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110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1580 

To create a Department of Defense-wide Ombudsman Office. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2007 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. BUCHANAN, and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To create a Department of Defense-wide Ombudsman Office. 

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 ‘‘Wounded Warriors 

5 Joint Health Care Ombudsman Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE7 WIDE OMBUDSMAN OFFICE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 

9 shall establish a Department of Defense-wide Ombudsman 

10 Office (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Ombudsman Of11 fice’’) and assign the responsibility for overseeing the Ofmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 fice to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Af2 fairs. 

3 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Ombudsman 

4 Office are to provide assistance to and answer questions 

5 from medical holdover patients and their families regard6 ing— 

7 (1) administrative processes, financial matters, 

8 and non-military related services available to the pa9 tients and their families throughout the patient’s 

10 evaluation, treatment, and recovery; 

11 (2) transfer to the care of the Veterans Admin12 istration; and 

13 (3) support services available upon the patient’s 

14 return home. 

15 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS.—The Om17 budsman Office shall— 

18 (A) create and maintain case files for indi19 vidual specific questions received, and initiate 

20 inquiries and track responses for all such ques21 tions; 

22 (B) set standards for timeliness of re23 sponses; and 

24 (C) set standards for accountability to 

25 medical holdover patients and their families, inmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 cluding requirements for daily updates to pa2 tients and family members about steps being 

3 taken to alleviate problems and concerns until 

4 problems are addressed. 

5 (2) TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS.—The Om6 budsman shall establish and maintain toll-free tele7 phone assistance phone numbers as follows: 

8 (A) One number shall be available for med9 ical holdover patients and their families and 

10 shall operate 8 hours a day and 7 days a week. 

11 (B) One number shall be available for 

12 medical emergency questions 24 hours a day 

13 and 7 days a week. 

14 (3) STATUS REPORTS.—The Ombudsman Office 

15 shall submit weekly status reports of actions taken 

16 to address individual concerns to the Secretary of 

17 Defense, the Secretary of each military department, 

18 and the inspector general of each military depart19 ment. The Office shall also report to the commander 

20 or director of the office or facility with responsibility 

21 for the patients covered by the status report. 

22 (d) RESPONSES FROM OTHER OFFICES.—The Sec23 retary of Defense shall ensure that all other offices within 

24 the Department of Defense and the military departments 

25 respond in a timely manner to resolve questions and remstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 quests from the Ombudsman Office on behalf of medical 

2 holdover patients and their families, including offices re3 sponsible for medical matters (including medical holdover 

4 processes), financial and accounting matters, legal mat5 ters, human resources matters, reserve component mat6 ters, installation and management matters, and physical 

7 disability matters. 

8 (e) BRIEFINGS.—The head of the Ombudsman Office 

9 shall conduct briefings of senior leadership in the military 

10 departments on all medical holdover trends, issues, and 

11 problems in person on a monthly basis. 

12 (f) CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRIES.—The Ombudsman 

13 Office shall be responsible for handling, and for setting 

14 standards regarding the handling of, all inquiries from 

15 Congress regarding medical holdover patients and other 

16 medical questions related to the Armed Forces. The Om17 budsman Office may report about congressional inquiries 

18 to the congressional liaison headquarters of each military 

19 department. 

20 (g) STAFF OF THE OFFICE.— 

21 (1) HEAD.—The Ombudsman Office should be 

22 headed by a general or flag officer. 

23 (2) STAFF.—The Ombudsman Office shall be 

24 staffed by personnel from offices of the Surgeon 

25 General of each military department and also shall 

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1 include representatives from each military depart2 ment with responsibility for a part of patient proc3 essing and representatives from reserve components. 

4 Personnel in the Ombudsman office should— 

5 (A) be highly trained in their office and 

6 command processes; 

7 (B) be given standardized and updated in8 formation on all military retention facility per9 sonnel charged with on-location assistance; and 

10 (C) in the case of military personnel, be 

11 assigned to the Office for a period of at least 

12 3 years, and in the case of civilian personnel, be 

13 assigned to the Office permanently if prac14 ticable. 

15 (3) TRAINING AND TESTING.—Ombudsman per16 sonnel should be tested and evaluated on a standard17 ized basis. Ombudsman personnel should be also 

18 trained to deal with members of the Armed Forces 

19 with post-traumatic stress disorder and other brain 

20 injuries. 

21 (h) MEDICAL HOLDOVER PATIENT.—In this Act, the 

22 term ‘‘medical holdover patient’’ means a member of the 

23 Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard 

24 or other reserve component, who is undergoing medical 

25 treatment, recuperation, or therapy, or is otherwise in 

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1 medical hold or holdover status, for an injury, illness, or 

2 disease incurred or aggravated while on active duty in the 

3 Armed Forces. 

4 (I) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap5 propriated to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for fiscal year 

6 2007, and $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 and 

7 2009. 

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