I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 24
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain improvements
in the way in which health-care resources are allocated by the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 6, 1999
Mr. GILMAN (for himself and Mrs. KELLY) 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 certain
improvements in the way in which health-care resources
are allocated by the Department of Veterans Affairs,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CRITERIA FOR REQUIRED COPAYMENT FOR
MEDICAL CARE PROVIDED BY THE DEPART-
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) EXCEPTION BASED ON PRIOR CATASTROPHIC
HEALTH CARE EXPENSES.—Subsection (a) of section
1722 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph
(2);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(4) the veteran’s expenses for medical care (as
defined in section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986) for the previous year are in excess of 71⁄2
percent of the veteran’s adjusted gross income for
the previous year (as determined for purposes of the
personal income tax under the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986).’’.
(b) ADJUSTMENT
IN INCOME THRESHOLDS
FOR
VETERANS RESIDING IN SMSAS.—Subsection (b) of such
section is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(3) The amounts in effect for purposes of this sub-
section for any calendar year shall be increased by 20 per-
cent for any veteran who resides in a Standard Metropoli-
tan Statistical Area (SMSA), as defined by the Bureau
of the Census.’’.
(c) AMENDMENTS WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES.—
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out the
amendments made by this section for fiscal years 2000
and 2001 within the amount of funds otherwise available
(or programmed to be available) for medical care for the
Department of Veterans Affairs for those fiscal years.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall take effect on January 1, 2000.
SEC. 2. SERVICES FOR MENTALLY ILL VETERANS.
(a) MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEE ON CARE OF SE-
VERELY CHRONICALLY MENTALLY ILL VETERANS.—Sec-
tion 7321 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and mem-
bers of the general public with expertise in the care
of the chronically mentally ill’’ in the second sen-
tence after ‘‘chronically mentally ill’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e) The Secretary shall determine the terms of serv-
ice and (for members appointed from the general public)
the pay and allowances of the members of the committee,
except that a term of service may not exceed five years.
The Secretary may reappoint any member for additional
terms of service.’’.
(b) CENTERS
FOR MENTAL ILLNESS RESEARCH,
EDUCATION, AND CLINICAL ACTIVITIES.—Paragraph (3)
of section 7320(b) of such title is amended to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(3) The Secretary shall designate at least one center
under this section in each service network region of the
Veterans Health Administration.’’.
SEC. 3. ALLOCATION OF MEDICAL CARE RESOURCES FOR
THE DEPARTMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 81 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8116
the following new section:
‘‘§ 8117. Allocation of medical care resources
‘‘In applying the plan for the allocation of health care
resources (including personnel and funds) known as the
Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system, developed
by the Secretary pursuant to the requirements of section
429 of Public Law 104–204 (110 Stat. 2929) and submit-
ted to Congress in March 1997, the Secretary shall ex-
clude from consideration in the determination of the allo-
cation of such resources the following (resources for which
shall be allocated in such manner as the Secretary deter-
mines to be appropriate):
‘‘(1) Programs to provide readjustment counsel-
ing and treatment.
‘‘(2) Programs to provide counseling and treat-
ment (including psychiatric care) for the mentally ill.
‘‘(3) Programs relating to drug and alcohol
abuse and dependence.
‘‘(4) Programs for the homeless.
‘‘(5) Programs relating to post-traumatic stress
disorder.
‘‘(6) Programs relating to spinal cord dysfunc-
tion.
‘‘(7) Programs relating to AIDS.
‘‘(8) Programs relating to geriatric and ex-
tended care.’’.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such
chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 8116 the following new item:
‘‘8117. Allocation of medical care resources.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 8117 of title 38,
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall
apply with respect to the allocation of resources for each
fiscal year after fiscal year 1999.
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