I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4006 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for Indian veterans health 

care coordinators, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2009 

Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for Indian 

veterans health care coordinators, 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 ‘‘Rural, American In5 dian Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF CARE OF AMERICAN INDIAN 

7 VETERANS. 

8 (a) INDIAN HEALTH COORDINATORS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 

2 of title 38, United States Code is amended by add3 ing at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 7330B. Indian Veterans Health Care Coordinators 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary shall assign 

6 at each of the 10 Department Medical Centers that serve 

7 communities with the greatest number of Indian veterans 

8 per capita an official or employee of the Department to 

9 act as the coordinator of health care for Indian veterans 

10 at such Medical Center. The official or employee so as11 signed at a Department Medical Center shall be known 

12 as the ‘Indian Veterans Health Care Coordinator’ for the 

13 Medical Center. 

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, from time to time— 

15 ‘‘(A) survey the Department Medical Centers 

16 for purposes of identifying the 10 Department Med17 ical Centers that currently serve communities with 

18 the greatest number of Indian veterans per capita; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) utilizing the results of the most recent 

21 survey conducted under subparagraph (A), revise the 

22 assignment of Indian Veterans Health Care Coordi23 nators in order to assure the assignment of such co24 ordinators to appropriate Department Medical Cen25 ters as required by paragraph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The duties of a Indian Veterans 

2 Health Care Coordinator shall include the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) Improving outreach to tribal communities. 

4 ‘‘(2) Coordinating the medical needs of Indian 

5 veterans on Indian reservations with the Veterans 

6 Health Administration and the Indian Health Serv7 ice. 

8 ‘‘(3) Expanding the access and participation of 

9 Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health 

10 Service, and tribal members in the Department of 

11 Veterans Affairs Tribal Veterans Representative pro12 gram. 

13 ‘‘(4) Acting as an ombudsman for Indian vet14 erans enrolled in the health care system of the Vet15 erans Health Administration. 

16 ‘‘(5) Advocating for the incorporation of tradi17 tional medicine and healing in Department treat18 ment plans for Indian veterans in need of care and 

19 services provided by the Department. 

20 ‘‘(c) INDIAN DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘In21 dian’ has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

22 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 

23 (25 U.S.C. 450b).’’. 

24 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec25 tions at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is 


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1 further by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 7330A the following new item: 

‘‘7330B. Indian Veterans Health Coordinators.’’. 

3 (b) INTEGRATION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH

4 RECORDS WITH INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE.—Not later 

5 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of the In7 terior shall enter into a memorandum of understanding 

8 to ensure that the health records of Indian veterans may 

9 be transferred electronically between facilities of the In10 dian Health Service and the Department of Veterans Af11 fairs. 

12 (c) TRANSFER OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT TO THE IN13 DIAN HEALTH SERVICE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

15 Affairs may transfer to the Indian Health Service 

16 such surplus Department of Veterans Affairs med17 ical and information technology equipment as the 

18 Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of 

19 Health and Human Services jointly consider appro20 priate for purposes of the Indian Health Service. 

21 (2) TRANSPORTATION AND INSTALLATION.—In 

22 transferring medical or information technology 

23 equipment under this subsection, the Secretary of 

24 Veterans Affairs may transport and install such 

25 equipment in facilities of the Indian Health Service. 


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1 (d) REPORT ON JOINT HEALTH CLINICS WITH IN2 DIAN HEALTH SERVICE.—Not later than one year after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

4 Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Health and Human 

5 Services shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the 

6 feasability and advisability of the joint establishment and 

7 operation by the Veterans Health Administration and the 

8 Indian Health Service of health clinics on Indian reserva9 tions to serve the populations of such reservations, includ10 ing Indian veterans. 

Æ 


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