II 

Calendar No. 129 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1016 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2009 

Received 

JULY 27, 2009 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide advance 

appropriations authority for certain accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 Health Care 

5 Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that the provision of 

8 health care services to veterans could be more effectively 

9 and efficiently planned and managed if funding was promstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 vided for the management and provision of such services 

2 in the form of advance appropriations. 

3 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTS’ BUDGET SUBMISSIONS. 

4 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following new para6 graph: 

7 ‘‘(36) information on estimates of appropria8 tions for the fiscal year following the fiscal year for 

9 which the budget is submitted for the following ac10 counts of the Department of Veterans Affairs: 

11 ‘‘(A) Medical Services. 

12 ‘‘(B) Medical Support and Compliance. 

13 ‘‘(C) Medical Facilities. 

14 ‘‘(D) Information Technology Systems. 

15 ‘‘(E) Medical and Prosthetic Research.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN AC17 COUNTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

18 AFFAIRS. 

19 (a) ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN AC20 COUNTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 38, United 

22 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 

23 116 the following new section: 

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1 ‘‘§ 117. Advance appropriations for certain accounts 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, beginning 

3 with fiscal year 2011, discretionary new budget authority 

4 provided in an appropriations Act for the appropriations 

5 accounts of the Department specified in subsection (c) 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) be made available for that fiscal year; and 

8 ‘‘(2) include, for each such appropriations ac9 count, advance discretionary new budget authority 

10 that first becomes available for the first fiscal year 

11 after the budget year. 

12 ‘‘(b) ESTIMATES REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall in13 clude in documents submitted to Congress in support of 

14 the President’s budget submitted pursuant to section 1105 

15 of title 31, United States Code, detailed estimates of the 

16 funds necessary for the accounts of the Department speci17 fied in subsection (c) for the fiscal year following the fiscal 

18 year for which the budget is submitted. 

19 ‘‘(c) ACCOUNTS SPECIFIED.—The accounts specified 

20 in this subsection are the following accounts of the De21 partment of Veterans Affairs: 

22 ‘‘(1) Medical Services. 

23 ‘‘(2) Medical Support and Compliance. 

24 ‘‘(3) Medical Facilities. 

25 ‘‘(4) Information Technology Systems. 

26 ‘‘(5) Medical and Prosthetic Research. 

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1 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than July 31 of 

2 each year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an an3 nual report on the sufficiency of the Department’s re4 sources for the next fiscal year beginning after the date 

5 of the submittal of the report for the provision of medical 

6 care. Such report shall also include estimates of the work7 load and demand data for that fiscal year.’’. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

10 by inserting after the item relating to section 116 

11 the following new item: 

‘‘117. Advance appropriations for certain accounts.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON ADEQUACY 

13 AND ACCURACY OF BASELINE MODEL PRO14 JECTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET15 ERANS AFFAIRS FOR HEALTH CARE EXPENDI16 TURES. 

17 (a) STUDY OF ADEQUACY AND ACCURACY OF BASE

18 LINE MODEL PROJECTIONS.—The Comptroller General 

19 shall conduct a study of the adequacy and accuracy of the 

20 budget projections made by the Enrollee Health Care Pro21 jection Model (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Model’’), 

22 its equivalent, or other methodologies utilized for the pur23 pose of estimating and projecting health care expenditures 

24 of the Department of Veterans Affairs with respect to the 

25 fiscal year involved and the subsequent four fiscal years. 

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1 (b) REPORTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date of 

3 each year in 2011, 2012, and 2013, on which the 

4 President submits the budget request for the next 

5 fiscal year under section 1105 of title 31, United 

6 States Code, the Comptroller General shall submit to 

7 the appropriate committees of Congress and to the 

8 Secretary of Veterans Affairs a report. 

9 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under this para10 graph shall include, for the fiscal year concerning 

11 the year for which the budget is submitted, the fol12 lowing: 

13 (A) A statement whether the amount re14 quested in the budget of the President for ex15 penditures of the Department for health care in 

16 such fiscal year is consistent with anticipated 

17 expenditures of the Department for health care 

18 in such fiscal year as determined utilizing the 

19 Model. 

20 (B) The basis for such statement. 

21 (C) Such additional information as the 

22 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 

23 (3) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—Each re24 port submitted under this subsection shall be made 

25 available to the public by the Comptroller General. 

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1 (4) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

2 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro3 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, 

5 Appropriations, and the Budget of the Senate; 

6 and 

7 (B) the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, 

8 Appropriations, and the Budget of the House of 

9 Representatives. 

10 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

11 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall 

13 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Appro14 priations, and the Budget of the Senate and House of 

15 Representatives a report on the requirements of this Act 

16 and the amendments made by this Act. Such report shall 

17 include— 

18 (1) the Secretary’s plans for improving the ca19 pability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to 

20 better and more accurately estimate future health 

21 care costs and demands; and 

22 (2) a description of impediments, statutory or 

23 otherwise, to providing future year estimates and ad24 vance appropriations for the Medical Services, Med25 ical Support and Compliance, Medical Facilities, Inmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 formation Technology Systems, and Medical and 

2 Prosthetic Research accounts of the Department. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 23, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 

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Calendar No. 129 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1016 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide 

and for other purposes. counts of the Department of Veterans Affairs, advance appropriations authority for certain acJULY 27, 2009 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 

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