II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2757 

To limit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from modifying the rate of payment 

or reimbursement for transportation of veterans or other individuals 

via special modes of transportation under the laws administered by the 

Secretary, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To limit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from modifying 

the rate of payment or reimbursement for transportation 

of veterans or other individuals via special modes of 

transportation under the laws administered by the Secretary, 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 ‘‘VA Emergency Trans5 portation Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON MODIFICATION OF RATE OF PAY2 MENT OR REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRANSPOR3 TATION OF VETERANS OR OTHER INDIVID4 UALS VIA SPECIAL MODES OF TRANSPOR5 TATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b)— 

8 (1) the rate of payment or reimbursement for 

9 transportation of a veteran or other individual via a 

10 special mode of transportation under the laws ad11 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on 

12 or after January 1, 2023, shall be the rate in effect 

13 as of such date; and 

14 (2) the Secretary may not modify any such rate 

15 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

17 (1) INCREASE OF RATE.—The Secretary may 

18 modify the rate of payment or reimbursement for 

19 transportation of a veteran or other individual via a 

20 special mode of transportation under the laws ad21 ministered by the Secretary if such a change would 

22 increase such rate of payment or reimbursement. 

23 (2) DECREASE OF RATE.— 

24 (A) REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROC25 ESS.—The Secretary may decrease the rate of 

26 payment or reimbursement for transportation of 


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1 a veteran or other individual via a special mode 

2 of transportation under the laws administered 

3 by the Secretary if the following requirements 

4 are met before the effective date of such de5 crease: 

6 (i) The Secretary conducts a thorough 

7 review and analysis of such decrease with 

8 respect to the following: 

9 (I) The economic impact of such 

10 decrease on the Department. 

11 (II) The economic impact of such 

12 decrease on the appropriate industry 

13 associated with the special mode of 

14 transportation or special modes of 

15 transportation in question. 

16 (III) The impact of such decrease 

17 on access to care for veterans. 

18 (ii) The Secretary develops a formal 

19 process for updating such rate of payment 

20 or reimbursement that would protect or ex21 pand the current level of access reviewed 

22 and analyzed under clause (i)(III). 

23 (iii) The Secretary conducts the re24 view and analysis under clause (i) and de25 velops the process under clause (ii) in conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Sep 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2757.IS S2757

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1 sultation with a committee comprised of 

2 representation from the following: 

3 (I) Relevant industry experts. 

4 (II) The Centers for Medicare & 

5 Medicaid Services. 

6 (III) Appropriate subject matter 

7 experts of the Department of Vet8 erans Affairs in the areas of transpor9 tation, access to care, integrated vet10 eran care, rural veterans, native vet11 erans, and any other areas as deter12 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 

13 (IV) Veterans service organiza14 tions. 

15 (iv) The Secretary confirms that the 

16 new rate reflects, at a minimum, the actual 

17 costs of transportation. 

18 (B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS BEFORE

19 RATE DECREASE.—If a decrease permitted 

20 under subparagraph (A) to the rate of payment 

21 or reimbursement for transportation of a vet22 eran or other individual via a special mode of 

23 transportation under the laws administered by 

24 the Secretary would allow for the establishment 

25 of a contracted rate different from the estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Sep 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2757.IS S2757

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1 lished rate of the Department, not later than 

2 two years before the effective date of such 

3 change, the Secretary shall— 

4 (i) establish a template and standard5 ized process for such contracts and submit 

6 such template and standardized process to 

7 Congress for feedback; and 

8 (ii) issue guidance regarding such 

9 template and standardized process across 

10 appropriate entities within the Department 

11 and across the industry associated with the 

12 special mode of transportation or special 

13 modes of transportation covered by such 

14 contract. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) SPECIAL MODE OF TRANSPORTATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘special mode of transportation’’ has the 

18 meaning given that term in section 70.2 of title 38, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regula20 tions. 

21 (2) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means any or23 ganization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans 


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1 Affairs for the representation of veterans under sec2 tion 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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