thorized to be appropriated annually as needed to fund 
the Medicare For All Employment Transition Benefits. 
(h) RETENTION OF RIGHT TO UNEMPLOYMENT BEN-
EFITS.—Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as a 
waiver of Medicare For All Employment Transition ben-
efit recipients’ right to receive Federal and State unem-
ployment benefits. 
SEC. 304. CONFIDENTIAL ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORD 
SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall create a 
standardized, confidential electronic patient record system 
in accordance with laws and regulations to maintain accu-
rate patient records and to simplify the billing process, 
thereby reducing medical errors and bureaucracy. 
(b) PATIENT OPTION.—Notwithstanding that all bill-
ing shall be preformed electronically, patients shall have 
the option of keeping any portion of their medical records 
separate from their electronic medical record. 
SEC. 305. NATIONAL BOARD OF UNIVERSAL QUALITY AND 
ACCESS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Na-
tional Board of Universal Quality and Access (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) consisting 
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of 15 members appointed by the President, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The appointed members 
of the Board shall include at least one of each of the 
following: 
(A) Health care professionals. 
(B) Representatives of institutional pro-
viders of health care. 
(C) Representatives of health care advo-
cacy groups. 
(D) Representatives of labor unions. 
(E) Citizen patient advocates. 
(3) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed 
for a term of 6 years, except that the President shall 
stagger the terms of members initially appointed so 
that the term of no more than 3 members expires 
in any year. 
(4) PROHIBITION
ON
CONFLICTS
OF
INTER-
EST.—No member of the Board shall have a finan-
cial conflict of interest with the duties before the 
Board. 
(b) DUTIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Board shall meet at 
least twice per year and shall advise the Secretary 
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and the Director on a regular basis to ensure qual-
ity, access, and affordability. 
(2) SPECIFIC ISSUES.—The Board shall specifi-
cally address the following issues: 
(A) Access to care. 
(B) Quality improvement. 
(C) Efficiency of administration. 
(D) Adequacy of budget and funding. 
(E) Appropriateness of reimbursement lev-
els of physicians and other providers. 
(F) Capital expenditure needs. 
(G) Long-term care. 
(H) Mental health and substance abuse 
services. 
(I) Staffing levels and working conditions 
in health care delivery facilities. 
(3) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
UNIVERSAL, 
BEST 
QUALITY
STANDARD
OF
CARE.—The Board shall 
specifically establish a universal, best quality of 
standard of care with respect to— 
(A) appropriate staffing levels; 
(B) appropriate medical technology; 
(C) design and scope of work in the health 
workplace; 
(D) best practices; and 
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(E) salary level and working conditions of 
physicians, clinicians, nurses, other medical pro-
fessionals, and appropriate support staff. 
(4) TWICE-A-YEAR REPORT.—The Board shall 
report its recommendations twice each year to the 
Secretary, the Director, Congress, and the Presi-
dent. 
(c) COMPENSATION, ETC.—The following provisions 
of section 1805 of the Social Security Act shall apply to 
the Board in the same manner as they apply to the Medi-
care Payment Assessment Commission (except that any 
reference to the Commission or the Comptroller General 
shall be treated as references to the Board and the Sec-
retary, respectively): 
(1) Subsection (c)(4) (relating to compensation 
of Board members). 
(2) Subsection (c)(5) (relating to chairman and 
vice chairman). 
(3) Subsection (c)(6) (relating to meetings). 
(4) Subsection (d) (relating to director and 
staff; experts and consultants). 
(5) Subsection (e) (relating to powers). 
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TITLE IV—ADDITIONAL 
PROVISIONS 
SEC. 401. TREATMENT OF VA AND IHS HEALTH PROGRAMS. 
(a) VA HEALTH PROGRAMS.—This Act provides for 
health programs of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs 
to initially remain independent for the 10-year period that 
begins on the date of the establishment of the Medicare 
For All Program. After such 10-year period, the Congress 
shall reevaluate whether such programs shall remain inde-
pendent or be integrated into the Medicare For All Pro-
gram. 
(b) INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE PROGRAMS.—This Act 
provides for health programs of the Indian Health Service 
to initially remain independent for the 5-year period that 
begins on the date of the establishment of the Medicare 
For All Program, after which such programs shall be inte-
grated into the Medicare For All Program. 
SEC. 402. PUBLIC HEALTH AND PREVENTION. 
It is the intent of this Act that the Program at all 
times stress the importance of good public health through 
the prevention of diseases. 
SEC. 403. REDUCTION IN HEALTH DISPARITIES. 
It is the intent of this Act to reduce health disparities 
by race, ethnicity, income and geographic region, and to 
provide high quality, cost-effective, culturally appropriate 
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care to all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual 
orientation, or language. 
TITLE V—EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 501. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Except as otherwise specifically provided, this Act 
shall take effect on the first day of the first year that be-
gins more than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and shall apply to items and services furnished 
on or after such date. 
Æ 
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