I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6338 

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

for gynecologic cancer care coordination at the Department of Veterans 

Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2023 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas 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 for gynecologic cancer care coordination 

at 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’ Cancer Care 

5 Coordinator Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON GYNECOLOGIC CANCER CARE 

2 COORDINATION. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year after 

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

5 Veterans Affairs shall establish a pilot program (in this 

6 section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) for gynecologic can7 cer care coordination at the Department of Veterans Af8 fairs, including through the designation of a gynecologic 

9 cancer care coordinator of the Department. 

10 (b) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.—A veteran is eligible 

11 to participate in the program if the veteran— 

12 (1) has been diagnosed with a gynecologic can13 cer; and 

14 (2) is eligible for health care furnished through 

15 the Veterans Community Care Program under sec16 tion 1703 of title 38, United States Code, at a non17 Department facility. 

18 (c) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall select not fewer 

19 than five medical centers of the Department of Veterans 

20 Affairs at which to carry out the Program, including one 

21 medical center that primarily serves rural veterans, as de22 termined by the Secretary. 

23 (d) DUTIES OF GYNECOLOGIC CANCER CARE COOR24 DINATOR.—Under the Program, the designated 

25 gynecologic cancer care coordinator shall be responsible 

26 for carrying out the following duties: 


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1 (1) Ensuring the coordination of care be2 tween— 

3 (A) clinicians of the Department and com4 munity gynecologic cancer care providers; 

5 (B) clinicians of the Department, Women’s 

6 Veteran Program Managers, and Women’s 

7 Health Medical Directors; and 

8 (C) any other relevant clinicians of the De9 partment and community care providers who 

10 provide care to participating veterans. 

11 (2) Working with the Office of Community Care 

12 of the relevant medical facility of the Department re13 garding authorizations of care in the community, in14 cluding for participating veterans whose mental 

15 health screening results indicate the presence of 

16 military sexual trauma, depression, domestic or inti17 mate partner violence, or post-traumatic stress dis18 order. 

19 (3) Making regular contact with each partici20 pating veteran when the veteran receives care from 

21 a community care provider to evaluate the needs of 

22 the veteran, including through an assessment of the 

23 mental health of the veteran (including as such men24 tal health and trauma history related to the cancer 

25 diagnosis of the veteran). 


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1 (4) Monitoring— 

2 (A) the services furnished under the Pro3 gram to participating veterans; 

4 (B) the outcomes relating to the health of 

5 such participating veterans, including remission, 

6 metastasis, and death; and 

7 (C) the data relating to gynecologic cancer 

8 care collected at a medical facility of the De9 partment (using relevant databases of the Vet10 erans Health Administration or other Depart11 ment databases), including— 

12 (i) the demographics of participating 

13 veterans who have gynecologic cancer; and 

14 (ii) the number of participating vet15 erans being treated for gynecologic cancer. 

16 (5) Providing particular information to partici17 pating veterans, including— 

18 (A) how to seek emergency care at the 

19 emergency department closest to the veteran, 

20 including the requirement for the veteran or the 

21 community care provider to notify the Depart22 ment when the veteran receives emergency 

23 treatment relating to the cancer of the veteran 

24 for the Department to authorize payment for 

25 such emergency treatment; and 


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1 (B) information about mental health re2 sources, including with respect to information 

3 encouraging follow-up care for depression. 

4 (6) Documenting certain information in the 

5 electronic health records of participating veterans, 

6 including— 

7 (A) the documentation of the contact de8 scribed in paragraph (3); 

9 (B) the contact information of the commu10 nity gynecologic cancer care providers of such 

11 participating veterans; and 

12 (C) the cancer diagnosis of such partici13 pating veterans. 

14 (7) Carrying out such other duties as may be 

15 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

16 (e) REPORT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

18 after the date on which the Secretary commences the 

19 Program, the Secretary shall submit to the Commit20 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

21 House of Representatives a report containing the 

22 following: 

23 (A) A comparison of the outcomes of vet24 erans who have participated in the Program to 

25 the outcomes of non-participating veterans deVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Nov 20, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6338.IH H6338

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1 scribed in paragraph (2), including with respect 

2 to the following: 

3 (i) Health outcomes, including (for 

4 the most recent two years of available 

5 data)— 

6 (I) the percentage of such vet7 erans who have experienced a cancer8 related death; 

9 (II) the percentage of such vet10 erans who have entered remission for 

11 gynecologic cancer; and 

12 (III) the percentage of such vet13 erans who have been diagnosed with 

14 mental health disorders determined 

15 relevant by the Secretary for purposes 

16 of the comparison (including anxiety, 

17 depression, and post-traumatic stress 

18 disorder). 

19 (ii) Timeliness of care furnished under 

20 chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, 

21 including the average time that elapses be22 tween the initial diagnosis and each succes23 sive stage of treatment for gynecologic can24 cer. 


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1 (iii) Patient safety associated with 

2 such care, including the number of errors 

3 in medical care that rise to the level of 

4 ‘‘never events’’ (such as a foreign body left 

5 in a veteran during surgery). 

6 (iv) Patient satisfaction associated 

7 with such care, including the results of a 

8 patient satisfaction survey administered to 

9 such veterans on the receipt of adequate 

10 pain management from health care pro11 viders of the Department, mental health 

12 resources from such providers, and overall 

13 quality of such care. 

14 (B) An evaluation of whether to expand 

15 the Program or make such Program perma16 nent. 

17 (C) Any other matter the Secretary deter18 mines appropriate. 

19 (2) NON-PARTICIPATING VETERANS DE20 SCRIBED.—A non-participating veteran described in 

21 this paragraph is a female veteran who— 

22 (A) has not participated in the Program; 

23 (B) is enrolled in the patient enrollment 

24 system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 


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1 established and operated under section 1705 of 

2 title 38, United States Code; and 

3 (C) has been diagnosed with gynecologic 

4 cancer. 

5 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘community care provider’’ means 

7 a health care provider located at a non-Department 

8 facility who provides care (other than care related to 

9 gynecologic cancer) to veterans under section 1703 

10 of title 38, United States Code, or any other law ad11 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

12 (2) The term ‘‘community gynecologic cancer 

13 care provider’’ means a gynecologic cancer care pro14 vider located at a non-Department facility who pro15 vides care related to gynecologic cancer to veterans 

16 under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, 

17 or any other law administered by the Secretary of 

18 Veterans Affairs. 

19 (3) The term ‘‘gynecologic cancer’’ means cer20 vical cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal 

21 cancer, and vulvar cancer. 

22 (4) The term ‘‘non-Department facilities’’ has 

23 the meaning given that term in section 1701 of title 

24 38, United States Code. 


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1 (5) The term ‘‘participating veteran’’ means a 

2 veteran who is participating in the Program. 

3 (6) The term ‘‘Women’s Health Medical Direc4 tor’’ means a Women’s Health Medical Director de5 scribed in the directive of the Veterans Health Ad6 ministration titled ‘‘Health Care Services for Women 

7 Veterans’’ (directive 1330.01), or any successor di8 rective. 

9 (7) The term ‘‘Women’s Veteran Program Man10 ager’’ means a Women’s Veterans Program Manager 

11 described in the directive of the Veterans Health Ad12 ministration titled ‘‘Women Veterans Program Man13 ager’’ (directive 1330.02), or any successor directive. 

Æ 


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