I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5530 

To provide for certain limitations to the authority of the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to make changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs rate 

of payment or reimbursement provided for transportation of veterans 

and other eligible individuals on special modes of transportation, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

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

on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for certain limitations to the authority of the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make changes to the 

Department of Veterans Affairs rate of payment or reimbursement provided for transportation of veterans and 

other eligible individuals on special modes of transportation, 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 ‘‘VA Emergency Trans5 portation Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR CHANGES TO DEPARTMENT OF 

2 VETERANS AFFAIRS RATE OF PAYMENT OR 

3 REIMBURSEMENT PROVIDED FOR TRANS4 PORTATION OF VETERANS AND OTHER ELIGI5 BLE INDIVIDUALS ON SPECIAL MODES OF 

6 TRANSPORTATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

8 may not change the rate of payment or reimbursement 

9 provided for the transportation of a veteran or other eligi10 ble individual on a special mode of transportation, as in 

11 effect on January 1, 2023, unless— 

12 (1) such change would increase the rate of such 

13 payment or reimbursement; or 

14 (2) before the effective date of such change, the 

15 Secretary— 

16 (A) conducts a thorough review and anal17 ysis of— 

18 (i) the economic effect of the change 

19 on the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

20 (ii) the economic effect of the change 

21 on the industry associated with the special 

22 mode of transportation that would be af23 fected by the change; and 

24 (iii) the effect of the change on access 

25 to care for veterans; 


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1 (B) develops a formal process to ensure 

2 that any change made to such rate does not re3 duce the access to care for veterans; and 

4 (C) ensures that the new rate reflects, at 

5 a minimum, the actual cost of such transpor6 tation. 

7 (b) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

8 shall carry out any review under subsection (a)(2)(A) and 

9 develop any process under subsection (a)(2)(B) in con10 sultation with a committee made up of each of the fol11 lowing, who shall be appointed by the Secretary: 

12 (1) Relevant industry experts. 

13 (2) Representatives of the Centers for Medicare 

14 and Medicaid Services. 

15 (3) Department employees with subject matter 

16 expertise in transportation, access to care, inte17 grated veteran care, rural veterans, Native American 

18 veterans, and other matters determine appropriate 

19 by the Secretary. 

20 (4) Representatives of veteran service organiza21 tions. 

22 (c) TEMPLATE AND PROCESS FOR AFFECTED CON23 TRACTS.—Not later than two years before the effective 

24 date of any change made to the rate of payment or reim25 bursement for special modes of transportation pursuant 


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1 to subsection (a) that affects the rate payable under any 

2 contract of the Department, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) establish a template and a standardized 

4 process for entering into and making changes to 

5 rates in effect under such contract; 

6 (2) issue guidance about the use of such tem7 plate and process within the Department and across 

8 the industry associated with special modes of trans9 portation; and 

10 (3) submit to Congress a report that includes a 

11 description of the template and process. 

12 (d) SPECIAL MODE OF TRANSPORTATION.—In this 

13 section, the term ‘‘special mode of transportation’’— 

14 (1) means an ambulance, ambulette, air ambu15 lance, wheelchair van, or other mode of transpor16 tation specially designed to transport disabled per17 sons; and 

18 (2) does not include— 

19 (A) a mode of transportation not specifi20 cally designed to transport disabled persons, 

21 such as a bus, subway, taxi, train, or airplane; 

22 or 


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1 (B) a modified, privately owned vehicle, 

2 with special adaptive equipment or that is capa3 ble of transporting disabled persons. 

Æ 


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