I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6332 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve long-term care provided 

to veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 20, 2021 

Mr. KILMER (for himself and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve longterm care provided to veterans by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Planning for Aging 

5 Veterans Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STRATEGY FOR LONG-TERM CARE FOR AGING VET7 ERANS. 

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

9 shall develop a strategy for the long-term care of veterans. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6332 IH

1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy developed under sub2 section (a) shall— 

3 (1) identify current and future needs for the 

4 long-term care of veterans based on demographic 

5 data and availability of services both from Depart6 ment of Veterans Affairs and from non-Department 

7 providers in the community, include other Federal 

8 Government, non-Federal Government, nonprofit, for 

9 profit, and other entities; 

10 (2) identify the current and future needs of vet11 erans for both institutional and non-institutional 

12 long-term care (for example, home-based and com13 munity-based services), taking into account the 

14 needs of growing veteran population groups, includ15 ing women veterans, veterans with traumatic brain 

16 injury, veterans with memory loss, and other popu17 lation groups with unique needs; and 

18 (3) address new and different care delivery 

19 models, including by— 

20 (A) assessing the implications of such mod21 els for the design of facilities and how those fa22 cilities may need to change; 

23 (B) examining the workforce needed to 

24 support aging populations of veterans as they 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6332 IH

1 grow and receive long-term care through dif2 ferent trends of care delivery; and 

3 (C) considering the feasibility and advis4 ability of implementing a veteran-focused inde5 pendent provider model for non-institutional 

6 care. 

7 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

9 to Congress a report on the strategy developed under sub10 section (a). 

11 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF STATE VETERANS HOMES. 

12 (a) STANDARDIZED SHARING AGREEMENTS.—The 

13 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a standardized 

14 process throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs 

15 for entering into sharing agreements between State homes 

16 and medical centers of the Department. 

17 (b) PROVISION OF MEDICATION TO CATASTROPH18 ICALLY DISABLED VETERANS.—Section 1745(b) of title 

19 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) Any veteran who has been determined by 

22 the Secretary to be catastrophically disabled, as de23 fined in section 17.36(e) of title 38, Code of Federal 

24 Regulations, or successor regulations, and on whose 

25 behalf the Secretary is paying a per diem for nursVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:14 Dec 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6332.IH H6332

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6332 IH

1 ing home or domiciliary care in a State home under 

2 this chapter.’’. 

3 (c) OVERSIGHT OF INSPECTIONS.— 

4 (1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor 

5 any contractor used by the Department to conduct 

6 inspections of State homes, including by reviewing 

7 the inspections conducted by each such contractor 

8 for quality not less frequently than quarterly. 

9 (2) REPORTING OF DEFICIENCIES.—The Sec10 retary shall require that any deficiencies of a State 

11 home noted during the inspection of the State home 

12 be reported to the Secretary. 

13 (3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall pub14 lish the results of any inspection of a State home, 

15 and any associated corrective actions planned by the 

16 State home, on a publicly available internet website 

17 of the Department. 

18 (d) STATE HOME DEFINED.—In this section, the 

19 term ‘‘State home’’ has the meaning given that term in 

20 section 101(19) of title 38, United States Code. 

21 SEC. 4. GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY PILOT PROGRAM AT 

22 STATE VETERANS HOMES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet25 erans Affairs shall commence the conduct of a pilot proVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:14 Dec 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6332.IH H6332

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6332 IH

1 gram under which the Secretary shall provide geriatric 

2 psychiatry assistance to eligible veterans at State homes. 

3 (b) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

4 pilot program under this section for a two-year period. 

5 (c) TYPE OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided 

6 under the pilot program under this section may include— 

7 (1) direct provision of geriatric psychiatry serv8 ices, including health care if feasible; 

9 (2) payments to non-Department of Veterans 

10 Affairs providers in the community to provide such 

11 services; 

12 (3) collaboration with other Federal agencies to 

13 provide such services; or 

14 (4) such other forms of assistance as the Sec15 retary considers appropriate. 

16 (d) CONSIDERATION OF LOCAL AREA NEEDS.—In 

17 providing assistance under the pilot program under this 

18 section, the Secretary shall consider the geriatric psychi19 atry needs of the local area, including by considering— 

20 (1) State homes with a high proportion of resi21 dents with unmet mental health needs; 

22 (2) State homes located in mental health care 

23 health professional shortage areas designated under 

24 section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 254e); or 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6332 IH

1 (3) State homes located in rural or highly rural 

2 areas. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘State 

4 home’’ and ‘‘veteran’’ have the meanings given those 

5 terms in section 101 of title 38, United States Code. 

6 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR AGING VETERANS AT RISK OF OR EX7 PERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. 

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

9 shall work with public housing authorities and local orga10 nizations to assist aging homeless veterans in accessing 

11 existing housing and supportive services, including health 

12 services like home-based and community-based services 

13 from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from non-De14 partment providers in the community. 

15 (b) PAYMENT FOR SERVICES.—The Secretary may, 

16 and is encouraged to, pay for services for aging homeless 

17 veterans described in subsection (a). 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS