I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3711

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for an assessment of

the provision of health care services and the conduct of research by

the Department of Veterans Affairs relating to women veterans.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 25, 1996

Ms. BROWN of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for an

assessment of the provision of health care services and

the conduct of research by the Department of Veterans

Affairs relating to women veterans.

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 ‘‘Women Veterans

5 Health Assessment Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Health care for veterans has traditionally

2 been considered in terms of male veterans.

3 (2) Women constitute nearly 5 percent of the

4 total veteran population, a percentage that is grow5 ing.

6 (3) There are currently 1,200,000 female veter7 ans in the United States, a number which is steadily

8 increasing.

9 SEC. 3. REPORT ON WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE AND RE10 SEARCH.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 1999,

12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com13 mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of

14 Representatives a report on the provision of health care

15 services and the conduct of research carried out by, or

16 under the jurisdiction of, the Secretary relating to women

17 veterans. The report shall be prepared through the Center

18 for Women Veterans established under section 318 of title

19 38, United States Code, which shall prepare the report

20 in consultation with the Advisory Committee on Women

21 Veterans established under section 542 of that title.

22 (b) CONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a)

23 shall include the following information:

24 (1) The number of women veterans who have

25 received general health care services and the number
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1 who have received gender-specific health care serv2 ices in facilities under the jurisdiction of the Sec3 retary (or the Secretary of Defense), shown by ref4 erence to the Department facility which provided

5 (or, in the case of Department of Defense facilities,

6 arranged for) those services.

7 (2) A description of—

8 (A) the services provided at each such fa9 cility;

10 (B) the type and amount of services pro11 vided by such personnel, including information

12 on the numbers of inpatient stays and the num13 ber of outpatient visits through which such

14 services were provided; and

15 (C) the extent to which each such facility

16 relies on contractual arrangements under sec17 tion 1703 or 8153 of title 38, United States

18 Code, to furnish care to women veterans in fa19 cilities which are not under the jurisdiction of

20 the Secretary where the provision of such care

21 is not furnished in a medical emergency.

22 (3) The steps taken by each such facility to ex23 pand the provision of services at such facility (or

24 under arrangements with the Department of De25 fense facility) to women veterans.
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1 (4) A description of the personnel of the De2 partment who provided such services to women vet3 erans, including the number of employees (including

4 both the number of individual employees and the

5 number of full-time employee equivalents) and the

6 professional qualifications or specialty training of

7 such employees and the Department facilities to

8 which such personnel were assigned.

9 (5) A description of any actions taken by the

10 Secretary to ensure the retention of the personnel

11 described in paragraph (4) and any actions under12 taken to recruit such additional personnel or person13 nel to replace such personnel.

14 (6) An assessment by the Secretary of any dif15 ficulties experienced by the Secretary in the furnish16 ing of such services and the actions taken by the

17 Secretary to resolve such difficulties.

18 (7) A description (as of October 1 of the year

19 preceding the year in which the report is submitted)

20 of the status of any research relating to women vet21 erans being carried out by or under the jurisdiction

22 of the Secretary.

23 (8) A description of the actions taken by the

24 Secretary to foster and encourage the expansion of

25 such research.
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1 (9) A description of any psychological intimida2 tion of women veterans who seek health care from

3 the Department, together with the relative preva4 lence of diagnosis referred to as the ‘‘it’s all in your

5 head’’ syndrome.

6 (10) A description of the range in ages for

7 women veterans who seek care at Department medi8 cal facilities, together with a determination as to

9 whether younger women veterans (women in their

10 fifties) are more likely, or less likely, to seek care at

11 Department medical facilities than older women vet12 erans (women in their seventies).

13 (11) A description of deficiencies relating to pa14 tient privacy for women veterans in Department

15 medical facilities.

16 (12) A description of any difficulty experienced

17 by the Secretary in compiling any of the information

18 required for the submission of such report.

19 SEC. 4. POPULATION STUDY.

20 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, sub21 ject to subsection (f), shall conduct a study to determine

22 the needs of women veterans for health care services. The

23 study shall be carried out through the Center for Women

24 Veterans.
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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—Before carrying out the study,

2 the Secretary shall request the advice of the Advisory

3 Committee on Women Veterans on the conduct of the

4 study.

5 (c) PERSONS TO BE INCLUDED IN SAMPLE OF VET6 ERANS STUDIED.—The study shall be based on—

7 (1) an appropriate sample of veterans who are

8 women; and

9 (2) an examination of the medical and demo10 graphic histories of the women comprising such sam11 ple.

12 (d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to the

13 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House

14 of Representatives reports relating to the study as follows:

15 (1) Not later than January 1, 1998, an interim

16 report describing (A) the information and advice ob17 tained by the Secretary from the Advisory Commit18 tee on Women Veterans, and (B) the status of the

19 study.

20 (2) Not later than January 1, 2000, a final re21 port describing the results of the study.

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