IC 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3313 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2012 

Referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

reproductive assistance provided by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs to severely wounded, ill, or injured veterans and their spouses, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women Veterans and 

3 Other Health Care Improvements Act of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION THAT FERTILITY COUNSELING AND 

5 TREATMENT ARE MEDICAL SERVICES WHICH 

6 THE SECRETARY MAY FURNISH TO VET7 ERANS LIKE OTHER MEDICAL SERVICES. 

8 Section 1701(6) of title 38, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(H) Fertility counseling and treatment, 

12 including treatment using assisted reproductive 

13 technology.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. REPRODUCTIVE TREATMENT AND CARE FOR 

15 SPOUSES AND SURROGATES OF VETERANS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VIII of chapter 17 of 

17 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following new section: 

19 ‘‘§ 1788. Reproductive treatment and care for spouses 

20 and surrogates of veterans 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall furnish fer22 tility counseling and treatment, including through the use 

23 of assisted reproductive technology, to a spouse or surro24 gate of a severely wounded, ill, or injured veteran who has 

25 an infertility condition incurred or aggravated in line of 

26 duty in the active military, naval, or air service and who 


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1 is enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment es2 tablished under section 1705(a) of this title if the spouse 

3 or surrogate and the veteran apply jointly for such coun4 seling and treatment through a process prescribed by the 

5 Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION OF CARE FOR OTHER SPOUSES

7 AND SURROGATES.—In the case of a spouse or surrogate 

8 of a veteran not described in subsection (a) who is seeking 

9 fertility counseling and treatment, the Secretary may co10 ordinate fertility counseling and treatment for such spouse 

11 or surrogate. 

12 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

13 be construed to require the Secretary to find or certify 

14 a surrogate for a veteran or to connect a surrogate with 

15 an injured veteran.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 

18 by inserting after the item relating to section 1787 the 

19 following new item: 

‘‘1788. Reproductive treatment and care for spouses and surrogates of veterans.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. ADOPTION ASSISTANCE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VIII of chapter 17 of 

22 title 38, United States Code, as amended by section 3, 

23 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1789. Adoption assistance 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may pay an 

3 amount, not to exceed the limitation amount, to assist a 

4 covered veteran in the adoption of one or more children. 

5 ‘‘(b) COVERED VETERAN.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, a covered veteran is any severely wounded, ill, or in7 jured veteran who— 

8 ‘‘(1) has an infertility condition incurred or ag9 gravated in line of duty in the active military, naval, 

10 or air service; and 

11 ‘‘(2) is enrolled in the system of annual patient 

12 enrollment established under section 1705(a) of this 

13 title. 

14 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION AMOUNT.—For purposes of this 

15 section, the limitation amount is the amount equal to the 

16 lesser of— 

17 ‘‘(1) the cost the Department would incur if the 

18 Secretary were to provide a covered veteran with one 

19 cycle of in vitro fertilization, as determined by the 

20 Secretary; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the cost the Department would incur by 

22 paying the expenses of three adoptions by covered 

23 veterans, as determined by the Secretary.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title, as amended 


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1 by section 3, is further amended by inserting after the 

2 item relating to section 1788 the following new item: 

‘‘1789. Adoption assistance.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. REPORT ON PROVISION OF FERTILITY COUNSELING 

4 AND TREATMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Secretary of Vet6 erans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 

7 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af8 fairs of the House of Representatives a report on the fer9 tility counseling and treatment furnished by the Depart10 ment of Veterans Affairs during the year preceding the 

11 submittal of the report. 

12 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under sub13 section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re14 port, the following: 

15 (1) The number of veterans who received fer16 tility counseling or treatment furnished by the De17 partment of Veterans Affairs, disaggregated by era 

18 of military service of such veterans. 

19 (2) The number of spouses and surrogates of 

20 veterans who received fertility counseling or treat21 ment furnished by the Department. 

22 (3) The cost to the Department of furnishing 

23 fertility counseling and treatment, disaggregated by 

24 cost of services and administration. 


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1 (4) The average cost to the Department per re2 cipient of such counseling and treatment. 

3 (5) In cases in which the Department furnished 

4 fertility treatment through the use of assisted repro5 ductive technology, the average number of cycles per 

6 person furnished. 

7 (6) A description of how fertility counseling and 

8 treatment services of the Department are coordi9 nated with similar services of the Department of De10 fense. 

11 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS ON FURNISHING OF FERTILITY 

12 COUNSELING AND TREATMENT AND ADOP13 TION ASSISTANCE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet16 erans Affairs shall prescribe regulations— 

17 (1) on the furnishing of fertility treatment to 

18 veterans using assisted reproductive technology; 

19 (2) to carry out section 1788 of title 38, United 

20 States Code, as added by section 3; and 

21 (3) to carry out section 1789 of such title, as 

22 added by section 4. 

23 (b) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of law, during the period beginning on the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act and ending on the date on which 


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1 the Secretary prescribes regulations under subsection (a), 

2 the Secretary may not furnish— 

3 (1) to any veteran, any fertility treatment using 

4 assisted reproductive technology; 

5 (2) any fertility counseling or treatment under 

6 section 1788 of title 38, United States Code, as 

7 added by section 3; or 

8 (3) any assistance under section 1789 of such 

9 title, as added by section 4. 

10 SEC. 7. COORDINATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

11 ON FURNISHING OF FERTILITY COUNSELING 

12 AND TREATMENT. 

13 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall coordinate 

14 the furnishing of fertility counseling and treatment by the 

15 Department of Veterans Affairs with the furnishing of fer16 tility counseling and treatment by the Department of De17 fense. 

18 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

19 Amounts for a fiscal year to carry out this Act, sec20 tion 7330B of title 38, United States Code, as added by 

21 section 2(a), section 1787 of such title, as added by section 

22 4(a), and the amendments made by this Act shall be de23 rived from amounts made available for an overseas contin24 gency operation in that fiscal year, if amounts were made 


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1 available for an overseas contingency operation in that fis2 cal year. 

Passed the Senate December 13, 2012. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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