I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3636 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress certain 

reports relating to the health care and treatment provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to women veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2019 

Ms. UNDERWOOD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress certain reports relating to the health care and 

treatment provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to women veterans, 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 ‘‘Caring For Our 

5 Women Veterans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORT ON LOCATIONS WHERE WOMEN VETERANS 

2 ARE USING HEALTH CARE FROM DEPART3 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com7 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com8 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representa9 tives a report on the use by women veterans of health care 

10 from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

12 (a) shall include the following information: 

13 (1) The number of women veterans who reside 

14 in each State. 

15 (2) The number of women veterans in each 

16 State who are enrolled in the system of patient en17 rollment of the Department established and operated 

18 under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States 

19 Code. 

20 (3) Of the women veterans who are so enrolled, 

21 the number who have received health care under the 

22 laws administered by the Secretary at least one time 

23 during the one-year period preceding the submittal 

24 of the report. 


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1 (4) The number of women veterans who have 

2 been seen at each medical facility of the Department 

3 during such year. 

4 (5) The number of appointments that women 

5 veterans have had at each such facility during such 

6 year. 

7 (6) If known, an identification of the medical 

8 facility of the Department in each Veterans Inte9 grated Service Network with the largest rate of in10 crease in patient population of women veterans as 

11 measured by the increase in unique women veteran 

12 patient use. 

13 (7) If known, an identification of the medical 

14 facility of the Department in each Veterans Inte15 grated Service Network with the largest rate of de16 crease in patient population of women veterans as 

17 measured by the decrease in unique women veterans 

18 patient use. 

19 SEC. 3. REPORT ON MODELS OF MEDICAL FACILITIES OF 

20 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR 

21 THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

24 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com25 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:33 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3636.IH H3636

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1 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representa2 tives a report on the use by the Department of Veterans 

3 Affairs of general primary care clinics, separate but 

4 shared spaces, and women’s health centers as models of 

5 providing health care to women veterans. 

6 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

7 (a) shall include the following: 

8 (1) The number of facilities of the Department 

9 that fall into each model described in subsection (a), 

10 disaggregated by Veterans Integrated Service Net11 work and State. 

12 (2) A description of the criteria used by the De13 partment to determine which such model is most ap14 propriate for each facility of the Department. 

15 (3) An assessment of how the Department de16 cides to make investments to upgrade facilities to 

17 the next higher-level model. 

18 (4) A description of what, if any, plans the De19 partment has to upgrade facilities from the lowest20 level model, general primary care clinics, to another 

21 model. 

22 (5) An assessment of whether any facilities 

23 could be upgraded to the next higher-level model 

24 within planned investments under the strategic cap25 ital investment planning process of the Department. 


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1 (6) An assessment of whether any facilities 

2 could be upgraded to the next higher-level model 

3 with minor modifications to existing plans under the 

4 strategic capital investment planning process of the 

5 Department. 

6 (7) An assessment of whether the Department 

7 has a goal for how many facilities should fall into 

8 each such model. 

9 SEC. 4. REPORT ON STAFFING OF DEPARTMENT OF VET10 ERANS RELATING TO THE TREATMENT OF 

11 WOMEN. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

14 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com15 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com16 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representa17 tives a report on the staffing of the Department of Vet18 erans Affairs relating to the treatment of women. 

19 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

20 (a) shall include the following, disaggregated by Veterans 

21 Integrated Service Network and State (except with respect 

22 to paragraph (4)): 

23 (1) The number of women’s health centers. 

24 (2) The number of patient aligned care teams 

25 of the Department relating to women’s health. 


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1 (3) The number of full- and part-time gyne2 cologists of the Department. 

3 (4) The number of designated women’s health 

4 care providers of the Department, disaggregated by 

5 facility of the Department. 

6 (5) The number of health care providers of the 

7 Department who have completed a mini-residency 

8 for women’s health care through Women Veterans 

9 Health Care Mini-Residency Program of the Depart10 ment during the one-year period preceding the sub11 mittal of the report, and the number that plan to 

12 participate in such a mini-residency during the one13 year period following such date. 

14 (6) The number of designated women’s health 

15 care providers of the Department who have suffi16 cient female patients to retain their competencies 

17 and proficiencies. 

Æ 


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