1) the number of members of the Armed 

9 Forces specified in subsection (b) who— 

10 (A) elected to participate in such program 

11 and who were subsequently— 

12 (i) enrolled in the system of annual 

13 patient enrollment established and oper14 ated under section 1705 of title 38, United 

15 States Code; and 

16 (ii) denied enrollment in such system; 

17 and 

18 (B) elected not to participate in such pro19 gram; and 

20 (2) aggregated demographic information on 

21 members of the Armed Forces described in para22 graph (1), including— 

23 (A) age; 

24 (B) ethnicity; 


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1 (C) duration of active military, naval, air, 

2 or space service; 

3 (D) grade; and 

4 (E) Armed Force. 

5 (e) TERMINATION DATE.—The authority of the Sec6 retary to carry out the program required by subsection 

7 (a) shall terminate on the date that is three years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (f) GAO REPORT ON PROGRAM.—Not later than the 

10 date that is two years after the date of the termination 

11 of such authority, the Comptroller General of the United 

12 States shall submit to the appropriate congressional com13 mittees a report that includes— 

14 (1) an analysis of the effectiveness of the pro15 gram required by subsection (a) with respect to the 

16 enrollment of members of the Armed Forces speci17 fied in subsection (b) in the system of annual pa18 tient enrollment established and operated under sec19 tion 1705 of title 38, United States Code; and 

20 (2) recommendations of the Comptroller Gen21 eral, if any, with respect to methods to improve to 

22 such program. 

23 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘active military, naval, air, or 

2 space service’’ has the meaning given such term in 

3 section 101 of title 38, United States Code. 

4 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 

7 the House of Representatives and the Senate; 

8 and 

9 (B) the Committees on Armed Services of 

10 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

Æ 


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