I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1134 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a grant program 

and pilot program designed to improve the delivery of health care to 

veterans residing in rural areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2013 

Mr. GALLEGO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a grant program and pilot program designed to improve 

the delivery of health care to veterans residing in rural 

areas, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The estimated veteran population of the 

6 Nation is 22,328,000. 

7 (2) Nearly 30 percent of veterans live in rural 

8 areas, with younger veterans who served in support 

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1 of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 

2 Freedom more likely than other veterans to live in 

3 rural areas. 

4 (3) Veterans living in rural areas are reported 

5 to be in poorer health than veterans living in urban 

6 areas. 

7 (4) Veterans living in rural areas often need to 

8 travel extremely long distances to receive medical 

9 care and the other services to which they are enti10 tled. 

11 (5) The medical facilities of the Department of 

12 Veterans Affairs include 821 community-based out13 patient clinics, 300 veterans centers, and 152 hos14 pitals. 

15 (6) Rural veterans represent 41 percent of the 

16 total number of veterans enrolled in the Department 

17 of Veterans Affairs patient enrollment system under 

18 section 1705 of title 38, United States Code. 

19 (7) A higher percentage of veterans residing in 

20 rural areas reported having at least one disability 

21 compared with veterans residing in urban areas. 

22 (8) Each year more than 150,000 members of 

23 the Armed Forces are discharged or separated from 

24 service in the Armed Forces and transition to vet25 eran status. 

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1 (9) Navigating the transition from the health 

2 care system of Department of Defense to the health 

3 care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

4 involves the coordination of data and information be5 tween Department of Defense and the Department 

6 of Veterans Affairs. 

7 (10) It is important to develop electronic health 

8 records that can be accessed by both the Depart9 ment of Defense and the Department of Veterans 

10 Affairs whether a patient is a member of the Armed 

11 Forces or a veteran to ensure the greater availability 

12 of health care information for members of the 

13 Armed Forces and veterans. 

14 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION GRANTS FOR RURAL VETERANS 

15 SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. 

16 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

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

18 Affairs shall establish a grant program to provide in19 novative transportation options to veterans in highly 

20 rural areas. 

21 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under 

22 this section may be used by State veterans service 

23 agencies and veterans service organizations to— 

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1 (A) assist veterans in highly rural areas to 

2 travel to Department of Veterans Affairs med3 ical centers; and 

4 (B) otherwise assist in providing medical 

5 care to veterans in highly rural areas. 

6 (3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a 

7 grant under this section may not exceed $50,000. 

8 (4) NO MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The recipi9 ent of a grant under this section may not be re10 quired to provide matching funds as a condition for 

11 receiving such grant. 

12 (5) RECOVERY OF UNUSED GRANT FUNDS.—If 

13 a recipient of a grant does not use the full amount 

14 of funds received under this section by not later 

15 than September 30 of the fiscal year in which such 

16 grant was awarded, the United States shall be enti17 tled to recover from such recipient the total of all 

18 unused grant amounts made under this section to 

19 such recipient. 

20 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

21 regulations for— 

22 (1) evaluating grant applications under this sec23 tion; and 

24 (2) otherwise administering the program estab25 lished by this section. 

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1 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than February 1 of each 

2 year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report con3 taining information related to each grant awarded under 

4 this section during the preceding year, including— 

5 (1) the name of the grant recipient; and 

6 (2) the amount of the grant. 

7 (d) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINI8 TION.—In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organi9 zation’’ means any organization recognized by the Sec10 retary of Veterans Affairs for the representation of vet11 erans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

12 SEC. 3. OUTREACH REQUIREMENT. 

13 (a) OUTREACH REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Vet14 erans Affairs shall conduct outreach, including under 

15 chapter 63 of title 38, United States Code, to educate vet16 erans and their family members about the availability of 

17 transportation to assist veterans living in rural areas in 

18 traveling to Department of Veterans Affairs medical facili19 ties, including transportation available pursuant to a 

20 grant made under section 2. 

21 (b) OUTREACH DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

22 ‘‘outreach’’ shall have the meaning given such term in sec23 tion 6301(b)(1) of title 38, United States Code. 

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1 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 

2 ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEMS OR 

3 CAPABILITIES AT DEPARTMENT OF VET4 ERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL FACILITIES LO5 CATED IN RURAL AREAS. 

6 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Veterans Af7 fairs, in cooperation with the Secretary of Defense, shall 

8 carry out a pilot program under section 1635(f) of the 

9 National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2008 

10 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 462; 10 U.S.C. 1071 

11 note) at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities 

12 located in rural areas and selected by the Secretary. Such 

13 pilot program shall be designed to— 

14 (1) implement at such medical facilities elec15 tronic health record systems or capabilities that 

16 allow for full interoperability of personal health care 

17 information between the Department of Defense and 

18 the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

19 (2) ensure that veterans served by such medical 

20 facilities are afforded the technological advances to 

21 improve the quality of health care they receive; 

22 (3) provide physicians and other personnel at 

23 such medical facilities with access to the complete 

24 personal health care information of members of the 

25 Armed Forces who are discharged or released from 

26 service in the Armed Forces; and 

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1 (4) increase the accessibility, efficiency, and use 

2 of electronic health records at such facilities to meet 

3 improved health care needs. 

4 (b) SELECTION OF MEDICAL FACILITIES.—The Sec5 retary of Veterans Affairs, in cooperation with the Sec6 retary of Defense, shall select Department of Veterans Af7 fairs medical facilities at which to carry out the pilot pro8 gram under this section. Such facilities shall be located 

9 in rural areas where the population rate of veterans ex10 ceeds six percent. 

11 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than April 1 of each year, 

12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 

13 a report on the pilot program under this section. Each 

14 such report shall include— 

15 (1) an evaluation of best practices relating to 

16 furnishing health care to veterans residing in rural 

17 areas; 

18 (2) an evaluation of the education and training 

19 provided to physicians and other personnel at med20 ical facilities participating in the pilot program; and 

21 (3) an evaluation of the health care provided to 

22 veterans residing in rural areas. 

Æ 

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