I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1216 

To establish an advisory commission regarding eligibility for health care 

furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. BOST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish an advisory commission regarding eligibility for 

health care furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

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 ‘‘Modernizing Veterans’ 

5 Health Care Eligibility Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON ELIGIBILITY. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a com9 mission, to be known as the ‘‘Commission on Eligi10 bility’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1216.IH H1216

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1 sion’’), to examine eligibility for health care from the 

2 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (A) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Commission 

5 shall be composed of 15 voting members who 

6 are appointed as follows: 

7 (i) Three members appointed by the 

8 Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

9 at least one of whom shall be a veteran. 

10 (ii) Three members appointed by the 

11 minority leader of the House of Represent12 atives, at least one of whom shall be a vet13 eran. 

14 (iii) Three members appointed by the 

15 majority leader of the Senate, at least one 

16 of whom shall be a veteran. 

17 (iv) Three members appointed by the 

18 minority leader of the Senate, at least one 

19 of whom shall be a veteran. 

20 (v) Three members appointed by the 

21 President, at least two of whom shall be 

22 veterans. 

23 (B) QUALIFICATIONS.—Of the members 

24 appointed under subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (i) at least one member shall rep2 resent an organization recognized by the 

3 Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the rep4 resentation of veterans under section 5902 

5 of title 38, United States Code; 

6 (ii) at least one member shall have ex7 perience as senior management for a pri8 vate integrated health care system with an 

9 annual gross revenue of more than 

10 $50,000,000; 

11 (iii) at least one member shall be fa12 miliar with government health care sys13 tems, including those systems of the De14 partment of Defense, the Indian Health 

15 Service, or Federally-qualified health cen16 ters (as defined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of 

17 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 1396d(l)(2)(B))); and 

19 (iv) at least one member shall be fa20 miliar with the Veterans Health Adminis21 tration but shall not be currently employed 

22 by the Veterans Health Administration. 

23 (C) DATE.—The appointments of members 

24 of the Commission shall be made not later than 


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1 one year after the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be ap5 pointed for the life of the Commission. 

6 (B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 

7 Commission shall not affect its powers, but 

8 shall be filled in the same manner as the origi9 nal appointment. 

10 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 15 days 

11 after the date on which eight voting members of the 

12 Commission have been appointed, the Commission 

13 shall hold its first meeting. 

14 (5) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

15 the call of the Chairperson. 

16 (6) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

17 the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a 

18 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 

19 (7) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

20 The President shall designate a member of the com21 mission to serve as Chairperson of the Commission. 

22 The Commission shall select a Vice Chairperson 

23 from among its members. 

24 (b) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.— 


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1 (1) EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT.—The Com2 mission shall undertake a comprehensive evaluation 

3 and assessment of eligibility to receive health care 

4 from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

5 (2) MATTERS EVALUATED AND ASSESSED.—In 

6 undertaking the comprehensive evaluation and as7 sessment required by paragraph (1), the Commission 

8 shall evaluate and assess the following: 

9 (A) General eligibility. 

10 (B) Eligibility of veterans with service-con11 nected conditions. 

12 (C) Eligibility of veterans with non-service13 connected conditions. 

14 (D) Eligibility of veterans who have other 

15 insurance or health care coverage (including 

16 Medicare and TRICARE). 

17 (E) Eligibility of veterans exposed to com18 bat. 

19 (F) Eligibility of veterans exposed to toxic 

20 substances or radiation. 

21 (G) Eligibility of veterans with discharges 

22 under conditions other than honorable. 

23 (H) Eligibility for long-term care. 

24 (I) Eligibility for mental health care. 

25 (J) Assigned priority for care. 


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1 (K) Required copayments and other cost2 sharing mechanisms. 

3 (L) Other matters the Commission deter4 mines appropriate. 

5 (3) REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit 

6 to the President, through the Secretary of Veterans 

7 Affairs, reports as follows: 

8 (A) Not later than 90 days after the date 

9 of the initial meeting of the Commission, an in10 terim report on— 

11 (i) the findings of the Commission 

12 with respect to the evaluation and assess13 ment required by this subsection; and 

14 (ii) such recommendations as the 

15 Commission may have for legislative or ad16 ministrative action to revise and simplify 

17 eligibility to receive health care from the 

18 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

19 (B) Not later than one year after the date 

20 of the initial meeting of the Commission, a final 

21 report on— 

22 (i) the findings of the Commission 

23 with respect to the evaluation and assess24 ment required by this subsection; and 


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1 (ii) such recommendations as the 

2 Commission may have for legislative or ad3 ministrative action to revise and simplify 

4 eligibility to receive health care from the 

5 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

6 (c) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

7 (1) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold 

8 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 

9 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

10 the Commission considers advisable to carry out this 

11 section. 

12 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

13 The Commission may secure directly from any Fed14 eral agency such information as the Commission 

15 considers necessary to carry out this section. Upon 

16 request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

17 head of such agency shall furnish such information 

18 to the Commission. 

19 (d) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

20 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

22 Commission who is not an officer or employee 

23 of the Federal Government shall be com24 pensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent 

25 of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 


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1 level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 

2 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

3 day (including travel time) during which such 

4 member is engaged in the performance of the 

5 duties of the Commission. 

6 (B) OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES OF THE

7 UNITED STATES.—All members of the Commis8 sion who are officers or employees of the United 

9 States shall serve without compensation in addi10 tion to that received for their services as offi11 cers or employees of the United States. 

12 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the 

13 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ14 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author15 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 

16 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

17 away from their homes or regular places of business 

18 in the performance of services for the Commission. 

19 (3) STAFF.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

21 Commission may, without regard to the civil 

22 service laws and regulations, appoint and termi23 nate an executive director and such other addi24 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable 

25 the Commission to perform its duties. The emVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1216.IH H1216

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1 ployment of an executive director shall be sub2 ject to confirmation by the Commission. 

3 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of 

4 the Commission may fix the compensation of 

5 the executive director and other personnel with6 out regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of 

7 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relat8 ing to classification of positions and General 

9 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay 

10 for the executive director and other personnel 

11 may not exceed the rate payable for level V of 

12 the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

13 such title. 

14 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

15 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed 

16 to the Commission without reimbursement, and such 

17 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 

18 service status or privilege. 

19 (5) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER20 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com21 mission may procure temporary and intermittent 

22 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 

23 States Code, at rates for individuals that do not ex24 ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 


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1 pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 

2 under section 5316 of such title. 

3 (e) TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.—The Com4 mission shall terminate 30 days after the date on which 

5 the Commission submits the report under subsection 

6 (b)(3)(B). 

7 (f) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

8 shall make available to the Commission from amounts ap9 propriated or otherwise made available to the Secretary 

10 such amounts as the Secretary and the Chairperson of the 

11 Commission jointly consider appropriate for the Commis12 sion to perform its duties under this section. 

13 (g) EXECUTIVE ACTION.— 

14 (1) ACTION ON RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

15 President shall require the Secretary of Veterans Af16 fairs and such other heads of relevant Federal de17 partments and agencies to implement each rec18 ommendation set forth in a report submitted under 

19 subsection (b)(3) that the President— 

20 (A) considers feasible and advisable; and 

21 (B) determines can be implemented with22 out further legislative action. 

23 (2) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after 

24 the date on which the President receives a report 

25 under subsection (b)(3), the President shall submit 


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1 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen2 ate and House of Representatives and such other 

3 committees of Congress as the President considers 

4 appropriate a report setting forth the following: 

5 (A) An assessment of the feasibility and 

6 advisability of each recommendation contained 

7 in the report received by the President. 

8 (B) For each recommendation assessed as 

9 feasible and advisable under subparagraph (A) 

10 the following: 

11 (i) Whether such recommendation re12 quires legislative action. 

13 (ii) If such recommendation requires 

14 legislative action, a recommendation con15 cerning such legislative action. 

16 (iii) A description of any administra17 tive action already taken to carry out such 

18 recommendation. 

19 (iv) A description of any administra20 tive action the President intends to be 

21 taken to carry out such recommendation 

22 and by whom. 

Æ 


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